Map of this blog's locations click this link to open the map
Going up to Pikes Peak was on our “must do” list while in Colorado Springs. We wanted the perfect day for the trip not only from a weather standpoint but also from smoke/visibility conditions. The huge wildfire east of Denver as well as those further north in Wyoming would occasionally send their smoke our way. The day we arrived in town, we could barely make out the outline of the nearby mountains. The local weather forecast would include a prediction of the smoke levels but it turns out that this is even less reliable than precipitation predictions. Our last full day in town was looking good so we planned to head up the mountain early in the morning and spend the bulk of the day exploring. The road up America’s Mountain, as it’s dubbed, is about 19 miles long. Privately owned, it’s not free to drive up but $15 per person doesn’t seem too exorbitant. Even with several entrance booths open at the start, it took 10 minutes or so to get through so we weren’t the only ones with this idea today. We started the drive in earnest at 9:45 AM.
The entrance is at an elevation of 7800 feet and the peak is at 14,115 feet. If you do the math, that works out to an average 6.3% grade. There is currently a new visitor center being constructed on top of the mountain. Since June of 2018 visitors can no longer drive their own vehicles to the top. In order to have room at the summit for construction vehicles and supplies, visitors will drive to either mile marker 13 (Glen Cove) or mile marker 16 (Devil’s Playground) and then take a free shuttle the remaining distance to the top. Probably not ideal in Covid times, but they’re making it work.
While it would be possible to do the drive up and down in 2 to 3 hours, I would advise planning on the better part of the day. There are plenty of turnouts and parking areas on the way up with many great views. We had a beautiful fall day and the aspen trees were putting on a vibrant show. On the way up we are warned about Big Foot sightings. I found it humorous to see the “six feet away” sign posted just below the Big Foot sign. I might suggest a greater distance than 6 feet if we come across him!
 |
Pikes Peak Peeks Through
|
 |
Brilliant Leaves
|
 |
Keep Your Distance from Big Foot
|
Our first major stop is at the Crystal Reservoir Visitor Center at mile marker 6. There is a very large parking area adjacent to the building that overlooks the reservoir. In fitting with the warning sign a few miles back, we did spot Big Foot - if only an intricately carved wooden version.
 |
Big Foot Spotted
|
We had a geocache to seek out along the northern end of the reservoir so we followed the trails that head out from the parking lot. The reservoir is created by a man made dam. The water level looked quite low but we initially assumed it was due to seasonal fluctuations. We were able to cut across some of the dried up coves to save a little distance. This stop is already over 9100 feet so we do notice the thinner air during the mile or so walk. There were some excellent views of the water, mountains and vibrant aspen trees. At one of the boat docks that is now 30 feet or more above the water line, we saw a sign describing how the water is being let out to perform some maintenance on the dam.
 |
Low Water Level
|
We stop a few more times on the way up to take in the views and search for a few geocaches. When we got to Glen Cove at mile marker 13, there were some people bailing at this point to take the shuttle. Chris’ fear of heights wasn’t helping her comfort level but she gave the go ahead to continue on. The switchbacks get even more intense for the next few miles. But it’s a paved and wide road so it isn’t really a big issue. Although I’m not positive if Chris had her eyes open for much of it or not. At Devil’s Playground there are some parking spots by the road as well as a very large dirt parking lot with probably over 100 cars parked. We pull out our lunch and eat with a commanding view of the world below us. The shuttle system was using dozens of 15 passenger vans rather than larger buses. We head over and get in line with many other people. Everybody was following the mask mandate although the group behind us had a serious cougher in their party which doesn’t give us a warm feeling during these times. Even with the fairly long line, it moves right along. I was impressed with the organization of those controlling the flow of people and vans. Each group was asked how many in their party so they could properly identify how to efficiently load the van while maintaining social distance of passengers and the drivers. For instance our van only had the driver, an empty row, two passengers, another empty row and us in the back. An added benefit was the coughing person wasn’t in our van!
