Before we were even done setting up we started a fire in one of the large fire rings that the sites have. I have been to some campgrounds that have such small fire rings that it is almost impossible to get a fire started, and others don’t have fire rings at all and won’t allow fires. The fire rings here have always been cleaned out and ready for us when we arrived and this time was no different.

Once we were finished setting up we had to run over to the camp store to pick up a couple of things that we had forgotten in our rush to get out of town. This is another great thing about Sugar Loafin’. The store is open until 10:00 pm and has most of the necessary items needed when camping, and again, the employees were very pleasant to deal with.

When we woke up the following morning around seven, the temperature had dipped down to about 31 degrees and everything was covered in a thin sheen of ice. I mention this because if you are going to go camping at this elevation (10,430 FT) in Colorado you need to be prepared for the cold nights. Once the sun rose a little higher however, the ice began to melt and it got fairly warm. By about ten am it was already too warm to wear even light jackets.

There is plenty to see and do in the area around Sugar Loafin’ campground and Leadville. There are majestic mountains, sparkling blue lakes, waterfalls, rivers, wildlife and so much more. On our first full day there, the wives headed into the town of Leadville where there are many, many shops. There are a number of quaint little antique shops around town that are very interesting to look through. Because Leadville was a silver and gold rush town, there was a lot of action around in the late 1800’s, in fact it was the second most populated area in Colorado. There were many trinkets left behind when most of the miners left town, and you can see a lot of these little treasures in the antique stores and gift shops. Leadville also has a couple of museums that basically pay homage to the way of life that used to be lived there, and I highly recommend visiting them.

Turquoise lake is maybe 5 minutes away from the camp site and is really a nice drive. Turquoise is a beautiful lake that has a winding road going up and all the way around it. If you are going to take the drive around the lake make sure you take a camera as some of the scenery is breath taking. You will also want to pull over to the shoulder at the waterfall about half way up the road. There is a trail that goes along side the stream that feeds the waterfall and you can follow it up a ways.  With the light filtering through trees above your head, blocking out much of the sun, the soft gurgle of the stream and not much noise other than the occasional chatter of animals, you can imagine a time before our world was even sparsley populated. If you are not accustomed to the thin air in Leadville and are not an experienced outdoors person, I wouldn’t recommend going to far up the trail. It could be fairly easy to get winded and there are after bears and mountain lions in them there woods.

 (Above) Turqouise Lake in the upper right hand corner.

 One of the other must see’s in the area is the “Route of the Silver Kings”. This is a dirt road that climbs above town and has many of the old mining structures still standing. This is a must for “ghost towners” or anyone remotely interested in how life was in the late 1800’s. There is so much left standing at some of the mines or “towns” that you can almost picture the hustle and bustle of daily mining life. You can hike the trail, ride a bike, or drive the dirt roads, with a family I would suggest driving. The main road around the route is fairly smooth and you do not need a 4×4 to get around, but stay to the main road because once you take a detour you may find yourself in a pretty rocky predicament, literally. There are many places to park your vehicle along the route to walk around and get a closer look at the structures, take photos or poke around. There is some fantastic scenery from this elevation and if you just drive the route you will not really be able to appreciate the beauty, so I recommend getting out and walking around, but be cautious, the ground around some of the mines may not be very stable. Staying at least a little ways back from the mouth of the mines and staying off of the top of them will be your best bet at playing it safe.

After all the climbing, exploring and shopping you can take a detour through the historic graveyard on the way back to the campground. This very old, tree lined graveyard can be oddly relaxing after a busy day in the hills. I will not describe what you will find in the graveyard, that is for you to see and experience in your own way as I’m sure everyone that drives this particular graveyard has had their own experience. I will tell you though, to pay close attention to the inscriptions on some of the gravestones, you may be very surprised.

