Thursday July 4, 2024 Gunnison, CO to Ridgway State Park, CO

 

Deb here. We enjoyed a hot breakfast at the hotel and had a fun chat with 2 Australian men who are in the US for the International Boomerang competition. Who knew?! Apparently they’re 2 of the 6 Australian team members and they’re competing in L.A. in a couple of days. We’ll have to look up the results in a few days and find out how they fared.

Last night we were conflicted about whether to go east or west, over mountain passes either way. After thinking it through we’d settled on the western route, going north to Crested Butte, then following the West Elk Scenic Byway up and over Kebler Pass and down into Paonia. 26 miles of dirt road, but the road was in pretty good shape.

Not a cloud in the sky today so a perfect day for a drive through the mountains. It turned out to be a gorgeous drive, through aspen groves, wildflower covered hillsides and snow capped mountains. Just the scenery one thinks of when thinking about Colorado. We saw people camping everywhere there was a dirt pull-off or a side road, so I guess no camping restrictions. There was one campground, Lost Lake, that’s a Forest Service Campground, and I followed the 2 mle dirt road to see what that campground was all about. It turned out to be a spectacular spot, right on a lake with 19 sites, all full. We had an informative visit with the caretaker, who gave us some tips on timing to get a spot if we wanted to stay there in the future. Lots of hiking trails nearby and a real gem of a campground.

We’d managed to score the last campsite at Ridgway State Park, so down the mountain we went. Paonia was one of the first towns we came to, and we drove through the cute town. Turns out that cherries are in season, so we stopped by a roadside stand and picked up some delicious cherries. On down through not so interesting and dry terrain, skirting Delta and ultimately stopping in Montrose for a good old McDonald’s coffee and diet coke. We ate our late lunch in the parking lot and headed the short distance to the campground.

Nice campground, complete with free showers. Colorado State Park camping fees are stiff ($40 plus a $10 day fee) so good to know they have decent amenities. 

We found our campsite and decided to go on a hike. The volunteer who checked us in had given us a trail map and recommended the Enchanted Mesa trail, which ended up being a winner. John tested his knee again with a 350+ foot elevation gain on a switchbacking trail up to a mesa and then along the upper bank of the Ridgway Reservoir. The temperature was in the low 80’s but a nice breeze kept the hike bearable and the views were awesome.

Back to our campsite by 5:30 for happy hour outside of our van in the shade, followed by dinner and showers, along with route planning for tomorrow.