Generals gone AWOL Summer 2008 tour input

[Boondocker]

I have been looking through a couple hot spring guides for the trip and have come across a couple that meet my critera for looking into (undeveloped and near camping).

The first one I want to ask about is the Granite Falls hot spring in WY. It is located south east of Jackson on the Hogback river off Hwy 189/191. (DeLorme pg 48 C-3)

The second one is Kelly Warm Springs located in the Gros Ventre area near Jackson (DeLorme pg 48, B-2).

Anybody know these springs? Man I love hot springs

[Gene]

Rodney,

Perhaps because we lived fairly close to RMNP, I never thought it particularly amazing. We already lived in the mountains though. It gets really busy in the summer and the main road (Trail Ridge Rd.) through won't open until around Memorial Day. Sometimes snow closes it for a short time after that. Driving through Estes Park (east portal) is a big traffic jam. The Colorado mountains are amazing everywhere, and if it's midsummer, there are plenty of places to see mountains. If I wanted to go to RMNP, I'd wait until September. Yellowstone is much better. Since the feds keep raising the admission prices, there are fewer people going to NP's and National Monuments. I'm old enough to get in free, but I would only visit a limited number of parks and monuments if I had to pay for them. Quite a few are way overpriced now and gas price adds insult to the injury.

Wyoming (and the rest of the west) have lots of hot springs. I haven't been to the ones you mention. Thermopolis, Wyo., has a free public hot spring, but the attendant (15 years ago) chases people out after while (claiming it's dangerous to stay in too long). But who can argue with free? There are books on hot springs all over the west. You could make a long trip just going from hot spring to hot spring. We have hiked many miles to go to remote ones in the national forest and those were some of the most memorable. Conundrum HS is 8 miles hiking to 11,000 feet SW of Aspen, but a spectacular place at tree line. Last time we went, around 1990, there was a self important forest service ranger there watching to make sure no one broke a rule. It's hard to take a ranger seriously when he's naked—clothing very optional there. You'd have to take your TV only to the trailhead, no way to get a trailer turned around. It was the most memorable HS, but busy (and quite a hike). From there, 3 miles up to Triangle Pass (13,000') where you can see mountains going forever in every direction. Living in Okla., you may need oxygen.

I thought you were going to stay close to home to save on gas. Changing your mind? Seems like we all consider staying close to home when gas goes up, then the road calls…

Gene

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Rodney,

I thought you were going to stay close to home to save on gas. Changing your mind? Seems like we all consider staying close to home when gas goes up, then the road calls…

Gene

Thanks for the information Gene, I kinda suspected that RMNP was like you said. I killed my spring break trip to Big Bend due to fuel prices (the cost to time ratio wasn't good) but I expect to be in the rockies all summer. I really want to see Idaho. How weird is that?

[safari57]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

Thanks for the information Gene, I kinda suspected that RMNP was like you said. I killed my spring break trip to Big Bend due to fuel prices (the cost to time ratio wasn't good) but I expect to be in the rockies all summer. I really want to see Idaho. How weird is that?

VERY

But that's okay 'cause it's a beautiful State with many unique things to see and do. You most likely will have fun.

Barry

[Sky]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

blah blah blah

The second one is Kelly Warm Springs located in the Gros Ventre area near Jackson (DeLorme pg 48, B-2).

blah blah blah

I have been to the Kely Warm Springs a few times. Just up the road from Gros Ventre campgrounds. It is just off the road (very quiet country road), and has a little parking area on the other side of the road. It is very nice, but not what I would call warm. I believe it is around 70F, which is much much warmer than any other water in the area. Sometimes I saw kayakers practicing rolls. It is very clear and tiny bubbles rise up from the bottom. Great place to rinse off after a long hike! Take a mask and look at the tropical fish.

Enjoy
Dale

[Boondocker]

I bought a hybrid bike to ride this summer about 2 months ago. Nothing high end or anything, but well suited for my use. Sometime last night someone came by the RV park and relieved me of ownership. The vacation fund takes another hit as I will have to replace it. That pretty much means that buying a canoe for the trip is out. Its hard not to get bent out of shape some days, but having a fit won't change a thing.

[azflycaster]

That really stinks Rodney. Sorry that you were a victim.
Lawton used to have many pawn shops when I visited many years ago. You may want to visit a few and see if you can find your bike again. Good luck.

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

I really want to see Idaho. How weird is that?

