Swivel Trailer Arrived

The swivel trailer arrived and, with help from fellow campers, we were able to uncrate it and put it together.  Quite a job but now we will be 2 feet under the legal length when everything is hooked up instead of 6 feet over. 

July 29th - Moose and Mule Deer

This first picture was taken several days ago,  We thought these purple flowers were really nice.

Today we went on up to the turn off that goes over to Deer Lakes and found these pictures of a mama moose and her baby.

On the way back to camp, we came across some nice mule deer bucks.

There were originally three of them but the clicking of the camera shutter caused them to run off!!

Riding the New Can Am

We have been riding the new ATV a bunch, mainly going over Cinnamon Pass to Silverton.  A couple of days ago, we went to check out Mineral Creek to see if we wanted to use it to go into Ouray.  Way to difficult of a trail with several off camber spots.  Mineral Creek and Poughkeepsie are both off limits for rental Jeeps.

We went over Cinnamon Pass on the Can Am again today to see if Corkscrew might be a route we can use to go over to Highway 550 to Ouray.  Corkscrew branches off of California Gulch after you go over Hurricane Pass.  This is a very doable route for a Jeep and Bryce's 4 wheel drive pickup.

We went on to Silverton and ate lunch at the Brown Bear.  We split a hamburger between us to save calories so we could each eat an order of cobbler with ice cream on top.

You have heard the old saying that even a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while.  I reckon it was finally our turn!  We messed around in Silverton longer than usual, which turned to be a good thing.  When we got back up to near the top of Cinnamon Pass, it had snowed so much that the ground was almost totally white.  Evidently after the snow, it rained a lot because the "roads" were muddy.  It was still raining some so we donned our rain gear.  Sort of has us wondering why we prefer the cold and rain on our ATV versus riding in the warmth of our Jeep!  

July 11th - Tower Mountain

We took a trail that begins near the top of Slumgullion.  Really pretty area and, at the top, it goes by a radio/TV/repeater tower at the top of the world.

   This next picture is taken at the tower.  Below is San Cristobal lake and Lake City in the distance.

 

Being the flower children that we are, we must include a flower picture!

 

 

This trip was 24 miles long over some pretty rough areas.  So much so that I don't think it would be a good route to take a Jeep on.  A Jeep could make it but one wouldn't enjoy the trip.  We started on the ATV at about 11:00, ate lunch at the tower, and got back at 3:00, just before the big rain started.

 



July 9 - Back to Silverton

We made another trip over the mountain so we could take a closer look at the RV parks for next year.  This time we went in the Jeep since we wanted to see how it does as compared to the two door unit.  It is actually smoother and we weren't disappointed at all.  However; we still prefer doing the rough passes on the Can Am.  On it, meeting other vehicles on the narrow roads is a breeze, you can travel faster, and it is actually smoother riding.  This is partly due to the narrow wheel base that lets you pick a smoother line and the tires only have 7 pounds of air.

Here a several pictures we took.  DON'T FORGET.  If you want larger views, just click one and you can look through them all much larger.

 

The is Animas Forks from above.

 

Picture below is of two deer.  Taken with the telephoto but still shows small.

Exciting Day!

Wow!  We washed clothes.  I washed the Jeep and the Can Am, since the roads were sort of muddy.  Also, the wiring kit arrived so I installed it in the Jeep so the tail lights would work properly when hooked to the motor home.  Well worth the dollars spent since it was a really easy install.

Since I never have enough sense to bring the right clothing (warm stuff), we bought a sweat shirt.  Toni looked for a T shirt with "Slumgullion" on it but couldn't find one.  We then went to the grocery store and bought a few things.

I cooked on the grill and Toni cooked some mixed veggies for dinner.  Afterwards, we read books until time to go to bed.  All in all, a very productive and relaxing day! 

Now in Lake City, CO

On July 1st, we moved to the Elkhorn RV Park in Lake City, CO.  On July 3rd, we went to see a show with Johnny Rodriquez, which was great.  On the 4th, we watched the local parade, children's games at the park, and the fireworks after dark. 

Here are some pictures of our little camp:

 

On July 5th and 6th, I started installing the auxiliary brake system in the new Jeep, which I had removed from the old one.  Couldn't make the tail lights work properly as a dinghy unit so had to order an install kit.  Got the rest of the stuff installed late yesterday.  I swore I wouldn't trade again if it meant switching the brake system and I reckon that is what I get for swearing!

 

 

On July 7th, we decided it was time to make an ATV trip so we headed over Cinnamon Pass to Silverton, 31 miles away by mountain pass.  Silverton now allows ATVs to drive on their streets so we went into town and had Mexican food for lunch.  I didn't top the gas off before we left Lake City and realized that the gauge showed we had a half tank to get back on.  They don't allow an ATV to go all the  way through to the gas station so a nice lady at a campground sold us enough gas from a can to top the tank off.  When we headed back, it was raining so we suited up and away we went.  Like crazy people, we made two long side trips on the way back.  Eight hours later, we arrived back at the car, changed clothes, loaded up, and went back to town and ate ice cream as an award for finishing the trip!

 

 

Side issue:  We really haven't enjoyed pulling the Jeep behind the motor home with the ATV on a trailer behind the Jeep, which made us 2 feet over legal length, with the 2 door Jeep.  Now, with the 4 door Jeep, we would be 4 feet over.   Finally found the solution.  One of the RV owners here has one of these swivel wheel trailers that he pulls behind his trailer with his ATV on it:

I hooked his trailer to the receiver hitch on the back of our Jeep and loaded the Can Am on the trailer.  It made the Jeep squat only 1/2 inch and it pulls perfect.  With this, we will actually be 2 feet under the legal limit and I plan to order one soon after returning to Texas.  Yay!  We will be able to take our ATV with us without a lot of trouble.