Travel Day to BV from Durango via Wolf Creek Pass

June 7, 2011. Durango to Buena Vista, Colorado.
We got up early and finished our moving day preparations. The night before we had a spectacular mexican dinner prepared by our 4th of July hosts, Mark and Patty. Because we had a late dinner I didn't have as much put away as I had hoped. However, we still managed to pull-out by 8:30. Durango Year Round RV Park is very tight for big rigs. So, I ended up backing out of our pull-thru site towards the exit and angled it to get out.
We had about 230 miles to travel to Buena Vista, Co. and that included a couple passes the most infamous, Wolf Creek Pass just north of Pagosa Springs.

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Approaching the start of the climb to Wolf Creek Pass

Wolf Creek Pass (el. 10,857 ft.) is a high mountain pass on the Continental Divide, in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. It is the route through which U.S. Highway 160 passes from the San Luis Valleyinto southwest Colorado on its way to New Mexico and Arizona. The pass is notable as inspiration of aC. W. McCall song. Though not as formidable as the song made it seem, the pass is significantly steep on either side (7 to 8% in most places), and can be dangerous in winter.


The climb to the pass was steep and twisting. For the majority of the climb, I kept the truck in 3rd gear and the rpms between 2200-2500 rpms. This seemed to keep the Cummins Diesel running at normal temps and maintained plenty of power. We only climbed at just over 35 mph. However, that was within the speed limit and I wasn't blocking traffic as there was a climbing lane for the majority of the climb up. In fact only a few cars were going any faster! Actually there didn't seem to be much traffic over the pass.

We stopped at the summit at the kiosk display for The Great (continental) Divide.

The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largelymountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from (1) those river systems that drain into the Atlantic Ocean (including those that drain into the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea), and (2) along the northernmost reaches of the Divide, those river systems that drain into the Arctic Ocean.

There are many other hydrological divides in the Americas, however the Great Divide is by far the most prominent of these because it tends to follow a line of high peaks along the main ranges of the Rocky Mountains and Andes, at a generally much higher elevation than the other divides.

At the Summit of Wolf Creek Pass

Traveling down from the pass is an adventure unto itself. I kept the Dodge in 3rd or sometimes 4th gear in Tow Haul Mode and the exhaust brake on (as always). The truck held the load of the trailer @ 35-40 mph down the twisty side of the mountain with an occasional use of the foot brake approaching the twisty turns. Again this was within the posted speed limits. I've heard tales of folks pulling trailers up and over the pass burning up their brakes on the way down. Today's modern diesel pickups have taken a lot of the braking concerns out of the equation.

A relatively new (2006) tunnel on the East side of the pass. 

After safely negotiating the pass, we continue east and then north towards BV. We climbed and descended Poncha Pass without incident.

Poncha Pass (9,010 ft/2,745 m) is a mountain pass in South-Central Colorado (USA). It lies between the San Luis Valley to the south and the valley of the Arkansas River to the north, and is one of the lowest mountain passes in the state ^[1]. It is in the saddle between the Sangre de Cristo Range, lying to the southeast, and the Sawatch Range, lying to the west and northwest. US Highway 285 runs over the pass, linking the towns of Alamosa to the south and Salida to the northeast. The small town of Poncha Springs lies about 6 miles (9 km) north of the pass. The pass has a mild approach on the northern side and a moderate 5% approach from the south, though it remains open all year round and does not normally cause problems for vehicles in winter.

Descending from Poncha Pass

We stopped for a quick bite to eat and a break in Poncha Springs. We could see storm clouds ahead of us to the north. After about 6 hours on the road and some light showers we pulled into Valley RV Park aka Mobile Valley RV Park. We had stayed in this park last year.

We were assigned site 29, perhaps the largest site in the park. A nice corner pull through site.

We got set-up and took these pictures just minutes before it rained. The first good rain that we have seen in months.

View out the door side.

In fact, it rained again overnight! Gotta love Colorado!

