7/23/09 - Wheatland, WY





We left Scottsbluff and drove to Fort Laramie National Historic Site in eastern Wyoming. This was initially a trading post in the early 1800’s which became a U.S. Army fort. The Plains Indian War started here when 30 soldiers were massacred when they tried to arrest an Indian for stealing a cow. Much of the fort’s buildings are still standing and they have been filled with period furnishings. One of the buildings called “Old Bedlam” is the oldest building in Wyoming. We stayed in the city RV park in Wheatland, Wyoming.

7/24/09 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY




We drove to Laramie, Wyoming and went through the Wyoming Territorial Prison. Butch Cassidy was imprisoned here from 1894 to 1896. Then we drove the scenic Snowy Range Highway in Medicine Bow National Forest and set up the trailer in the Nash Fork Campground.

7/25/09 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY







We drove through two nearby campgrounds to check them out. We stopped at Libby Flats observation point where you had a good view of the snowy range mountains. We went on a short hike on the miner’s cabin trail. Then we hiked the 3.6 mile Lakes Trail. It went through some beautiful country – snowy mountains and lakes with beautiful flowers in bloom. I carried a picnic lunch in my backpack for to eat at the end of the trail as we enjoyed the scenery. Just as we got there it started to rain – much lightning which was frightening on the treeless 11,000 foot summit. We high tailed it back wearing our Wal-Mart ponchos and had the picnic lunch in the car. It rained the rest of the day.

7/26/09 - Medicine Bow National Forest, WY



We got up to gorgeous sunny weather. We decided to move to a more picturesque campground higher up the road – the Brooklyn Lake Campground. We scored a prime space next to the lake. We went on another 3 mile hike to Lost Lake. When we returned we played dominoes at our picnic table. After dinner a couple in a trailer next to us invited us over to their campfire and we ended up playing dominoes again with them in their trailer.

7/27/09 - Roosevelt National Forest, CO




We hooked up the trailer and headed toward Colorado. On the way out of the Medicine Bow National Forest we did a short hike to Lake Marie Falls. We drove to the Mountain Park Campground in Roosevelt National Forest about 25 miles west of Ft. Collins on the Cache la Poudre River. There are several Forest Service campgrounds along the river but we chose this one because it had a bathroom with showers. After we got the trailer parked and set up we went to the bathroom to take showers only to find that the showers were out of order. Bummer.

7/28/09 - Longmont, CO







We continued east on highway 14 alongside the Cache la Poudre River. We stopped at a laundromat in Ft. Collins and washed all our dirty clothes. We went on to Longmont, Colorado where we set up the trailer at St. Vrain State Park. We took showers (finally) and then went to the new Tasty Weasel taproom at Oskar Blues Brewery (makers of Dale’s Pale Ale). Carolyn had a pint of whisky barrel cask-conditioned TenFidy (a “titanic, immensely viscous stout loaded with neck-deep flavors” – 10% ABV, 85 IBU’s), and I had a pint of Gordon (“a velvet M-80 double red ale with a gooey aroma and sticky mouthfeel" – 8% ABV, 60 IBU’s). Then we went to Left Hand Brewing where we met the head brewer, Ro Guenzel. He took us on a private tour of the brewery. Then we drove to my neice Anne-Alex’s house in Erie where we had dinner with her, her husband Kevin and their daughters Hallie and Maddie.

7/29/09 - Longmont, CO




We updated the blog for the past several days and then went to the Pumphouse brewpub in Longmont and the Twisted Pine brewpub in Boulder for some beers. After that we went to the Cannon Mine Coffee Shop in Lafayette where we met Kevin, Anne-Alex, Hallie and Maddie. It was open microphone night, and Maddie and Hallie sang some songs. Kevin accompanied Maddie on guitar, and Hallie played her own guitar.

7/30/09 - Roosevelt National Forest, CO



We left Longmont and headed toward Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped in Lyons at Oskar Blues Brewpub for lunch. We had been to the Oskar Blues brewery two days before when we went to the Tasty Weasel Taproom. We had huge hamburgers. I had another Gordon IPA and Carolyn had a Diet Coke (she wasn’t ready for another TenFidy. We drove through Estes Park and then took scenic highway 7 to the Olive Ridge Campground in the Roosevelt National Forest and set up camp.

