Farewell Colorado

One thing we are in awe of during this trip from Florida to Colorado is the spectacular beauty of this country. The diversity is amazing. The sunsets in Colorado are awesome as is the mountain scenery. I know I have said that before. I’m repeating myself. It comes with age, or is that maturity? The close of the days adventures here are spent just watching the sunset from our trailer.

We told you we would let you know of our adventures around Colorado Springs. We extended our stay at this campground so we could see a little more of the area. That’s the advantage of not having a schedule and being free to do what you like. In two days we took in some great attractions, those of a scenic nature.

We first went to The Royal Gorge, not far to the west of Pueblo. This is sometimes called the eastern grand canyon. It is the sight of the world’s highest suspension bridge, pictured here. It was built in 1929 for a cost of $350,000. In today’s money that would be more than $15 million. It is some 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River that runs in the canyon below. The bridge is only about ¼ mile long and 18 feet wide. The towers stand 150 feet high and hold the suspension cables made of 2,100 strands of No. 9 wire in each cable. The cables weight 300 tons, yes “tons”. There is 1,000 tons of steel in the floor. The surface of the bridge is Douglas Fir planks 18 feet long, 12 inches wide and 3 inches thick. The planks total 1,292. About 250 of them are replaced each year. One can walk or drive across the bridge.

We rode from one side to the other (in addition to walking across the bridge) of the canyon on the Aerial Tram, which we are told is the longest single-span aerial tram in the world. The tram cables weigh over seven tons each. Talk about throwing your weight around. It runs 1,178 feet about the river. We also went to the bottom of the gorge on the “world’s steepest incline railway.” A 100% grade at a 45-degree angle for 1,550 feet. It took five minutes each way. It kept us busy just moving up, down and across.

One attraction we did not do. It is called the Skycoaster. It works like this---one to three people are harnessed into a sling, face down in a prone position. The sling is pulled backward and upward to the height of 100 feet above the canyon edge. That sounds bad enough, right? When one gets to the top, then the sling is released, and like a pendulum swings out over the canyon at 1,200 feet above the gorge. One swings several times in this manner until the momentum stops. No thank you! We were brave enough to watch others doing it.

We next went to the ruins of the Pueblo Indian cliff dwellings in Manitou Springs west of Colorado Springs. You see a picture here of a portion of the ruins. These dwellings were built some 700 years ago. They were first opened to the public in 1907. The ruins can be explored room by room on a self-guided tour. We enjoyed wandering through the ruins, marveling at the architectural skills of the Anasazi Indian builders so long ago. Some rooms can only be entered from the roof by ladder. This was so that when under attack by others, they could retreat, remove the ladder and prevent entry. We spent a most interesting couple of hours exploring.

Our final excursion in the area was to the Garden of The Gods which is now a city park maintained by Colorado Springs. It is located west of the city at the foot of Pikes Peak. The views of towering red rocks of varying shape are magnificent. You see a representative photo here. You can get a little perspective of the size of the rocks by the people in the photo. No, we don’t know who the people are. One cannot get a photo in a place like this without having “unknown” stranger in them. I often wonder in how many photos I am the stranger.

The land comprising the park was donated by a rail-road baron with the specific instructions that “it would forever be free to the public.” No cost to witness this beauty of nature. The original donation was 480 acres. It has been added to over the years by the donation of others to its present 1350 acres. If one has a city permit to do so, the rocks can be climbed by those willing to take the risk. We saw several rock-climbers on our visit. Again, no thank you! Too bad I can’t share all my photos with you. I took some 130 pictures at these sites.

On Tuesday the 23rd we left Pueblo West and headed south to Raton, NM, just over the boarder from Colorado. The scenery on the drive down again changed to different shaped hills with trees and mountain peaks of a more flat nature. Raton is 6,680 feet in elevation. The air is thinner, and we began to notice it. When we arrived at the campground our campsite was up on a ridge behind the office, even higher. The campground is located at the famous Raton Pass on the Santa Fe Trail. The elevation here is over 7,800 feet. One thing we noticed in both Colorado and here in New Mexico is the constant breeze (or wind, depending on the intensity). It reminds one of the coastal areas in that regard. The wind at times is strong enough to rattle our trailer and cause the awnings over our slides to flap and make a racket that reverberates throughout the trailer. We at times wonder if they are going to rip apart. The winds have gusted up to 30 miles per hour. So far, everything is alright, but it does interfere with sleeping at night.

We discovered some interesting history about the Santa Fe Trail and Raton Pass. The trail ran from Missouri to Santa Fe, then the capital of northern Mexico, in the early 1800’s. The trail divided into two trails, one going through the mountains (Raton Pass) and the other through the plains 100 miles to the south. It seems that the mountain route was more difficult than the southern, but safer with plenty of water.

Well now the interesting part. A certain entrepreneur by the name of Richens Lacy Wootten, later known as “Uncle Dick”, came to the area in the early 1800’s and saw an opportunity. He built a house on the Pass and began to improve the road, then put up a gate across the Pass and began to charge a toll. When some objected to the toll, he simply told them to take the other route. It was only 100 miles to the southwest. That seemed to settle the matter. He initially charged $1.50 for a wagon or buggy and 25 cents for a “horseman”, prices that he changed from time to time. But Wootten always allowed the Indians to use the toll road free of charge.

We are going to look around the area to see what might be of interest before moving on south to get out of the cold. So far, it has only dropped into the low 40’s at night, but it is scheduled to reach the 30’s before we leave. We want warmth and easier breathing. Our next stop may be Santa Fe, but that has not yet been decided. As you can no doubt tell, if you are keeping up with our moves, we are moving less than 200 miles at a time now. We are aiming for short moves and longer stays in our future. But of course, this may depend on the weather at this time of year. So far, in the last four months, we have moved 25 times through ten states.

It is now decided. We will leave in the morning, September 28, and stop next in Espanola, NM, 25 miles north of Santa Fe. It is about 200 miles from our present spot. It is an area of art and Indian history, both of interest to us. I read that 1 out of 8 people in Santa Fe work in the art community in some way. It is well known for it’s art and history.