Chalk Lake Campground / Headed back to Colorado
This is my first night back in the mountains since the fall of ‘19. Seems a lot longer than it was. The virus and a couple of other things kept us close to home most of this year. I’m staying south of Buena Vista, about six miles back into a narrow canyon at a Forest Service campground. Touches of gold along the creek flowing at the edge of camp mark the first few days of fall. Wish the Princess was here to see the place. While recording notes for this post Bob Dylan, on rotation through the iPod, was singing “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”. I know the song is not about a location, but the refrain did seem perfect for this particular place and time.
To me, Colorado mountains are different as compared to Montana mountains. The canyons are narrower. The sides seem close in. Looking from my backyard for the night, it feels almost like I could saunter across the road and climb Princeton Peak. The trees stop about two thirds the way up, after that a few patches of snow and then a quick scramble up the scree slope to the top. Maybe tomorrow, maybe next year. Who knows.
Tomorrow I’m off to Crested Butte, will see how the rigs does pulling over Monarch Pass. Going to meet up with a photographer who is going to lend me her perspective for a few days. Hope my camera can see what hers does.
Dennis
Note – The trip over Monarch Pass, 11,000 feet @ 6% grade made me a little nervous but the 2012 RAM 1500 with the 5.7 L engine pulled the ORV at a steady 35 – 40 MPH. The trailer weighs about 7,000 lbs. I kept watching the transmission temperature, it never got over 190 degrees. I know little about anything mechanical but from what I could find on the internets, that isn’t overheating.
Going down I used the transmission to control the speed and was very careful to stay below the posted limits. Was glad I had the brakes serviced a few thousand miles ago.
This is a very interesting website that discusses the specifics of the pass. http://www.crashforensics.com/monarchpass.cfm