 |
Our Lunch Spot at 12,780 Feet
|
 |
Waiting for Shuttle Vans
|
I actually enjoyed the three mile ride the rest of the way to the top. I didn’t need to concentrate on driving and could really see the views better. Including the wait for the shuttle, we spent nearly three and a half hours on our journey to the peak. Being a Sunday, the construction crew wasn’t working but it still looks like a construction zone with barricades around so much of the mountain top. Plus the whole area is just bare dirt so the slightest breeze kicks up the dust.
 |
Old Visitor Center
|
 |
New Visitor Center in Progress
|
Even with the construction barriers, we were able to explore around and see the sights in most of the directions. There is even a physical geocache at the top that with some luck we found amongst all the large rocks on the one side of the mountain. We had lucked out that the temperature wasn’t too bad - probably mid forties. We had dressed appropriately although I had left some of my colder weather gear back at the car figuring it wasn’t below freezing which we were kind of expecting. We did see a few people that were well underdressed - shorts, t-shirt and even a short dress. After an hour we decided we had seen it all and the thin air was getting to us. We took a picture by the Summit sign and got in line for the shuttle bus back down.
 |
New Observation Deck Under Construction
|
 |
Not Too Hazy of a Day
|
 |
Hairpin Turn Near Summit
|
 |
Small Ponds Just Below Summit
|
 |
Chris Poses at Sign
|
The line was moving fairly quickly with a nonstop parade of shuttle vans dropping off and picking up passengers. We were fifth and sixth in line, when the guy directing the process directed us to all move to the side of the building. At first it wasn’t clear what was going on, but we eventually determined there was a medical emergency (I believe heart attack symptoms) and a rescue helicopter was inbound and was going to land right at the shuttle drop off/pick up area. We waited for more than 5 minutes but still no helicopter. Then they told us all to move to the far side of the lot, away from the building. So the forty or so people did as we were told and got out of the way. Finally we could hear and see the helicopter approaching. He made two initial passes but didn’t land on either pass. After each one, the guy on the ground asked us to move back even further.
 |
Inbound Helicopter
|
 |
| Still Waiting for Helicopter |
He finally did land and two people got out and ran over to the patient as the helicopter took off again. There was just a slight breeze but fortunately it was taking the dust away from the crowd. Had we been standing by the building we would have been in the thick of the cloud and very thankful for our masks. After 10 more minutes, the medics from the helicopter must have gotten the patient ready for transport because it came back for another landing. They even shut the thing off as they were loading the patient. Of course we have no clue what the patient’s condition was but based on the lack of urgency, we hope they were doing okay. When it finally did take off in a cloud of dust, it seemed to be having some difficulty. I could see the thing about 10 feet off the ground backing up in what didn’t look natural or good for something in flight. But fortunately it recovered and headed off. The last picture I took of the helicopter as it cleared the mountaintop and headed down looks a little scary.
 |
Helicopter Takes Off in Cloud of Dust
|
 |
| Waiting for Patient |
 |
Heading Down to Hospital
|
This whole event ended up taking just over an hour. We were wondering just how long we would be up there and could really tell the temperature was dropping quickly even though sunset was still some time away. Of course there was now a large group of cold people wanting to get out of there. Needless to say, we were no longer fifth and sixth in line! After a few minutes, the shuttle vans started coming back up the mountain with passengers wondering what was going on as they exited. Again, I was pleasantly surprised with the speed of the departure and made it back to the car. The plan to make a few additional stops along the way were stymied by the lost time but it was still a really fun trip and quite memorable.
 |
Another Hairpin Turn on Road to Pikes Peak
|
Unfortunately our 5 night stay in Colorado Springs came to an end. Certainly we could have found so much more to do here but we do have to consider our plan to get from Arizona to Florida in 5 weeks and the several planned stops we have along the way. So off we go to Kansas with the next stop being Goodland. If you’re like us, you likely haven’t heard of Goodland Kansas. Although one of our neighbors at Juniper Ridge Resort in Show Low Arizona was born in Goodland! Talk about a small world.
