August 1999

After weeks and weeks in Colorado, we found our first "favorite" campground. Well, actually our "favorite" campsite is in the Little Maud campground of the White River National Forest. There are three campgrounds in this little complex on Ruedi (pronounced rue-DYE) Reservoir about halfway between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, Colorado. Maud is set back a bit so you get only a partial view of the lake and far shore. The land around us is a brick red clay with patches of cement-gray earth. Some of the cliffs have alternating layers of red and grey with stripes of dark green spruce - it looks like some Country's national flag. So picture this - these colorful cliffs surrounding the sapphire blue water of Ruedi Reservoir with our little trailer nestled in a small grove of mature Aspen and a huge Blue spruce just outside our door. This magnificent spruce has a 28-inch diameter trunk and an alcove underneath large enough for us to spread out in our lawn chairs unseen. Fabulous!!! Plus, the campground has flush toilets - what a treat!

This campsite may well be the highlight of our month. Overall, August was not our best month on the road. (Only one Forest, the Rio Grande, completed.) A lot of rain and very cool temperatures take most of the fun out of what we are doing. Suzi keeps checking with locals to be sure we haven't somehow ended up in Michigan. Also, we started the month one laptop short. Fred's laptop had to spend a week at Gateway and that put us a week behind. Although we continued to do our research there were several logistical problems. For one thing, Gateway ships only via Fed-Ex or UPS - no general deliveries. This meant we had to stay in a private campground with a known street address until the laptop was returned. That put us further behind. By mid-month Fred's laptop is back "home." We got back to our "normal" work routine but three weeks behind. Fred is working hard at catching up. (Something he might accomplish three weeks after we get back to Bisbee.)

During the month of August we worked on the San Isabel, Rio Grande, Pike, and White River national forests but completed only the Rio Grande. How can that be? It is because all these forests have a little piece here and a little piece there. One forest may butt up against two others but there is a huge mountain between this one and two others. It makes route plotting a nightmare. No more "shortcuts" for us after the experience of Ophir Pass, thank you very much. Besides, although we have found the roads in Colorado to be rather good, a road with a dirt and gravel surface can be traveled only at certain speeds. And if it is raining, which has been the case everyday this month, that speed is reduced by half. So it might take us an hour to travel 20 or 25 miles to the next campground (and that is if it isn't raining, or no road repair work, or ATV riders aren't out and about). But, on the other hand, it is these roadways that take us to some of the prettiest and awe-inspiring places. Oh well, September will see us finishing off the San Isabel, Pike and White River national forests so all things do balance out.

Usually campers don't wish for rain but if you ever find yourself on the road between Gunnison and Saguache (don't ask us how to pronounce this one), Colorado, we wish you a rain shower. After surveying the Buffalo Springs campground, about midway between the two towns, we got caught in a storm. We could see it coming and there wasn't a thing we could do but drive right into it. On the other side of the storm we dropped into a valley that leads to Saguache and there was this sliver of a rainbow. Not very big and its colors were pale. As we drove, that rainbow grew and grew, both in size and vibrancy of color, until it reached from the hills on one side of the valley to the hilltops on the other side. Magnificent, but it hadn't shown its real magical feature. As we continued down the valley, the ends of the rainbow came closer and closer to us until we might have been able to reach out and touch it. Then, we think we saw a leprechaun by the side of the road. He clicked his heels - poof! The rainbow was gone. That was magical.

We must say the state of Colorado and the National Forests there have been a disappointment so far. There are some magnificently beautiful places (when it isn't raining) and incredible sights. However, we have found Forest Service personnel, in general, to be difficult and not the best examples of staff we have worked with elsewhere. We both agree one of the reasons may be this state gets "hammered" with visitors from everywhere - there are too damn many people and all are in a hurray. Plus, the Forest Service must contend with an increase in use and a decrease of resources. (Sound familiar to anyone who has worked inside the Beltway?) Most of the campgrounds were designed in the 1960s and 1970s for use by a smaller portion of the population in tents which were far less mobile and much less destructive. It is truly amazing the impact of the ATV and Off-Road-Vehicle industry has had on our National Forests and other public lands. Although we get annoyed with the attitude of some Forest Service people, we do understand and try to be patient. But sometimes it is very, very difficult.

It may be only the end of August but we see a lot of October-like color on these mountains. Fred says it "smells" like Fall and as a former New Englander he must know. Some evergreen trees are turning a dark, olive color while some of the non-evergreen trees have one or two branches of yellow. Bushes are loaded down with ripe berries and the wild roses are covered with fat, round rosehips in shades that range from orange to ruby red. However, the Aspen are showing the most color. Not yet their famous golden color, the yellowing of these "quaking" heart-shaped leaves can be seen creeping down the mountains toward the valleys like lemon custard dripping down the sides of a warm plum pudding.

Well, maybe August wasn't such a bad month after all. At least, we hope your month of August wasn't any worse than ours. September will be our last month on the road for this season. Wonder what adventures are in store for us. Could there be more dancing leprechauns or mountainsides of lemon custard Aspens for us to find? We'll keep you posted.

Suzi and Fred