We had a good uneventful travel day and I seemed to be getting good mileage out of the truck at over 10 mpg. Very acceptable considering the long climbs pulling a 15K+ fifth wheel.

Relaxing and Updating Campground Reviews

July 12, 2010.
We again woke up late to a beautiful sunny morning. It rained overnight and with temperatures overnight in the upper 50's it was expected to reach the low 80's today.
We stayed at home today with the exception of going into town for dinner. We had the opportunity to speak with several of the campsite residents today and leaned some things about the capabilities of our Jeep Rubicon from some Jeep enthusiasts staying in the park for a rally. At the recommendation of some Jeep club members, we purchased a book on Colorado off-road trails that was available at Princeton RV Park,

NEW! GUIDE TO COLORADO BACKROADS & 4WD TRAILS (3RD EDITION)

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$29.95

Full color throughout • 100 Trails (27 new) • over 400 photos • 232 pages

The 100 trails in this book may be the best batch ever put together in one place. Whether you are a newcomer to 4-wheeling or an experienced veteran, we guarantee you’ll have fun. The trails are grouped into seven key areas in the heart of Colorado’s most beautiful high country. Most are convenient to Denver and the Front Range.

A full-color format makes planning your next adventure simpler than ever. Easy, moderate and difficult routes are color coded, while symbols quickly show kinds of vehicles allowed on each trail. This includes unlicensed UTVs, ATVs and dirt bikes. 

A separate mileage log ties numbered locations along the route to a custom map and “Aerial Terrain” view. GPS coordinates are provided for each numbered location and may also be downloaded free from this Web site. Included are reverse mileages for all trails and historical highlights. 

Every book includes concealed spiral binding that lays flat for easy use. Heavy-duty plastic laminate cover withstands rough use. (Not available in square back format.)

With this book, we should have a better idea off what Jeep trails are suitable for our abilities and lack of experience. We've been told there are a lot of Jeep trails near Montrose, Co. in the Ouray- Silverton area of Colorado.
We prepared for our move towards Montrose, Colorado tomorrow. In the evening I worked on updating our Campground Reviews Page.

Relaxing with Friends

July 9th, 2010.

We slept late again but were out the door by 9:00 to greet a beautiful sunny day. We took the dogs for a walk and then came back to the rig and did some computer work. Joyce did some laundry in the park. By noon, we drove into Buena Vista to wash the Jeep and stop at the local grocery store.

It was a lazy afternoon but I managed to get out of the lounge chair long enough to apply RainX to the Jeep windows and mirrors as well as my truck. I did some other small chores around the rig. 

Around 4:00 Dean and Billie Tecklenburg came over as planned. We had made dinner plans to go to Eddyline an Italian restaurant in Buena Vista.

We had wonderful meals. Dean and I had pizza and it was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had. Afterwards, we drove back to our rig and had Joyce’s homemade apple pie and some ice cream.

We really enjoyed the company of Dean and Billie. We hope to see them down the road again. I should mention that they are very active in an ATV club and have a RV toy hauler. So, hopefully we will meet again some time and do some camping together.

Friends from Florida and traveling over Cottonwood Pass

July 7, 2010.

Yesterday, Dean and Billie Tecklenburg picked us up at our campsite and took us to breakfast in Buena Vista. Dean and Billie used to live across the street from us when we owned a stick and bricks in Palm Harbor, Fl. Dean also retired from the Pinellas Sheriff's Office a few years before me. His wife, Billie retired from teaching. They had both dreamed for years of moving to Colorado and building a home. A dream they accomplished as soon as Dean retired.

They drove us out to their beautiful custom built home at 9000 ft. overlooking beautiful mountain pastures. While we were there, clouds rolled in and it began to hail first it was pea size hail which turned to Garbonzo bean size hail! It was beautiful to look out their large windows at the mountains and watch the storms rolling across the mountains and valleys. Before long we had to get back to Maggie and Rico. 

