COLORADO

Coming into CO along Hwy 50 we stopped at Bent’s Old Fort NHS. The ranger(above)gave us a very informative tour. Bent's Old Fort, built in Colorado in 1833, was a major fur trading post along the Santa Fe Trail. The primary trade was with the Plains Indians for buffalo robes. Not too far from there is Boggsville which was a major site on the Santa Fe Trail during the 1860’s serving as the nucleus of a permanent settlement of Colorado. It was the first non-fortified settlement. At this time it is in the restoration process. It was also home to Kit Carson. He was buried here.
Canon City, CO
A town with something to do for everyone. Rafting, biking, hiking, The River Gorge park with the Royal Gorge Bridge “Walk the Sky”. The Royal Gorge Route Railroad. We did take this 2 hour, 24 mile round-trip train ride that travels deep beneath the towering 1,000 foot granite cliffs of the Gorge, along the tumbling waters of the Arkansas River, where eagles soar, and bighorn sheep roam(which we did see). We would recommend this.
We did get a very good hike in at The Tunnel Drive. It’s high above the gorge with nice views down. Also good bike ride along the river trail.

We would have loved to walk across the Royal Gorge bridge-The world's highest suspension bridge which spans the Arkansas River at a height of 1053 feet. Sadly there was a fire this summer that burned a great deal of the area and most of the Theme park buildings but luckily only did minor damage to the bridge. This was closed and will not reopen until next year. Beautiful scenery at this campground on the Blue Mesa Reservoir in the Curecanti National Recreation Area.
Cimarron visitor center-campground –with the historic train exhibit. Short distance away is the Morrow Point Dam.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park-narrow openings, sheer walls, and startling depths can be experienced from many overlooks which are only a short walk to the rim. This area has fishing,hiking and three campgrounds.
Spectacular drive between Ouray and Durango CO. One can’t help but appreciate the beauty of Colorado. We have seen many nice areas this summer but this state is just impressive!
Silverton is about half way between Ouray and Durango. This train ride is a very popular attraction. Leaves Durango in the morning for a round trip ride, stopping for 2 1/2 hrs in Silverton for shopping and lunch before returning, totaling 5 hours. We did not take the ride, as we had just recently done a train ride and we had just shopped and lunched in Silverton. So no surprises there. Maybe next time!

Mesa Verde National Park is awesome!  About AD 550, long before Europeans explored North America, some of the people living in the region decided to move onto the Mesa Verde. For over 700 years these people and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of canyon walls. In the late 1200s in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes and moved away. Archeologists have called these people Anasazi. “the ancient foreigners”
Three of the dwellings where open at this time of year. One is self guided the others one must buy a ticket for a specified hour of the day for a ranger led tour. The Spruce Tree House-the best preserved cliff dwelling was the self guided tour. It is a 45 min. drive from the visitor center, with a few overlooks on the way. Later we took the guided tour for the Cliff Palace, that one required climbing around some rocks and 4 ladders.
Another “we would recommend place to see”