Rodney,

Idaho has the Craters of the Moon NM where you can walk through a lava tube, a potato museum somewhere along I-15, a real good restaurant in downtown Pocatello (we can't remember the name, check AAA tour book). In the Panhandle, lots of big lakes and moderate mountains. We haven't seen the Snake R. country yet. Let us know about it next summer.

Gene

[Boondocker]

I need a secure place to park my camper for a couple days in mid May near Santa Fe or Alb so I can fly out to a conference. Is there anyone in the area who can help

[eubank]

Rodney, there are several members of the FCU down in Albuquerque, and I'll bet one or the other of them could help out with courtesy parking!

If that fails, let me know. I have relatives down there, and we might be able to arrange something through them.


Lynn

[Boondocker]

Slowly the places I want to spend more than a day at are starting to become more clear.

In NM: Wild Rivers Rec Area, Red River,

In CO: either Creede or Silverton; leadville

In Wy: Greys River, Glacier NP

In ID: Hwy 12, Elk City, Stanley & Sawtooth Nat Rec Area

In NV: Great Basin NP and the east side of the state.

In AZ/UT: Grand Canyon NP, Zion NP, Page

[silver&gold]

Sounds great only one thing wrong with it we all aren't tagging along. Have a Great summer and please take bunches of pictures.
Happy Trails

[Gene]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

Slowly the places I want to spend more than a day at are starting to become more clear.

In NM: Wild Rivers Rec Area, Red River,

In CO: either Creede or Silverton; leadville

In Wy: Greys River, Glacier NP

In ID: Hwy 12, Elk City, Stanley & Sawtooth Nat Rec Area

In NV: Great Basin NP and the east side of the state.

In AZ/UT: Grand Canyon NP, Zion NP, Page

Rodney,

You can look all over Wyoming, but you won't find Glacier NP. There's one in northern Montana and one in eastern BC. I probably posted this before, but you won't be able to take a trailer on the Going to the Sun Highway (Montana park). If you have acrophobia, that highway is scary. I'm OK on it so long as I'm driving, but when my wife was driving, I wanted her to drive a foot from the wall and let me out at the first parking area so I could drive. I hadn't had fear like that since I was a kid. The Highway is scraped and blasted out of sheer cliffs and I was sure the road was ready to collapse and fall a gazillion feet. Not my finest hour (it seemed like days). Maybe that's why I liked Waterton NP in Alberta better. I've driven on off camber mining 4WD roads in Colorado—scary for just about anyone—and not been entirely comfortable, but have done it many times, but the Going to the Sun Hwy is something else, and an amazing construction job.

You've selected 3 old mining towns in Colorado. Creede is very much off the beaten track and there are a number of mining roads above town to explore. Silverton is mostly tourism now and US 550 from Durango to Ouray has many switchbacks over the passes and is slow trip—lots of flatlander tourists from Kansas and probably Oklahoma creeping along. All of them have old mining roads to explore. If you go to Ouray, you'll be 2 hours from Crawford State Park (my wife is president of the Friends of Crawford SP, so I have to promote it). North of Ouray is Ridgeway SP, a nice one with many sites, quite a few with full hookups, but very popular and reservations are usually necessary, especially on weekends. They have a Colorado SP website for that and to check whether there are sites available. If you go to Creede, go north to Lake City and it's nice drive over Slumgullion Pass—there's some flat areas up there for bookdocking. Lake City is also touristy, but nice to stop in. The old downtown is a block west of the highway. All those towns are worth seeing, but Leadville is the biggest, most famous. We liked the mining museum there.

Red River, NM, is pretty and a funky town. One weekend a year there's an insane motorcycle rally there and you'd probably want to avoid it then. I'm sure you can check when it is. They're big on squaredancing there and lots of Texans go to Red River (depends how you like Texans). The feeling, other than the rally, is that everyone there is ancient.

Great Basin NP, Nev., has a cave—Lehman—that it well worth seeing. More formations per square foot than I can remember seeing in any cave. We have driven across Nevada on US 50 many times and it is isolated and beautiful. Wide valleys and north-south mountain ranges alternate. South of Great Basin, eventually you come to an area that is well watered and farm and ranch country—not what you expect in Nevada. And there's the Extraterrestrial Highway that goes through Rachel, a fun place to visit.

