Colorado July 2017
Hi all, We normally try to avoid making our month-long trip at this time of year, but circumstances beyond our control dictate our dates this time. Plan is to leave home Tuesday, June 27th and retu...
Forum Discussion
Trip Update;
First, thank you for these replies.
Second, because we plan to go somewhere to watch the solar eclipse on August 21st, I told Tom that we should combine the two trips into one. So... I pushed our departure date to mid-July instead of late June. Maybe cruiserjs was onto something before I was. ;)
Changing dates meant changing reservations at RMNP, & I lucked out again. Able to get the same site as before in Glacier Basin, but this time 3 nights were available. Love that we'll now have 2 full days to explore the Park from there.
So new schedule is:
July 18th - depart no later than this, earlier if I can talk Tom into being gone longer.
August 7-9 (M-W) at RMNP
Where we'll watch the eclipse depends on cloud cover, so that will also affect the date we'll have to leave Colorado. But hope for only a 2 day drive to see it.
We do want to spend some time around/between Leadville, Buena Vista, and Salida - probably on our way up to RMNP. My nephew went to college in Gunnison and lived in Fairplay for several years afterwards. He did a lot of 4x4 exploring and has promised to put something together for us. Still, other recommendations from people here are more than welcome.
And I hate to admit it, but we have not been to the Maroon Bells. Or anything else in that area. On our previous trip we split a tire near the Boar's Tooth in Wyoming. Closest replacement for it was in Grand Junction, which is how we ended up in Colorado at all on that trip. I had done zero research, so we stayed in Ouray by sheer luck and available camping. The guy at the CG had a wonderful "Ghost Towns and Jeep Roads of the San Juans" map he gave us. He even marked it with the roads we could handle and the ones to avoid at all costs.
I know we can't possibly see all that Colorado has to offer. That will probably take several more trips. But I do appreciate your generosity in helping us make the most of this time.
First, thank you for these replies.
Second, because we plan to go somewhere to watch the solar eclipse on August 21st, I told Tom that we should combine the two trips into one. So... I pushed our departure date to mid-July instead of late June. Maybe cruiserjs was onto something before I was. ;)
Changing dates meant changing reservations at RMNP, & I lucked out again. Able to get the same site as before in Glacier Basin, but this time 3 nights were available. Love that we'll now have 2 full days to explore the Park from there.
So new schedule is:
July 18th - depart no later than this, earlier if I can talk Tom into being gone longer.
August 7-9 (M-W) at RMNP
Where we'll watch the eclipse depends on cloud cover, so that will also affect the date we'll have to leave Colorado. But hope for only a 2 day drive to see it.
We do want to spend some time around/between Leadville, Buena Vista, and Salida - probably on our way up to RMNP. My nephew went to college in Gunnison and lived in Fairplay for several years afterwards. He did a lot of 4x4 exploring and has promised to put something together for us. Still, other recommendations from people here are more than welcome.
And I hate to admit it, but we have not been to the Maroon Bells. Or anything else in that area. On our previous trip we split a tire near the Boar's Tooth in Wyoming. Closest replacement for it was in Grand Junction, which is how we ended up in Colorado at all on that trip. I had done zero research, so we stayed in Ouray by sheer luck and available camping. The guy at the CG had a wonderful "Ghost Towns and Jeep Roads of the San Juans" map he gave us. He even marked it with the roads we could handle and the ones to avoid at all costs.
I know we can't possibly see all that Colorado has to offer. That will probably take several more trips. But I do appreciate your generosity in helping us make the most of this time.