Goodland is along I-70 about a dozen miles east of the Colorado state border. So why do we stop for 2 nights in Goodland? Well the oldest active geocache in the world (named Mingo) is located about 45 miles east of town along I-70. In our ten plus years of geocaching including 4 plus years of full time travels, we have managed to find the oldest active cache in 22 of the states. So we figured it was time for us to get the granddaddy of them all. This cache was placed on May 11, 2000 so over 20 years ago. During that time, it has been found by 7500+ cachers or roughly one find per day. Pretty impressive numbers for something literally in the middle of nowhere. Goodland happened to have the campground we were willing to stay at that was reasonably close to Mingo. Staying two nights allows us to take the one full day to find Mingo and see other sights in the area. We pulled into the Goodland KOA campground after 190 mile drive. I wouldn’t say we are huge fans of KOA campgrounds in general. While some might have great amenities, since we don’t utilize the perks, we find them to be a bit overpriced. But they do have their place and for this stop it would work out well.
In trying to decide what else there is to see in the area, a friend told us about a place north of Goodland called Arikaree Breaks. While it sounded interesting, it would be a bit out of the way to tie that destination in with Mingo. So instead, we pick Little Jerusalem Badlands State Park near Elkader KS. It’s about 35 miles south of Mingo and sounded unique. Chris had discovered that park offers free ranger led walks that allow visitors to get a better view of the badlands and there would be one the next morning. She emails them to register the two of us with the plan of driving there first thing in the morning then work our way back to Mingo later in the afternoon.
We start out the 80 mile drive and the car’s GPS calculates we will arrive half hour before the ranger walk. Perfect - or so we thought. We have definitely gotten away from the mountains of Colorado. The mostly flat Kansas fields seem endless even at the 75 MPH speed limit. The corn fields have either been already cut or will be very soon. Midway thru the drive, I glance down and the GPS has changed the arrival estimate by an hour so now we will be 30 minutes late. Goodland Kansas is in one of the four counties that border Colorado that are on Mountain Time. The rest of Kansas is on Central Time. Sometimes we miss the simplest of things. We realize driving faster won’t make up for our mix up so we continue on knowing we will only get to do the normal self guided visitor tour. Once we exit I-70 and head south on US-83, we discover an even more remote section of Kansas. The last mile of the drive to the park is on a very dusty and bumpy road but we keep our distance from the car ahead of us and don’t eat too much dust.
There is a parking lot for about 30 cars and surprisingly given the remoteness of this location, there were about 10 cars here. This state park only has an “iron ranger” - fill out the form, put your money in the envelope and deposit it in the locked square metal tube. As Chris was filling out the form, a single open range cow came trotting by almost as if he were the security force for checking up on visitors. Obviously the geological features of this park have been here for millions of years, but it’s being a state park was rather recent. We were there just before it’s one year anniversary.
 |
Information Sign at LJBSP
|
 |
A Glimpse of the Badlands from Parking Area
|
So what is at LJBSP? Basically it’s much like the badlands in the Dakotas although given the surrounding terrain of the area, this outcropping may be much less expected. There are two trails from the parking lot. The half mile round trip Overlook Trail is a pretty easy walk ends with a great view of the pinnacles and hoodoos eroded in the Smoky Hill Chalk formation.
 |
View Along Overlook Trail
|
 |
Impressive Badlands for Kansas
|
 |
Close-up of Formation
|
The second trail is about 2.4 miles round trip and follows the southern edge of the badlands. The Life on the Rocks Trail has great views all along the way and goes back to other sections not seen from the first trail. We could see a group of people down inside the badlands. I suspect that was the guided tour we missed. It would have been neat to be able to get off the main trail and hear some of the history about the formation. About a mile north of the park is some sort of ranch house. They would have a nice view of the badlands but it is extremely desolate out here. I think I’ll pass on that way of life. There were a few other people walking the trails and we even ran into the ranger after her tour was over. We apologized to her for our time zone error. This was a nice stop. If you’re driving across Kansas and have some time to kill, it’s an unexpected departure from the normal western Kansas landscape.
