Our stay in Gunnison was too short! This area of Colorado is simply stunning! We were able to fit a lot in during the last two days there and realized when we left this morning (June 4) that there was a whole lot more to do - on the other side of the mountains just west of Gunnison!
JUNE 2, 2015
The Gunnison River
A field of dandelions! Who knew weeds looked so pretty!
30 years ago we came to Harmel's Guest Ranch. We decided to return to see if it changed and if so how. It changed very little. We had a window seat for lunch and watched the hummingbirds, just like we did 30 years ago!
I remember seeing hummingbirds for the first time when we were here 30 years ago. I was entertained by them then and was entertained by them now. That is the Taylor River in the distance.
On our way to and from Harmel's, this wood carving was just there. We noticed the Indian face first, but when we were looking over the photos of the day we realized there was also an eagle's head carved out of the wood.
Taylor Lake
When we were here last, the road above the lake was just being constructed and we could not pass, so we had to turn around. Now you can drive along the lake to a small fishing village and a marina, and you can drive to Cumberland Pass, which we would have done but the roads are closed due to the snow!
A small gift shop and bait & tackle shop now resides next to Taylor Lake.
Taylor Lake fishing village; lots of fly fishing here.
Taylor Lake - so beautiful there.
Thom and I enjoy traveling the roads where there are streams or rivers running next to them. It makes the drive have a peaceful feel to it.
The view returning to Gunnison from Harmel's.
We thought we would take a side trip down this dirt road but it was just too bumpy for me. I told Thom to bag it so we did and he agreed!
This is just one of the many photos of that bagged road trip! The rock formations here are so interesting.
JUNE 3, 2015
PIONEER MUSEUM
After breakfast we made plans to visit the Pioneer Museum. It had a little bit of this and a little bit of that; some old, some new; some confusing!
A wall full of cowboy hats!
We found this little postmaster cabin to be quite interesting.
The mail slots back in the day.
Leo Joseph Koury's Wanted Poster
I "Googled" him and this is what I found:
The museum has a large antique car section and this was the coolest car there, in my opinion! A 1955 Jeep!
A True Story - zoom in if you can't read the note - it is funny!
The Pioneer Museum had so many buildings and exhibits that have been moved here including this schoolhouse, one of two on the property.
Inside the schoolhouse. We remember desks like this!
And, we remember spinning on this!
MILLER RANCH STATE WILDLIFE AREA
We decided to take a drive to Crested Butte but when we arrived it appeared to be nothing more than a "hippy town". We decided to head back to Gunnison and on our way back we found a "road" we just had to explore!
We saw the sign on the highway and said "why not"! We weren't quite sure, after reading this sign, if it meant we could not enter, but the farmer we encountered on our way to the wildlife area said we could and that we would come to 3 fences and to just make sure we closed them, so we figured it was okay. We realized it was permissible for us to be there on the road, as we were not actually going on to the public access areas!
Our first fence out of 3 actually turned out to be 4 fences.
"The Road" - it was supposed to be 7 or 8 miles but it turned out to be maybe 40!
We were not in the Safety Zone! LOL!
So cute - I love cows!
We were looking for wildlife. You know - elk, deer, bears. This is the only wildlife we found!
The scenery on the other side of the mountains we had driven by was so pretty and changed over and over again.
Somewhere ... We weren't sure when we got to the fork in the road and fence 4 if we were even on the right road! We went left. There were no road signs indicating which way to go. It was a lot of fun trying to figure it out , as long as we had gas in the Jeep! And, the GPS could not tell us where we were!
I will say this - if you can, take the roads that lead you somewhere off the regular highway. You just never know what's on the other side. This trip was fabulous!
These red weeds were everywhere out there along with many other wild flowers.
We came over a crest on the road and this is what greeted us! We weren't sure how long we would be there but the calves decided to move away as we inched up to them.
When we passed the cows, going up the mountainside, we saw these ranchers/cowboys coming down with their cattle! Very cool to see, and the first sign of human life in many miles!
The road started getting these ruts and it made for an interesting ride - Thom did a great job I must say. He had to dodge the ruts and the rocks on the roads.
Another change in scenery!
I believe these are lupines.
At the end of the drive is this map at the other entrance. We still don't know where we were!
EVENING ADVENTURE
On our way back to the motorhome, we stopped at Garlic Mike's for dinner. It was okay. We had passed this restaurant several times and I had read "good reviews" about it in the local pamphlets so we gave it a try. Thom's veal piccata was actually a lot better than my veal parmesan.
Thom's veal picatta.
Bonnie's veal parmesan. I must say, the veggies were cooked so well and were delicious, as was the wine!
After dinner, on our way home, I told Thom I saw a sign for the "Gunnison Observatory", which indicated it was 2 miles down the road from the KOA. So we went looking for it. We never found the observatory but we did find another road to explore!
And, like all the other drives we made here in Gunnison, each turn brings new scenery and rock configurations!
This was so neat to see!
The rolling hills across from the tall rocks!
We also took a right hand turn, to look at the beautiful Gunnison River, and look what we found! Seriously - a river rapids surfer! He was pretty good!
As we were watching the surfer, I looked into the tree and found this little guy. We think he is a squirrel but we're not sure.
VIDEOS OF THE DAY
A small clip of our drive through the Miller Ranch State Wildlife Area.
The Gunnison River Rapids Surfer
The Gunnison River
Until next blog ...
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