Zebulon Montgomery Pike Trail to Red River, Arkansas Journey 1806 — 1807

Day 32: September 15th, 2004 Cañon City — Alamosa

Breakfast is again at the Village Inn. I pay and drive over to the next gas station. Around a quarter past nine I am ready for the next trip.

First I take Highway 115, then Rd 143 in direction of the Wet Mountain Range to the San Isabel Forest.

Rd 143/Oak Creek Grade, CO

Rd 143/Oak Creek Grade, CO

From the mountains you have great views down into the valley. Unfortunately also this road is covered with these longitudinal rips, which forces me to drive faster than I want to. I would have enjoyed to go slower to enjoy more of this beautiful landscape.

Rd 255/Oak Creek Grade, CO

Rd 255/Oak Creek Grade, CO

Rd 255/Oak Creek Grade, CO

Rd 255/Oak Creek Grade, CO

The road takes me over many hills and through forests until I reach the Wet Mountain Valley.

Highway 69, CO

Then I follow the paved Highway 69 South. I hope that I can take a gravel road to the west at Bradford to closely follow Pikes footsteps.

FR559, CO

But there is everything private property. Therefore I am forced to follow the official way to Medano Pass, which starts a couple of miles further to the south. Then it reunites with my original planned route to the west after a couple of miles.

FR559, CO

FR559 is pretty sandy and has rocks in some places. Luckily the soil is dried out and the clay soil is no problem right now. Finally I reach the beginning of the 4WD trail. There are some signs already warning for the oncoming difficulties.

FR559.1, Medano Pass, CO

FR559.1, Medano Pass, CO

The beginning of FR559.1 is not really difficult. But just to be safe, I already put in 4LO. This way I can drive most of the inclines in second gear and my torque converter stays locked.

On my way to the pass a lot of cars are approaching me. The traffic is way more than expected. But I am lucky that all these encounters are happening at spots, where there is enough space to pass each other. The inclines are pretty steep in some spots, almost 20 degrees, and with a bunch of rocks.

There I have the opportunity to finally get some nice shots outside from my car, when I pass the camera.

Despite all of this, I still make good progress and arrive at the pass soon. There everything is pretty much overgrown and you have no views into both of the valleys — even with being clearly above 9000ft. But the altitude is bothering me this time way less. It seems like I am getting adjusted to the elevation.

FR235, CO

FR235, CO

FR235, CO

FR235, CO

I look for a decent spot to have a cozily lunch break. Then I continue downhill in direction of the sand dunes. The downhill ride is way more level with only a few exceptions. The road also runs through some narrow valleys. Thanks to all the aspen there are great views of the mountains and the colored slopes. In fact you could stop permanently to take some pictures or video.

FR235, Medano Creek, CO

FR235, Medano Creek, CO

FR235, CO

FR235, CO

FR235, Medano Creek, CO

FR235, Medano Creek Beaver Dam, CO

88 S10 Blazer, FR235, CO

FR235, Medano Creek, CO

FR235, Medano Creek, CO

FR235, CO

FR235, CO

FR235, Medano Creek, CO

FR235, Medano Creek, CO

Then the first crossings of Medano Creek are starting. In the beginning they are really easy going. But the big beaver dams in the creek are not very promising. And indeed: At the crossing before last, I almost drown my little truck. I already see the whitecaps at the top of my hood — and my air inlet is below the hood level…

But somehow I make it to the other side. First I open the hood and indeed, water is running down from everywhere. This was really close. Later I will see on my movie, that it was not this bad. Even when my impression was to go very slow, I was still way too fast. Therefore I have built up a high bow wave. Next time I will use the first gear in 4LO instead of the second. But the last creek crossing was then without any issues.

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

FR235, Great Sand Dunes NM, CO

Suddenly the sand dunes appear in front of me out of the blue. It’s unbelievable, what the wind has dropped here in front of the mountains. Also the road is getting way more sandy. A sign even warns that you should lower your tire pressure now. But I give it a try without and I am able to proceed very well. You can tell that the tires are slipping a bit and you can definitely feel the higher resistance in moving forward. But in 4LO my little truck continues easily through the dunes. Also on this road I do plenty of stops to enjoy the beautiful landscape, take pictures and video. Just before I reach the end of the trail, two regular passenger cars are approaching me. I am wondering, what they plan to do here. Looks like the rangers will have some work soon…

Finally I reach the end of this 4WD trail and I am back on pavement. It is just half past four and I hurry up to reach the Visitor Center, who is only open until 5pm. There I see the last presentation of the introduction movie.

Then I depart to reach the park boundaries. It is already way past five when I arrive there. Usually you must show your permit here and if you don’t have one, because you might have traveled over Medano Pass like I did, you have to purchase one here. But it seems like no one is around here past 5pm and I can proceed without any payments — not too bad…

Deer, Highway 150, CO

On Highway 150 I continue south. After a couple of miles I see a stopped car. I slowly approach and realize why they have stopped: On the side of the road are some deer grazing. After a couple of minutes I drive on carefully. It takes a while until I reach Highway 160 to the west.

Highway 150, CO

On this highway I must travel for another half an hour until I eventually reach my Super 8 motel in Alamosa. Because my arrival at 7pm is already very late, I only receive a room to the street. I remember that I had last year the room next to it. Then I take a quick look at my first recordings.

Now it is time to drive over to K–Bob to have a steak like last year. Unfortunately the service is not the fastest, like already last year. But it is still okay. Around half past eight I pay and drive back to my motel. It seems like my neighbor is deaf, because he has turned up his TV to a level that it is hard for me to even here the recording of my camera. But I have so many recordings to check, that I am finished not before midnight. Luckily my neighbor has also finished watching TV by then. Exhausted I fall into my bed. Hopefully I will not sleep in too much tomorrow…