From Flaming Gorge to Loma, Colorado

Friday, Sept. 24 - We left Flaming Gorge this morning and headed out through the Ashley National Forest to Colorado.  I saw 4 antelope run by the RV this morning, and Joe had to stop for another one crossing the road as we left the campground.  On our way to our fuel/soda stop at Manila, I saw 6 deer (Joe saw 10, but we were driving separately).  And we saw 2 turkeys along the same area we had seen them yesterday, probably the same ones, but we couldn't see the third one.

We had a hard pull coming out of the National Gorge, we seemed to go straight uphill for the first 13 miles, topping out at 7734 elevation.  After we got through there, we continued uphill through Uintah Pass, with a summit of 8428.  On that road, we came through a grove of trees, we assumed aspen, that was just glowing with color.  This picture is just past the curve where we came into the grove, so it doesn't show the full impact, but it was one of those "wow" spots.

This is another scenic route, and there were some beautiful views coming down off the mountaintops.

There was a mine (we don't know what kind) right along part of this highway.

We came to the Steinaker Dam and Reservoir, which was very blue and we could see it from pretty high up as we came through the switchbacks coming down off this mountain.

Shortly after entering Colorado, we stopped for lunch along a site with petroglyphs.

The next mountain pass (Douglas Pass, elevation 8268)  we had to go through had 10 switchbacks and 5% to 8% grades.  It was a long pull and just after we crossed the summit, we came upon an accident.  Apparently someone had gone off the cliff, and they were just bringing the car up.  The cliff was really steep and probably more than a thousand feet drop.  It had happened sometime earlier because there were no emergency vehicles still there, just the wreckers.  Here's what the cliff looked like.  Those little white places on the left are vehicles.

We picked out a campground just 6 miles north of I-70, a little west of Grand Junction, Colorado.  We lucked out because there was only one space left, and that was due to a cancellation.  But it was a really nice state campground, with lots of trees and grass, right on a small lake, Highline Lake.

We got off the round about 2:30 and had some nice down-time sitting outside enjoying the shade and watching other campers coming in.  There was a bicycle brigade of 3- and 4-year olds, with training wheels still on the bikes, then a few older boys with "bigger bikes" that made several circles around the campground.  It was pretty warm here -- we are at 4700 feet -- and I got my shorts out for the first time since leaving Arizona in May.  The warmer it gets, the slower Joe drives, so I don't know when we'll ever get home!