Even after living in Colorado for 10 years, there are still many areas we haven’t explored. Late summer/early fall was
Ragged Wilderness, CO
hiking was fabulous. We climbed our first 14er outside of Fairplay, then moved to the Redstone area for a couple of weeks, where we continued to be amazed at how beautiful Colorado is.
Our first stop in the high country was Fairplay, CO. We boondocked near a small stream with views of the surrounding high peaks. It was very quiet during the week, but the off-roaders showed up on the weekend. For the most part, they were polite.
We were camping at 10,000 feet and the days were warm while the nights were crisp. We soon discovered that the mice liked our trailer. We would be sound asleep and hear a scratching noise and there would be a mouse crawling around in our cupboards, usually around 3AM. They couldn’t get to any food, but they were running around in the dishes. 11 mice found their way in within 2 weeks. Dan and I are both vegetarians and felt really bad about having to do anything, but there is only so much you can take. Trying to catch and release them wasn’t always successful. The mice were winning the war. We just stocked up on traps and and went into battle. (Update – Dan has finally found all their entrances and the war is over. We won, but the mice waged a long, hard campaign. Dec – 2007)
Dan & Jenn on top of Mt Sherman, CO - 14,036 feet
We discovered that we were camped only a short distance from the trailhead to Mt. Sherman. At 14,036 feet, Mt. Sherman is supposed to be one of the easier 14ers to climb in CO. Since we had never hiked a 14er (practically a crime in Colorado), we thought we should hike this one. The day we hiked the weather was fabulous. The trail was gradual and I felt much better than I expected. The highest elevation we had ever hiked at before was about 12,000. I kind of expected to feel a little sick above that. Surprisingly, I felt good. Our slow but steady pace had us at the top in a couple of hours. The views were outstanding, we could see several other 14ers and Leadville below us. The old mining ruins along the way made the hike even better. Tram towers still stand on the mountain. After hiking it, I finally understand the fascination with 14ers. I doubt we will ever be the type that have to bag a lot of peaks, but I could see us doing more.
After two weeks, we headed over towards Sylvan Lake, CO. There is a lovely State Park there that is quiet and beautiful. I think it is the nicest CO State Park we have seen. The lake is small and mostly for fishing. There is a lot of hiking and four wheeling in the area.
After a couple of days, we moved from the State Park to a quiet forest service campground higher in the mountains. There were some elk hunters in our campground, otherwise it was empty. We saw a few hunters a couple of miles in on a trail, but they were down in a valley below us. I think we should invest in a couple of orange caps next time we go into the mountains during hunting season, just to be safe.
We next headed to Redstone, CO. Dan has a really cool project in Redstone that entails restoring some old coke
Dan & Jenn mountain biking near Redstone, CO
ovens. The area has some of the prettiest scenery I have ever seen. The leaves were starting to change and it seemed like the trees changed colors hourly. The hiking and biking alone could keep you occupied for years. There are also a lot of 4 wheeling roads to explore.
We were very active while we were there. We went on a nice easy mountain bike ride one day and did the steepest ride of our lives another. We climbed 1700 feet in 2.6 miles. Coming down was fast and fun! We also did several hikes. All of the hikes in the area are steep, but the views are worth it. There are several hikes we would like to go back for as well as some more mining remains. Luckily, Dan will have to return for work sometime next year.