7/31/09 - Rocky Mountain National Park, CO




We drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and took the Old Fall River Road which was closed last year when we were here. This narrow dirt road was built in the 1920’s by prisoners and was the first road to cross Rocky Mountain National Park. It is now a one-way road (thank goodness) and reaches an elevation of 11,796 feet. We drove the paved road back through the park and stopped off at the Estes Park Brewery for some beers.

8/1/09 - Rocky Mountain National Park, CO







We drove back to Rocky Mountain National park to do some hiking. On the way we passed the picturesque Saint Catherine of Sienna Chapel built in 1935 on a large granite rock. The Pope once visited this chapel. We parked the Pathfinder at the Bear Lake parking lot and hiked to Alberta Falls, Mills Lake, Jewel Lake, and The Loch, an 8 mile round trip hike which took us almost 5 hours. We had a picnic lunch at Mills Lake. The trails were over 11,000 feet and were steep. Carolyn got dizzy.

8/2/09 - Nederland, CO




We drove 45 miles down the road to the Kelly-Dahl Campground in the Roosevelt National Forest, 3 miles outside Nederland, Colorado. We stopped in Nederland at the Wild Mountain Smokehouse and Brewery and had a couple of beers and some fresh baked soft pretzels. We found a half price bookstore that was also sold ice cream and offered massages. Carolyn was out of reading material so she bought a book. This is an old mining town now full of “alternative lifestyle” people. There was a cryogenic mausoleum and the gas station had a nice selection of glass bongs. Also there was an old railroad car which was Buffalo Bill’s personal car when he was in a traveling circus in 1914 and 1915. I bought some motor oil at the local Ace Hardware and changed the Honda generator’s oil. We tried out our new umbrella and stand which we bought at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Longmont. We have been gone 10 weeks and have traveled 10,073 miles so far.

8/3/09 - Nederland, CO




We drove to Golden Gate Canyon State Park and went on a hike to Frazer Meadow, about 4 miles round trip. It was Colorado Day so we didn’t have to pay an entrance fee. After the hike we went to the campground bathroom and took showers. At night we made a campfire, the first one we have done on this trip.

8/4/09 - Idaho Springs, CO






Before we left the Kelly-Dahl Campground we went on a short hike up the hill to an old abandoned gold mine. We drove south to Central City, another old mining town that is now dominated by casinos. We had beers at the Dostal Alley Brewpub/Casino in an 1874 building. We drove on to the Echo Lake Campground at 10,600 feet elevation in the Arapaho National Forest half way up the highest paved road in North America near Mount Evans Peak.

8/5/09 - Dillon, CO


We got up early so we could drive to the top of Mount Evans on the “Road to the Stars” before it got crowded. This was a scary drive because of the sheer dropoffs. It was 14 miles from our camp to the summit with an altitude gain of almost 4,000 feet. Mount Evans is slightly higher than Pikes Peak and the views are fantastic. Along the way we saw Mountain Goats, some of which were eating dirt. At the summit there were the remains of Crest House, built between 1939 and 1941. At the time it was built it was the highest structure in the world. They served coffee and donuts to tourists. In 1979 it was destroyed by a propane explosion. In 1992 the Forest Service stabilized the remains and converted it into an observation platform. There is also an astronomical observatory which is the highest in the world. We climbed to the very tip top of Mount Evans on the Summit Trail. We sat on the highest rock that had a sheer dropoff behind it with a view of Summit Lake. We went back to camp, hooked up, and drove to Idaho Springs and had lunch and beers at Tommyknockers Brewpub. We continued on to Dillon, Colorado where we set up the trailer at the Heaton Bay Campground, Dillon Reservoir Recreation Area, White River National Forest, about 9 miles from the ski village of Breckenridge. We went to Backcountry Brewery in Frisco (about 3 miles away) and to Pug Ryans Brewery in Dillon for some beers.