Once your back at the campsite, start yourself a fire, cook up some grub and relax. When the sun starts going down make sure you look up, as I’m sure not many places in the U.S. are going to have a view of the stars like you will here. Like most campsites10:30 pm is quiet time and most if not all campers respect this rule. You may hear quite chatter, and maybe a little laughter from a circle of friends a couple of sites over but mostly you will hear wilderness. These are the times that most adults remember. Not saying a word, staring at and staying warm by the fire when you know that 2 feet behind you it is freezing. Complete relaxation, not caring about work, bills, traffic or much of anything else, just the moment. Be warned however, if you are too rambunctious after the 10:30 quiet time and you get more than 2 complaints, you may have to pay the camping fees for a couple of your fellow campers.

The following morning you may want a shower, or just to get cleaned up a little. For those of you that are tent camping, the facilities at Sugar Loafin’ are excellent. There is plenty of hot water and the showers are usually very clean. The bathrooms are heated as well and may feel like a warm escape on a very cold night, but I wouldn’t recommend sleeping in them, you may get some funny looks from the other campers.

All in all, I truly love visiting Sugar Loafin’ as much as I possibly can. They may be a little higher in rates than some other sites, but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Remember to say “I Love Camping” when making your reservations for a little discount.

Happy camping to all!

It’s Saturday morning and we have to be at the Allen Bible Center (which is an information center) no later than 9:30 a.m. in order to be inspected by the Bureau of Reclamation.  The Coast Guard requires certain items for water safety; one bailing bucket per canoe, 15 foot rope or cord to tie in equipment, and a flashlight.  Life Jackets which are, of course, required were provided with the canoes and three oars per canoe.  There is a short drive from the center to where we launch the canoes, so we load up the busses that are provided for us with our equipment and canoes.  The access road is approximately 2 miles and is paved from the lower portal gate to the bridge, but after that point it turns into a narrow dirt road and steep trail.

After going through the gate, we drove down a couple of miles of steep, narrow, winding road.  This area is not normally open to the public and they usually don’t allow large groups in the area due to a past history of vandalism and littering, but we convinced them that we would use trash bags and leave the area cleaner than we found it.  At the bottom of the bridge, we stopped and unload our equipment and canoes.  Since the area we are launching from is inaccessible by vehicle, it will be necessary to hand-carry our gear and canoes about 300 yards down a dirt road to the river.  We loaded our equipment into our canoes, teaming two people per canoe and we were off with out maps and information about the sites to watch for along the trip.  The water was cold, but refreshing on this hot summer day.  Some of us are first-time canoers and really feel the excitement mounting as we start down the river.

The water in this area has very little flow, which required a lot of paddling and made our start off a little slow.  Mile markers on the Nevada side of the river are white signs with black numbers, not to be confused with the navigation markers which are red or green signs.  A few hundred yards below the launch site we come upon a long sandy beach scattered with willow trees.  Just past the beach and up the lagoon, we come to the rain caves that have a mixture of hot and cold water drops.  As we get to the end of the lagoon, we beach the canoes and walk up to the sauna cave.  The sauna cave is warm upon entering and gets darker, warmer and wetter as you head towards the back of the cave.  It is so dark that we have to use our flashlights to find our way.  It’s about fifty yards to get to the back where we end into a wall with crystal rock and hot water running down.  It’s quite steamy!  A dam was to be built here, but when they started to build a tunnel at this site, they ran into hot water and had to abandon it. 

We go back down to the beach and climb into our canoes.  As we head back down the river, we find another beach that hosts pools of hot springs.  We found the water running into the springs to be cold, but the water bubbling up from the bottom of the springs was hot, so between the mixtures we got a very nice, comfortable water temperature.  We take care getting in and out of the pools as the algae on the rocks tended to get slippery plus we didn’t want to step on the few frogs that shared their pool with us. As we again climb into our canoes to head further down the river, we notice the water to start getting rough so we guide the canoes over to the left where the water is a little smoother.  A few yards below Gold Strike Canyon, down the river on the Arizona side, is another “hot” waterfall.  This one is within a few feet of the river and a little larger, but not quite as hot as the first one we encountered.  Just past the waterfall we find a palm tree, which stands out like a sore thumb, and is the only one of its kind on the river.

