Mountains in View!

We drove almost 300 mi (480 km) in total on Saturday. Beautiful weather again when we departed Dodge City with a stop at the Santa Fe Trail Ruts, a little outside town. Though the sign was fallen down (pic), the ruts of the wagon trains on the Santa Fe Trail - a train of several oxen-drawn carriages loaded with trading goods - are to be seen with a little imagination as traces in the prairie grass (see pic).

We passed many feed lots in Kansas before we crossed the border to Colorado on our way to Lamar. Landscape didn't change much: short-grass prairie, very loosly populated. At the Lamar Welcome Center a group of very knowledgeable people were waiting for us: Chad - the director of Canyons & Plains SE Colorado - and his wife Sharon, as well as Pat - Director of the Colorado chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association -, a highly interesting gentleman. He offered a cornupia of information about the trail when we drove with him from Lamar to Bent's Old Fort, stopping at a couple of trail related sites on the way. On arrival at the fort, a mexican lunch was set up for us in the picknick area by Park Ranger Alexa - what a warm welcome!

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site features a reconstructed 1840s adobe fur trading post on the mountain branch of the Santa Fe Trail. Traders, trappers, travelers, and the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes frequented in this fort to trade goods of all kinds. With John Carson, a relative of famous mountainman Kit Carson (see pic), we toured this adobe-style fort, which is completely different from yesterday's military fort, Fort Larned. To our surprise, a wagon, drawn by two oxen, showed up in front of the fort (see pic) and it felt like being set back in time.

Boy, we were running fast to see a s much as we can, but time was definitively too short. At 1 pm we had to depart for Trinidad and though we started 15 min. late, we made good time on lonesome Hwy. 350. No village, no farm, just prairie land for about 80 miles. Arrived to Trinidad and were greeted by Barb from the Welcome Center, who showed us the Trinidad Museum and drove us around. Trinidad - considered the "pot capital" of Colorado is located at the feet of the Rockies (see pic, taken in the morning from the hotel room), between Fisher’s Peak and Spanish Peaks, both important orientation points on the Santa Fe Trail because between them is Raton Pass, which we crossed later. From Simpson’s Rest, with the large Trinidad sign, lit up at night, we enjoyed a great view (pic).

After dinner at Brix on historic main steet, where we ate great Burgers, we spent the rest of the evening at the local brewery DCBC - not big, not fancy, but good beers and great characters. Locals were gathering here and we had good conversation at the bar with the owners of the brewery (originally from Massachusetts), the „Lonely Local Democrat“ in town, Barbara from the Welcome Center and her husband Tim - the fire chief -, and a prison guard who didn't talk to much but listened closely. On tab, among a chile beer, a great EPA, porters and stouts were "The nasty little lady" and the "Bad Hombre". Guess who's that...

Sunday morning: Another sunny, warm day. We started early with Barb as our knowledgeable guide on the backseat. The Highway of the Legends (SR 12) from Trinidad to La Veta was a beautiful scenic byway. We made several stops en route: at Cokedale Historic District (a Cole Mining District), at the House on the Bridge, at the "Stonewall" (pic) - an uplift on the Continental Divide -, at beautiful Monument Lake and after we had crossed the Cuchara Pass on 9995 ft. (ca. 3300 m) - and brakes began to smell - we arrived at the picturesque Historic Cuchara Village (pic) with its famous Dog Bar & Grill. Final stop was La Veta,another idyllic little town in the mountains, where we said good-bye to Barb.

On Hwy. 160, deep in the Rockies on a high plateau, we passed the Grand Sand Dunes NP (where we have visited last year) and drove further into the mountains passing Wolf Creek Pass (10.850 ft./3600 m) - see picture - before the road wind down to Pagosa Springs. Famous for its hot sulphur springs this city is beautifully located on the San Juan River, with a couple of interesting shops and restaurants along main steet. Main feature, though, are the Hot Springs, World’s deepest geothermal hot spring. Thanks to Jenny we were able to soak in The Springs Resort & Spa for a little more than one hour after arrival, but considering the temps outside (around 75 deg. F., 24 deg.C) the "healthy water" in several pools, ranging from 90 to 113 deg. F.(32-45 deg C) was almost too hot for us.

At 5 pm we were picked up by Jenny and Markus and went for dinner at Borde Rio Riversite Restaurant, sitting outside on the patio at sunset, on top of the river bank. Then we went for a tour & tasting at Riff Raff Brewery, one of three breweries in town, but special in regard to its environmental consciousness and the use of geothermal heat of the springs. After 225 mi driven this day and all the activities, we were tired when we were brought back to the beautiful Fireside Cabins (pic below) at around 9 pm, but still had an article to accomplish.