Buena Vista, Colorado

Colorado's Rocky Mountains

Not everything that has happened the past few months has been bad. Sure we changed our plans and ended up staying in Colorado in one place longer than usual. That is not a bad thing. We were forced to live differently and slow down. If you call hiking more than ever slowing down. This is giving us a chance to explore the area and take it all in.

Once we decided to return to Colorado, we had to find a place to stay. I called around, leaving messages. Valley RV Park was one of the few campgrounds that returned my call. The price was amazing. She had room for us. And there was enough to keep us busy for the summer. We moved in once Chaffee County lifted the RV restrictions.

Our bank account is definitely seeing the positive affects of not eating out and the less expensive monthly rates rather than the more expensive weekly or nightly rates. This leads to less driving days and more days to get our exercise.

We are in the warm and windy Upper Arkansas River Valley with views of the 14,000 feet Collegiate Peaks from our front door. This area has enough to keep an outdoorsman busy for quite some time. 

Kayakers enjoying the Arkansas River.

Cycling the County Roads

Riding our bikes on the county roads for 20 miles at 8500 feet elevation made my legs feel like they had no energy after the first 10 miles. 

Paddleboarder riding the river waves in Salida.

Cottonwood Lake

Taking a breather above Cottonwood Lake, I looked down to see a tick climbing my leg and wouldn't let go. Finally, I was able to flick him off. Aghhh!

We were surprised by the amount of dispersed camping in the BLM surrounding the small town of Buena Vista.

. I am seeing how much more respectful people are being towards each other and less rushed, no place to be but home. But the trails are getting busier.

Cottonwood Lake was like glass on a peaceful early morning before the winds started blowing. 

We may rent an ATV or Jeep to explore the backcountry.

Our neighbor was excited about the number of fish we saw in the lake. He was up early the next morning catching and releasing 16 trout. He was a happy man.

Midland Railroad's tunnels.

Four Mile Recreation Area

The Four Mile Recreation Area has miles and miles of hiking at 8000 feet that are mostly rolling between rock formations. Making shorter less steep hikes a great way to recover from harder hikes and only a couple of miles from us. The 100,000 acres of wilderness is an amazing place to get away from it all with views of the Collegiate Peaks.

No private property signs here!

The cactus will be in full bloom in a few days.

The rocks were the result of lava flow from an explosive volcanic eruption.

The Ute Indians once hunted buffalo in this area.

Colorado loves its dogs.

Brown's Canyon Falls Trail

We took county road 270 halfway between Poncho Springs and Buena Vista 2 miles to CR 272 and 2 miles to the trailhead.

Swallowtail Butterfly and wildflowers starting to bloom. 

In Colorado, you have to pay attention to the sky. Every afternoon the clouds build and can bring lightening and rain. And the rains started as we were heading down. Fortunately. we only heard thunder once and didn't see any lightening. Checkout the fancy raingear that fits in my daypack. Styling on the trail.

After the waterfall hike and several days of hiking I was ready for a rest and slept most of the next day with a smile on my face. We are fortunate to be able to live this life.

Sure, when we are free to move about the world a little more freely, we will be ready for new places and adventures, learning more new things and meeting more people. For now we are glad to have a place to stay with places to explore right here in the Colorado Rockies for a few months. Maybe we will even see some bighorn sheep on the trails.

High altitude

Rocky Mountain High at 10,000 feet

It felt good to be back in our old stomping grounds where our kids grew up skiing. As we stood on the Continental Divide, looking down on Monarch Ski Resort, the memories came back making me nostalgic.

 

 

Turquoise Lake

On our last visit to Turquoise Lake, we rode in the Buena Vista Bike Fest put on by our Colorado Springs Cycle Club a few years ago.  The 100 mile ride started in Buena Vista to Leadville, around Turquoise Lake and the Mineral Belt Trail and back to BV. This time we enjoyed a shorter ride.

 

We loved the peaceful feel and cool temps of our USFS campground. Most of the people chose to stay in the campsites along the lake. We were good with Father Dyer campground on the hill and would go to the day use area to enjoy the lake.