We have traveled approximately one mile on the river to this point and have experienced quite a bit already.  About a third of a mile past the one-mile marker is a large canyon with a nice, sandy beach which is called Boy Scout Canyon.  We didn’t dock our canoes, but the information that we had told us that there were more hot springs and hot pools up in the canyon.    We are now approaching Ringbolt Rapids, which is marked by a large ringbolt set in a rock on the Arizona side about 250 yards above the rapids and about 15-20 feet above the high water mark.  This is one of many ringbolts used from 1865-1890 to wrench steam boats up through the rapids.

We decided to camp for the night at a beach just above Ringbolt Beach so we docked out canoes and tied them to rocks on the beach or whatever was available.  After setting up camp, we went for a hike to find the large waterfall that was supposed to be in the area just a few miles up a small stream.  As we neared the stream, we saw that the stream ended (or began, however you want to look at it) about 500 yards from the river where we docked.  We called it the disappearing stream.  It was a strange site and the only thing we could figure out was that the stream flowed down into an underwater cave.  We found the water in the stream to be hot in some areas and cold in others and we had to climb several small, but slippery waterfalls to reach our destination.  When we finally reached our destination, which was a large waterfall that fell into a nice large pool, we were ready for a long swim.  The falls were beautiful and well worth the climb.  We were, however, careful not to get the hot water in our nostrils because we were warned by the Forest Service that the amoeba that grew in the pool could make us deathly sick.  By the time we hiked back down the stream to our campsite, we were exhausted and ready for a good nights sleep.  We first had to satisfy our hunger, so we quickly set up camp and prepared for a barbeque on the beach.  After eating, we sat around the campfire; we went over the events of the day and made our plans for the following day.

Sunday morning brought out some of the fishermen in the group, but the time for fishing was short as we had to get started back down the river.  We took down our tents and packed our equipment into the canoes, but found that the water level had gone down about four feet during the night so we had to drag the canoes down to the rivers edge to resume our trip.  The water is a little swifter here and that makes the rest of our river ride a little faster.  As we continue our trip, we are already planning to do it again.  It’s been such a wonderful experience thus far.  The early sun on the river is a site not to be missed along with the ducks paddling around and the fish jumping out of the water.  The river is so green in this area, but so clear and clean that we can see the bottom in most areas.  In fact, we saw very few weeds in the water of any kind.

Just before we came to another set of rapids, we spotted a water cave that you can go back into about forty feet, so we did.  We took our four canoes into the water cave where it was shady and cool and just what we needed after canoeing miles in the hot sun.  After we were cooled off a little, we headed back out to float between the rich, tall red canyon walls.  Three more miles into the trip we come across an interesting diagonal fault across the Arizona face of the canyon.  This is Weeping Canyon Wall.  Soon to follow is ‘”the balanced rock” and a natural stone arch “window” on the Nevada side.  Such interesting sites to behold and if that wasn’t enough, we spotted Bighorn sheep on the cliffs above us.  Wild burros are also common in the canyons, but we didn’t see any on this trip.  Between mile six and seven we find a formation on a canyon wall that resembles the backbone of an animal.  Geologists call it a dike, but the locals call it the dragon’s back.  At mile nine, on the Nevada side, is the old gauging station.  This was used for monitoring water levels, flow rates and silt contents.  There are two cables above us and a catwalk on the Arizona side.  One of the cables has a cable car that provided the guager access to both sides of the river.  The other cable was known as a restriction cable, which was used to monitor private boats as they were not allowed above this point of the river.  Many parts of the trip have been lessons in history.  At about mile ten is a Historic Landmark sign, which marks the trail that leads to what is left of the guagers residence.  Further down the river just before the mile eleven marker on the Arizona side are a group of buildings that are part of the National Fish Hatchery.  The buoys floating off the shore indicate that boats are not allowed (this includes canoes and kayaks).  If we had been more ahead of our schedule, we could have stopped just below it and walked back up to see the trout.  Our tight schedule didn’t allow us the time on this trip.  We had to meet the buses at a certain time, but let me tell you, this is one trip that will never be forgotten and I would highly recommend it for any adventurer.

