Last weekend we decided to escape from our stressful routines here in Crested Butte and head out to the mountains...little did we know the weekend would be more stressful than staying in town...
The drive was much nicer than expected and we stopped so Nick could test the waters...no luck though! Saguache looks like it is starting to become a place on the map...some of the old houses have been fixed up, and there are a few for sale....at least it's not a ghost town like it almost used to be...not sure how the winters are there though! The old hotel in town was closed up and for sale...such a shame, it could be a really cool place to stay...maybe someone will buy it and fix it up one day before it falls into total disrepair.
From Saguache we headed through Del Norte and South Fork, both of which were pretty uninteresting and headed along the Rio Grande for Creede. We stayed in Creede when we did the Colorado Trail, this time we just passed by, but I couldn't resist taking a photo of the pillars that frame the gorge in town.
The next morning Nick fished the head waters of the Rio Grande and I decided to relax at the campsite. It was a beautiful day and I cleared up the camp after the BLTs we had (yum, nothing better for breakfast when you're camping!), read and wrote some letters...it was just gorgeous and all was well with the world. When Nick got back we discussed how beautiful it was - especially since we were the only people in the campsite...and how fun it would be to own one of the cabins up here that we saw smoke rising from the night before...As we had run out of firewood we decide to head down, pick up some supplies in Lake City and then head over to Cochetopa Creek for some Gold Medal trout fishing....
Unfortunately, it wasn't to be!!! Half way down, I heard a hissing noise coming form the back left hand tire - we had punctured and it was going down fast...our main concern was to pull off to the side so we could put the spare on...as I was walking around the truck to the back, I heard more hissing noises...the front right tire had was also deflating quickly....hmmm...quite the problem, since we only have one spare and are still 18 miles up a dirt road off a very quiet back highway 20 miles from Creede and 30 miles from Lake City...Nick tried to plug the front tire with fishing stuff, and we decided that we would have to try and reach the campsite further down, where hopefully there would be a camp host who would be able to help us out...hence the photo at the beginning!
When we finally arrived at the campsite (this was the state of the tire), the host, Jean Baker, said her husband Allen had some plugs but didn't know when he would be back. We decided to cut our losses and stay at the site...it was pretty nice and right on the river so Nick could fish..I got back to my new book (thanks Bob!) Ghosts of Spain, Travels through Spain and it's Silent Past....
When Allen got back they were able to plug the tyre that we had taken off and replaced and blow it back up...now we had to see if it would hold...
Had a delicious dinner of baked potatoes, grilled steak and green beans washed down with a bottle of red wine (boy do we know how to camp!!!)...just know that I will in future make sure I carry a can opener...good job it wasn't just me and a can of tuna in the wilderness...I think I would have starved...or bled to death!
Sunday dawned bright and clear and we had a visitor in camp. Not that he's used to being around people and food!
Fortunately, the tire had held. Allen was kind enough to give us a can of "fix a flat", so we added that for good measure and then set off as fast as we dared to try and reach the Lake City/Creede highway! Amazingly, at 10miles an hour on the rough dirt, we made it about an hour later...mission one: reach the highway - accomplished! We pulled on to the road and made it all the way to Lake City - mission two accomplished! Here we were able to find a garage that was open and that actually stocked our tires and had one in stock..yeah! We celebrated at the Italian restaurant with a glass of wine and lunch, and a walk around Lake City.
Lake City is an old 1870s mining town at 8,671 feet that still looks that way. It's on The Silver Thread Scenic Highway and the Alpine Loop, a four wheel drive loop that can take you to Silverton or Durango. The original Victorian houses are still there and so are the boardwalks. It's very quaint and we love wandering around.
http://ghostdepot.com/rg/mainline/marshall%20route/lakecity.htm
This time, in addition to the Italian restaurant, we found a garden that was open to the public. it was lovely and peaceful.
Time to test out the new tire and head back to Crested Butte....we reflected on the weekend with a margarita at Reuben's in Crested Butte South, finally able to believe that we were going to get home and not have to be towed from the middle of nowhere (the Rio Grande Reservoir) to the middle of nowhere (Lake City!) to try and find a tire...lessons learned this trip? Always carry tire plugs and "fix a flat"...and two spares if you can! It was a great weekend though, and Jean and Allen were lovely (as was the guy who fixed our tire in Lake city!). Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo of them, but they asked us to go and see them at the same camp ground next summer, which hopefully we will... we also didn't get photos on the way back of some of the views coming into Lake City..there is a gorgeous view at one point over Slumgullion Pass of Uncompahgre Peak. Have to go back sometime in the next few weeks as the leaves turn to get that one....
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