Zion may have limits on trailers, but I don't remember. Some parts have gone over to busses because there are too many cars. Better check on that too. The south rim of Grand Canyon does have car limits and requires travel by NP bus. The North Rim is quieter (by comparison) and there are roads through the forest for exploring without trailer. I think the campsites are 10 or 15 miles north. Anyplace there you need reservation early. There is often a lot of smog from power plants and big cities. The views there in the '50's were crystal clear, but now it's hit or miss, mostly miss. Still worth seeing, but it can be disappointing when you compare to photos. Page has a big power plant outside of town and the sky can be yellowish from sulphur. More a place to drive through I think on the way to somewhere else.

Gene

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Rodney,

You can look all over Wyoming, but you won't find Glacier NP. There's one in northern Montana and one in eastern BC.

Gene

DOH! that was silly of me. Of course, I meant MT. Thanks for all the great info! If I hit the Page area it will be to see Antelope canyon. Slumgullion Pass sounds interesting, I will have to look into that place.

[Relentless]

I had the same experience going up Going To The Sun Highway. My wife drove up and I was frozen with fear. Never saw anything but the drop off to my right. Trailers are not allowed. The best way to do it is take one of the tour rides. Let someone who knows the road drive it and you all enjoy the scenery. The buses were built in the 1920s, I think, and are small, narrow and fun to ride.

There is a great campground just outside of Zion. You won't want to take the trailer in as there are several places where you can't go if you do.

John

[safari57]

The Going To The Sun road is stunning. I agree, those drop offs are significant. I prefer to to that road going South where you are up against the mountain. It sure is a beautiful and peaceful part of the world, so full of majestic sights and critters.

The buses are very neat. I believe they were rebuilt a few years ago with some help from one of the vehicle manufacturers - perhaps Ford ....I can't remember for sure but thought I had seen an article to that effect.

Barry

[Boondocker]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Rodney, ........If you go to Creede, go north to Lake City and it's nice drive over Slumgullion Pass—there's some flat areas up there for bookdocking......
Gene

I googled the pass for images: WOW. That place is definitely on my short list. Any more detailed info on boondocking there?

[Gene]

Rodney,

The are actually 2 passes, the first one north from Creede is Spring Creek, then Slumgullian. There a well know waterfall south or east of the highway, a mile or more or less. The boondocking would be on the other side (I guess). Real good directions, huh. Never done it there, just driven by and stopped by the waterfall once for lunch.

Now I just looked at the on-line map for Rio Grande NF and there's a North Clear Creek Falls overlook and 3 campgrounds south of Spring Creek Pass. The flat area is off the road to the west and isn't far at all. I've seen RV's there. It looks like it's a little past the campgrounds. The pass is next on the county line and at the border of the Gunnison NF. Further north is Slumgullian. I noticed a campground and a view area off from that Pass. This whole area is below tree line and well wooded with some meadows.

As you've been told before, the mountains got a lot of snow, but it stopped pretty much by March and we already have runoff. I'm sure there's a website, probably the gov't weather people, for snowpack in Colorado. I'm looking out the window at lots of snow still on Grand Mesa and the West Elks. The campgrounds seem to open later and later because they've kept cutting the FS budget since 2001 and directing money into either firefighting or oil and gas development. They are closing a lot of campgrounds permanently. They've tried to keep that fact quiet, but it got out in the local media. Regardless of the weather the campgrounds are gated well into camping season.

This is the area that Alferd Packer and some companions got stranded in a blizzard in the late 1800's. As the companions died, Packer made a meal of them and served several years in jail for possibly killing some of them, never proved, but he was convicted of something, maybe manslaughter. He did spell it "Alferd". Lock your doors at night.

Gene

[Boondocker]

Thanks yet again Gene, my summer will be much the better for it.

As far as the snow goes, my intent is to keep an eye on it and adjust where needed. Hopefully, the snow will be melted enough for me to enjoy my first major trip into Colorado in the last 20 years. If the snow prevents enjoying the area my fall back plan is to drift west into east Nevada and up into Idaho. However, that would just put me into the snow there earlier in the season than I planned and add a bunch of miles to my trip that would be better to be avoided. Of course, once I pull out of Lawton, what ever the plan is, it will go in the trash. The main goal of my planning is to figure out the main places that I might want to see- beyond that its time and opportunity.

[nymphfishin]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

Rodney,

The are actually 2 passes, the first one north from Creede is Spring Creek, then Slumgullian. There a well know waterfall south or east of the highway, a mile or more or less. The boondocking would be on the other side (I guess). Real good directions, huh. Never done it there, just driven by and stopped by the waterfall once for lunch.

Gene

Rodney

There is a neat campground a couple of miles below the waterfall.
Person above falls on left.