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There are hundreds of ruins at Mesa Verde. The Cliff Palace, shown above, is the largest and one of the most famous. The Cliff Palace had 217 regular rooms and 23 kivas, or ceremonial rooms. Parts of it are two, three and even four stories high. About 250 people are believed to have lived in the Cliff Palace in the thirteenth century.

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Mesa Verde is Spanish for “green table” and was named that because of the green mesas that make up the area. These cliff dwellings are situated high in the cliffs in order to protect their inhabitants from invasion and animals.

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As you can see, these dwellings are quite impressive. What is really amazing is that they are carved out of the stone well above ground level of the cliffs in addition to being built from stones brought up from the canyon floor, making it even more amazing than the ancient city of Petra.

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Can you imagine carrying huge stone and logs up steep canyon trails by hand? Well, that is exactly what the builders of these cities did, because they had no machines or animals to help them, making this site among those which continue to intrigue scientists even today.

The people who lived at Mesa Verde were called Anasazi Indians. Anasazi is a Navajo word that means “Ancient Ones” The Anasazi Indians lived in Mesa Verde for over 700 years. Their disappearance from these dwellings still remains a mystery. All that is left are the buildings, a few tools and some pottery.

According to archeologists, the people of Mesa Verde were only little more than five feet tall and lived to be only about thirty five years old. They were mostly farmers, with crops consisting mainly of corn, beans and squash. For extra food, they hunted wild animals and gathered wild plants.

The people of Mesa Verde were skilled pottery makers. They made many useful items from clay that were rich in decoration. The items they created included bowls for cooking and eating, spoons and jars for storing and carrying water as well as cups and other utensils.

Here a few more articles that I have written about fascinating places that you may find interesting:

• Fascinating Places: Angel Falls
• Fascinating Places: the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang Di
• Fascinating Places: the Ancient City of Petra

Telluride, Colorado is encouraging their vacationers and towns people a like to use electric cars, they now have a rental program where you can rent them on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. These cars are delivered to your home or hotel fully charged and then you are instructed how to charge them when the battery gets low. It is recommended that the charging be done in the evening when the consumption of electricity is less. It costs approximately 60 cents to charge a completely depleted battery. The cars come in two sizes, a two passenger and a four passenger.

The city of Telluride offers free parking at all meters and in permit only parking areas for all electric cars, so this is perfect for all of your trips around town and even Bridal Veil Falls. It is wonderful when you can vacation and be good to environment at the same time, as so many times we forget to stay green when we are on vacation, and sometimes that is the most important time to remember that as that is when we are visiting our world in nature and our natural resources.

You can find Telluride between Grand Junction, Colorado and Durango, Colorado; it is a quaint mountain village with hot springs close by and magnificent scenery and natural wonders. It has a weekly farmers market , excellent hotels and fantastic camping and outdoor activities, skiing in the winter, fly fishing, river rafting, golfing and fine dining. You can find it all in the cultural mecca.

The really great part of going to a city where they have taken the effort and insight to support going green to the extent of creating a rental car to protect their environment, you know they go the extra length to go green in many other areas. When we find an area like that we need to honor and support them in their efforts. Plan your next vacation to this eco friendly town and enjoy what practicing going green means at its best.

Their mission is to connect people with plants and to encourage them to take care of them. Also, to let them know how important the plants on our daily living.

Because of its outstanding dedication of the people behind this since it was started in 1951, its artistic presentation and real work of art, the garden becomes the favorite destination for more than 55 years. They are believed to be the outstanding resource of the country.

The people who are behind the garden’s success and its highly acclaimed study on plants, they share a wealth of information and educate the people as well to be more inspired and learn while they’re exploring the gardens.

There are more events and exhibits to inspire the guests especially those who love plants and flowers. Also, there are more items at the gift shop like unusual tools, fountains, seeds, vases, books, jewelry, soaps and stationary products, as well as gardening gift items for adults and children that you can purchase if you want to avail.

They offer the complete garden experience and give you education about plants and most importantly, how to preserve and conserve the plants around us for it ads beauty in our environment.