 |
Badlands with Ranch House in Distance
|
 |
Butterfly Poses
|
 |
Sign Near Mingo
|
 |
Grain Elevator in Town of Mingo
|
We did a few stops on our way back to Goodland. The visitor’s center in Colby was unique having a small grain silo as part of the building. A fitting feature for this part of the country where you likely can always spot a grain silo somewhere on the horizon. Back in Goodland, we have to stop to check out the “World’s Largest Easel”. At 80 feet tall, it holds a 32 by 24 foot painting of some sunflowers (ala Van Gogh). It was constructed in 2001. Is it truly the world’s largest easel? Maybe not but it definitely the largest we have come across.
 |
Colby Visitor's Center
|
 |
World's Largest Easel in Goodland Kansas
|
When we first concocted our trip from Arizona to Florida via Kansas, we had one other quirky destination in mind that in a sense has been on our bucket list for over 29 years. Back in 1991 while on our cross-country tandem bicycle trip, we were traversing the seemingly endless state of Kansas. In the town of Rush Center we noticed a sign for the Stone Fence Post and Barbed Wire Museum. Obviously, who in their right mind wouldn’t want to check that place out? The problem was, said museum wasn’t in Rush Center but in the town of La Crosse five miles to the north. If we had been driving our car, we would have made the left hand turn and headed north. But when you’re on a bicycle and would need to pedal that extra 10 miles, you might be like us and decide to skip it. Over the years, I have relayed that story of our missed opportunity to numerous people. So I was ecstatic to discover that this museum still exists and we planned our route with it in mind. It would have been our next stop, but I hadn’t noticed back in the summer when I checked that the museum is only open from May thru August. At least Chris had figured this out prior to us heading to La Crosse Kansas.
As a fall back, Chris proposed a visit to the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City Kansas. It’s over 330 miles from Goodland, so we do an overnight at the KOA in Salina Kansas. This park is right next to I-70 and the short noise fence in place does little to cut down on the traffic noise so not the most peaceful place to stay. The next day we head to the town of Cottonwood Falls and a small city campground that will only be 5 miles from our the preserve. There was a small travel trailer and another motorhome here when we arrived although they both left later that afternoon. There are only five RV sites in Swope Park but they do have electric and water plus a dump station behind one of the buildings. The price is right at $15 per night. There are a couple of baseball fields and a game was played that evening but it was in the field across the street so we really had no traffic whatsoever. With one exception, just before we went to bed, we saw a large truck with a livestock trailer pull in to the lot a few hundred feet away. I had just thought out loud, I wonder if it is an empty trailer or full. Then we heard a cow moo! We were concerned we might be kept up all night by the cattle, but fortunately the truck pulled out a minute later.
We had a beautiful day to explore the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve. We head into the visitors center to get information about what there is to see and do here. There was quite a bit to check out inside the center - the history of this ranch, the plants and animals that live here and how it looks in each of the seasons. We also discover this is a large place at nearly 11,000 acres. On top of that, there are 40 miles of hiking trails that are open 24 / 7. We only have a day so we likely won’t see it all! As we came out to start our exploration, a school bus full of grade school students pulled up and dropped them off. We waited to see which way they were going before we picked our route.
 |
Entrance to Tallgrass Prairie
|
 |
| Realistic Display in Visitor Center |
Our first stop is the most prominent building on the former Spring Hill Ranch - the limestone barn. At three stories tall, it covers 110 by 60 feet and was built around 1880. Two of the floors are open to touring with a bunch of old wagons and farm equipment from back in the day. It was fun to explore once all the screaming kids left.
 |
Beautiful Limestone Barn
|
 |
Old Buggy
|
 |
Second Floor Level Inside Barn
|
 |
Lower Level of Barn
|
 |
Well Preserved (Restored?) Wagon
|
There are several auxiliary building just outside the barn that we can’t enter but can peak thru the windows. There is a recorded audio tour you can listen to on your cell phone with details at each stop. We try it out at first but find our patience wasn’t quite up to listening to all the history and facts. Unfortunately the ranch house is currently being renovated so we couldn’t tour it not get very close to see what it looks like.