In the 1890s, the discovery of gold brought the first miners to this two-mile high city, but it was the discovery of silver that made Leadville the nation's wealthiest city at the time.

 

 When Oscar Wilde entertained his audience at the Tabor Opera House, more than 40,000 people lived in Leadville! Our population is a lot less now.

 

The legends of the West were no strangers to Leadville: Horace and Baby Doe Tabor, the Unsinkable Molly Brown, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid and even a John W. Booth whose headstone graces Evergreen Cemetery.

 

Leadville's Mineral Belt Trail

 

The Mineral Belt Trail is 11.6 mile with numerous trailheads and access points. Approximately six miles of this trail meanders through the historic Leadville Mining District with views of the Sawatch and Mosquito ranges. We added a route around Turquoise Lake and were sucking air when we reached 10,606 feet elevation. Who needs oxygen?

We did some heavy breathing on the climb but was worth the downhill and great views.



Horace Tabor and Baby Doe's Matchless Mine was quite a story of rags to riches to rags.

Leadville, Colorado

Leadville, a Victorian-era mining town, was once home to 30,000 residents. In its heyday, it had saloons, dance halls, and brothels. Thanks to the profiting gold and silver mines, there was also a lot of wealth, which afforded the construction of hotels, Victorian mansions, and the Tabor Opera House.

70 square blocks of Leadville’s downtown were designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966. Since then, extensive preservation efforts have put much of the town’s rich history on display. With such notable structures as the Healy House, Heritage Museum, Delaware Hotel, and Tabor Home a walking tour should have been in order. I think we will be sure to catch it the next time we return.



The altitude was starting to affect me by the third day. We headed down to Buena Vista.

 

Buena Vista, CO

Buena Vista is located in central Colorado in the Upper Arkansas River Valley, often referred to as the "Banana Belt", due to its relatively mild winters.  Buena Vista lies in a wide valley and is a high mountain desert at the base of the 14,000+ peaks of the Collegiate Peaks, Mt. Princeton, Mt. Yale, Mt. Columbia, and Mt. Harvard, of the Sawatch Range. In summer, Buena Vista is a popular access point for world-class whitewater rafting, kayaking, and fly fishing on the Arkansas River, and mountain climbing and backpacking on local 14ers and the Colorado Trail. Sizable elk and deer herds attract hunters in the winter months, and bighorn sheep, mountain goats, and antelope are also indigenous to the area.

Buena Vista  grew as a railroad town serving the local silver, gold, and lead mining industry, with three rail lines. Many of the existing buildings of Buena Vista date back to  the 1880s and 1890s.



 We passed this old school house of days gone by on our 23 mile bike ride on the backroads to Mt Princeton Hot Springs. It was much easier riding at an elevation of 7900 feet after being in Leadville.

These Pronghorn were waiting for us to pass so they could catch up with the rest of the herd across the road. They are not jumpers like deer but got through the fence just fine.

The downtown has been rejuvenated over the years. The prices in the restaurants reflected this. 

 

The decorating reflected the cycling community in this area.

You can't beat the many good food trucks.

 

We met several couples at the Snowy Peak RV Park that come for all or part of the season. The time slipped by as we shared good wine, good cheese and good stories.

 

Our time here was too short and we booked a return trip when the leaves start changing before we leave Colorado.

 

Buena Vista, Colorado

We haven't been to Buena Vista in a while. Everything was beautiful and river running high after all of the rain we have received.

Mount Princeton in the background while we ride our bikes up Cottonwood Pass.

We managed to ride up to Cottonwood Hot Springs before the pass really started to climb. When we stopped in for a visit, they were very pleasant and showed us around. We have visited Mt Princeton Hot Springs in the past but really liked the atmosphere here.

I was hoping to hike up to Ptarmigan Lake but as you can see the snow was still a bit deep.

After driving down the pass to under 10,000 feet we found another trail with lots of beaver ponds and streams.

The Buena Vista Park runs along the Arkansas River with hiking/biking trails, kayaking and rafting.

So glad we got to return even though its not very far from where we live.