Dean and Billie dropped us off at our rig as it started to rain. We made plans to meet again later in the week for dinner.

July 8th, 2010,

Joyce and I woke to temps in the 50's. Highs were only expected to be in the 70's. We slept in late and then took the dogs for a good walk. Around noon, we decided to take a ride over Cottonwood Pass. It was a beautiful climb from Buena Vista along a sometimes narrow two-lane paved road.

Cottonwood Pass (elevation 12,126 feet (3,696 m)) is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains of south-central Colorado,United States. It is located near the border of Gunnison and Chaffee counties in Colorado and is in the Sawatch Range. The area surrounding the pass is mostly forest, with the San Isabel National Forest to the east and the Gunnison National Forest to the west.

Continental Divide is marked at the summit of Cottonwood Pass. The pass is closed seasonally due to heavy snowfall, typically from around October until sometime in May. When open, the pass can be accessed from Buena Vista to the east by following Chaffee County Road 306. Near the summit, the road name changes to Gunnison County Road 209 as it continues to the west, passing nearTaylor Park Reservoir and continuing down into the town of Almont. The majority of this road is paved, with the exception being the section linking the summit of Cottonwood Pass with Taylor Park Reservoir, which is gravel.

We parked at the summit and could see clouds rolling in.

The road to the summit of Cottonwood Pass is paved traveling west from Buena Vista. However, the downhill side continuing west is a dirt road. We decided to travel down the West side towards the Taylor Reservoir.

We got within 3 miles of the Reservoir and it was raining, hailing and sleeting so we decided to turn back.

It was a bit muddier on the way back! We sure are enjoying our Jeep! This is not something we would have attempted in the car we traded.

After getting back to Buena Vista, we took a ride over to an RV dealer in Salide to look for a fifth wheel lube plate for the king pin. My previous plate broke in half as i unhitched. Naturally the RV shop was out of them. Hopefully they will have one for us on Monday.

Travel Day to Valley Mobile RV Park in Buena Vista, Co.

July 6th, 2010.

Last night while walking the dogs in the woods, we came across 3 of these great horned owls. Awesome!

Yesterday, we prepared to leave by packing up and airing up. I had deflated the rear tires of my dually truck from 65 lbs to 50 lbs for each tire. I had done this prior to driving the 100 mile round trip to my sister and brother-in-law's house. You may ask, why we didn't take the Jeep for that trip. Well, we took the dogs with us and the jeep is still too new and clean for them to ride in it! So, I aired the dually back up to 62 each tire as I'm noticing a little center wear on the rear tires. While I was at it, I topped off 3 of the 4 trailer tires to 110 psi. with my compressor.

We took a trip in the afternoon to Sam's Club and went out for lunch. While at Sam's we picked up another Garmin GPS for the Jeep. A year ago we never had a GPS navigator, now we need...okay want two. Of course in our previous working life, we were so familiar after 30 years in the same communities, that we didn't need such a device.

Today we awoke at about 7:30 and made our final preparations to move on. We got hitched and said our good-byes to my father and Karen. They would be continuing to a state park outside of Denver. Joyce and I would be headed back to Buena Vista to visit with a former neighbor and co-worker from the sheriff's office back home. We had just recently discovered how close they are to Buena Vista so we wanted to make the effort to visit with them on our way out west.

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We took Hwy 24 from I-25. Immediately we began climbing and going around sharp blind curves. No fun in a 24000 lb. rig. We went through two passes at over 9K feet.

The views were spectacular. 

Descending towards the Arkansas River Valley

Our original destination was Arkansas River Rim RV Park. After arriving we checked in at the office. We didn't like the sites that were offered so we headed back towards Valley Mobile RV Park that we passed along the way. 
It's next to the Snowy Peaks RV Park were we stayed about two weeks ago.

We ended up with a very nice shady back in site with great views of the mountains. We liked the site so much we decided to stay for a week at only $173 for full hook-ups with 50 amps.

It's expected to be cool this week so we shall see how it goes!