 |
Carriage House
|
 |
Barn and Silo
|
We start up the Scenic Overlook Trail with awesome views of the vast prairies. While it was a nice gravel road, either the gravel was recently spread or the road sees little vehicle traffic to pack down the gravel so it was rather tedious to walk on. Plus it was predominantly uphill - no Kansas is not perfectly flat.
 |
Starting Out Scenic Overlook Trail
|
 |
Prairie View
|
After half a mile, we cross into the Windmill Pasture. This is where a herd of bison live so we keep a look out for them. Initially the only indication of bison being here are the large piles they leave all over the ground. But after another three quarters of a mile, we see a solitary bison in the field. It was many hundreds of yards away so we continue up the road to hopefully get a slightly better view from higher up. From the new vantage point, we realize there are five more bison that had been on the backside of a knoll keeping them out of sight from us. Had we never encountered bison in the wild, this sighting would have been great but last summer’s trip to Badlands NP, Teddy Roosevelt NP, Custer State Park and Yellowstone NP has kind of spoiled us. In these parks, we saw hundreds of bison - often up close and personal.
 |
Black Specks Are Bison
|
 |
Gate Entering Windmill Pasture
|
We still had 2 more miles to go before getting to the scenic overlook (plus the 3.2 miles back), so we decided our mission of seeing bison was accomplished and we could head back a different route. Fortunately there are trail maps mounted on limestone blocks at each major trail intersection so it would be tough to get lost. The Ranch Legacy Trail is a much easier walking surface. And based on maps, we should be back to the barn in another two miles.
 |
Plains Lubber Grasshopper
|
 |
Approaching Ranch
|
 |
Large Tree Along Trail
|
This was an enjoyable stop. Some of the other trails are rather long but would be fun to explore. It’s not clear whether mountain biking is permitted or not but that would be the more expedient way to see the farther reaches of the preserve. On the way back to camp, we stopped my the small park that showcases the namesake for the town we’re camping in. There is an old bridge that provides a nice view of Cottonwood Falls.
 |
Large Limestone Fence at Tallgrass Prairie
|
 |
The Falls at Cottonwood Falls
|
Our next planned stop will be the oldest state park in Arkansas- Petit Jean. It is 450 miles from our current stop. Normally we might break this into three driving days, but we really don’t have much to see or do in southeastern Kansas so we will roughly split the trip in half with a stop at the Elks Lodge in Joplin Missouri. We travel some of the many backcountry roads in Kansas that are big rig friendly but rather remote. Along the way, we come across several oversized loads heading the opposite direction. It appears to be the base of some of the many wind turbines we are seeing in this part of the country. While at a nice rest stop at the intersection of Kansas 169 and Kansas 400, we see an even more impressive wide load go by (actually 3 of them spaced about 5 minutes apart). The blades of the wind turbines were following the base pieces we saw earlier in the morning. These things were huge. Using a normal 18 wheeler trailer for reference, I would estimate each blade to be 125 feet long. There were 3 escort vehicles for each blade in order to stop traffic as they had to make the turn from one road to the other. I wasn’t close enough to see the rear end in operation but I suspect it is somehow steerable by either the truck driver or a support vehicle. Makes our 38 foot motorhome towing a Jeep seem tiny.
 |
Making the Turn
|
 |
BIG Load!
|
We pulled into the Joplin Elks Lodge on a Saturday afternoon. The place was jumping. A member came out to greet us as we were figuring out the setup. They were having an event in the one large room and he wanted to make sure I knew where to go register. They have water, electric and sewer for two rigs with more room for others to dry camp. We are the only Rvers here and the parking lot wasn't so full as to impact our ability to back into the spot. We will need to remember this one in case we come back and have more time to explore the area. I did get a chance to go out and find geocaches in three states in less than a few miles of driving. Joplin is in the southwestern corner of Missouri next to both Oklahoma and Kansas. The wedding reception ended by early evening and it got quiet at the lodge.
No comments:
Post a Comment