Wednesday, August 28, 2024
This morning, Mel went for a walk from the Blue Mesa Thousand Trails campground up to his favorite tree (see below).
As you can see, his view from here was spectacular.
Then around noon we took off on a little jeep trip along Old Monarch Pass Road.
At around 3:00 p.m. we arrived at the start of the Old Monarch Pass road. Mel aired down the tires here.
Old Monarch Pass, with an elevation of 11,365 feet, is a mountain pass on the border of Gunnison and Chaffee counties of west-central Colorado. It is located on the Continental Divide 0.6 miles northwest of the current Monarch Pass where U.S. Route 50 crosses the divide. Old Monarch Pass divides the watersheds of Porphyry Creek, a tributary of Tomichi Creek and the Gunnison River, to the west and the South Arkansas River to the east. The name "Monarch" comes from nearby Monarch Ridge and the community of Monarch.
A road crossing the Original Monarch Pass was constructed in 1880 and served as an important wagon and stage road connecting the town of South Arkansas (later named Salida) on the east side to mining camps and the city of Gunnison on the west side. In 1922, the road was improved and rerouted to better accommodate motor vehicles. The new road crossed the divide at a lower saddle 1.1 miles to the southeast. This second Monarch Pass is what is now known as Old Monarch Pass. It remained an important unpaved crossing of the divide until 1939 when another highway realignment moved the crossing yet further southeast 0.6 miles to the third and current Monarch Pass where U. S. Route 50 crosses today.
We decided to have our sandwiches before beginning the trail.
Then around 3:40 p.m. we were on our way along the Old Monarch Pass.
We are on National Forest Service Road 237.
It was a very peaceful and easy drive. We barely even saw one vehicle on the road.
The contrast of the powder blue sky against the green pine trees was outstanding!
We have now arrived at the summit of Old Monarch Pass at 11,375 feet. It is also the Continental Divide between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.
We got out of the jeep to take some pictures.
It was so serene and beautiful!
We continued along the Old Monarch Pass road -- with more of the same, gravel road and lots of pine trees.
Every so often, we would run into a grove of Aspen trees.
We would also see power lines close to the road.
And then as we descended down we could see rich pasture land ahead.
At around 4:15 p.m., we were pretty much down from the Old Monarch Pass.
We also saw fairly big ranches with open ranges.
The above pictures show the map of Old Monarch Pass and the Continental Divide.
Thursday, August 29, 2024
Mel went on a bike ride along the highway to where they have the road closed. This is what he saw -- Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Oh my!
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep are the largest wild sheep in North America. Muscular males can weigh over 300 pounds and stand over three feet tall at the shoulder. Females are roughly half this size. Bighorn sheep are gray/brown to dark brown in color with white patches on their rump, muzzle and back of legs. Winter coats are thick, double-layered and may be lighter in color. Bighorn sheep shed these heavy coats in the summer.
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep have wide-set eyes that provide a large angle of vision. This along with sharp hearing and a highly-developed sense of smell can detect dangers at great distances. Specialized hooves and rough soles provide a natural grip as bighorn sheep make precarious jumps and breath-taking climbs up and down sharp cliff faces.
As their name suggests, bighorn sheep have true horns that they retain throughout their life. Males, called rams, have large horns that curl around their faces by eight years of age. These horns can weigh up to 30 pounds. Females, called ewes, have smaller horns that curve slightly to a sharp point within the first four years of life.
Bighorn sheep live in social groups, but rams and ewes usually only meet to mate. Rams live in bachelor groups and ewes live in herds with younger lambs. Lambs are born in the spring and walk soon after birth. They nurse up to six months. Males leave their mother's group around two to four years of age, while the females stay with their herd for life. The lifespan of bighorn sheep is approximately 10 years.
Friday, August 30, 2024
This morning I finally got the Log Cabin Shadows raffle quilt finished (see below). I will be donating the quilt to the 2025 BFNA Reunion to be raffled off.
At around 2:45 p.m. we were able to cross the bridge that they had been working on. We decided to drive over to Montrose, Colorado.
Montrose is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Montrose County, Colorado with a population of 20,291. The main road that leads in and out of Montrose is U.S. Highway 50.
Montrose was incorporated on May 2, 1882, and named after the Marquis of Montrose, immortalized in Sir Walter Scott's novel, "A Legend of Montrose" by Oliver D. "Pappy" Loutzenhizer and Joseph Selig. The Denver & Rio Grande railroad was built west toward Grand Junction and reached Montrose later in 1882, and the town became an important regional shipping center. A branch railroad line served the mineral-rich San Juan Mountains to the south.
In 1909, the U.S. government completed construction of the Gunnison Tunnel, located east of Montrose. It provided irrigation water from the Gunnison River in the Black Canyon to the Uncompahgre Valley, helping turn Montrose into an agricultural hub. The Uncompahgre Project is one of the oldest of those in the area by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
At 4:45 p.m., we arrived at the Colorado Boy Pizzeria and Brewery located in the historic Stockman’s building at 320 East Main in downtown Montrose, Colorado.
We asked to be seated back where they were preparing pizzas so we could watch.
We ordered the "Cowboy" 11-inch pizza to share. It ingredients were garlic olive (but we substituted marina sauce instead), mozzarella, bacon, sausage, gorgonzola cheese and fresh tomatoes (see below).
It was fun to watch them make pizza. Mel also enjoyed a craft beer or two.
We got back to the campground around 7:30 p.m. It was a perfect pizza-kinda-night for sure!
Shirley & Mel
