Saturday, May 31, 2014

Curecanti NRA

Every year we head to Denver at some point, but we try to vary our route.  This year we took US 50 east through Colorado past pretty Blue Mesa Reservoir and Curecanti National Recreation Area.
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There are several campgrounds in the recreation area and we stayed in spacious Elk Creek CG.  Mid week, we were almost the only ones there.

There is a very reasonably-priced boat ride that goes through the canyon below the dam which I would have loved to do, but alas, they were in the process of filling up the reservoir and not releasing enough water down river to float the boat.  Next time.

However we did a couple of nice hikes.  The first was the Dillon Pinnacles trail,

With great views of the lake . . .

On the way up to the base of the pinnacles.

We also hiked some of the Neversink Trail, which might not be named too appropriately since we had to turn around where the trail was under water.  On the other hand, this is above the lake and the Gunnison River was really roaring.

Actually we really enjoyed the Neversink trail for the fauna.  We saw many birds and heard even more.  In one section, the frogs were serenading us.

Continuing east on US 50, we crossed the Rockies and Continental Divide over Monarch Pass.  The grade is about 10 miles of 6% both going up and coming down.  It's a haul, but the eastbound assent had a passing lane almost the whole way.  The view from the top is breathtaking, but sometimes the lack of guard rails stole my breath even more.


6 comments:

  1. Some of those pictures are almost 3D.

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  2. Guardrails are overrated. Think positive, it's good to get your heart rate up once in a while... ;c)

    Awesome pictures!

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  3. More fun was had I see....do you think the trail was flooded due to the lack of water being released into the lake? Sure is a pretty spot...The snowy peaks look great! Your photos have really been awesome lately!! My sis lives in CO and I'm dying to go over and stay with her for a while..my goal right now is to get mom strong enough to make the trip and then off we go!

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  4. We really liked Curecanti and the hiking around there. I hate being a passenger when there are no guardrails!
    Gayle

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  5. I'm like you....I like guardrails too. Beautiful area.

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  6. Too bad you couldn't take the boat trip. Took it with my kids 20+ years ago.

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