5/19/2018 Scenic Sightseeing on Hwy 50

The drive today from Coaldale, CO to Gunnison, CO was INCREDIBLE!! The pictures can never do it justice. We finally saw substantial snow on the top of the mountains and we passed over the mountain top and it wasn’t on the road of course, but it was on the sides of the road. We made it to over 11,312 feet when crossing Monarch Pass. Now that was FUN!  Once again, kudos to Chauffeur Jeff.   Up and down the mountains with no issues.

We are staying in Elk Creek Campground in Curecanti National Recreation Area about 15 miles west of Gunnison, CO. Elk Creek Campground is right beside Blue Mesa Reservoir (we can see it from Ole Blue). This is an artificial reservoir on the upper reaches of the Gunnison River. It’s the 2nd largest reservoir in Colorado….meaning it’s just huge. Blue Mesa Reservoir is 20 miles long and 9180 acres and 96 miles of shoreline. The surface of the lake is at an elevation of 7518 feet. It’s a very popular lake for boating, fishing, horseback riding. In the winter, it’s popular for ice fishing. There are so many boats and fishermen here. Jeff looked it up and the bulk of the fish in it are rainbow trout, brown trout, lake trout and sock eye salmon.

We also took an afternoon drive to Crested Butte. Crested Butte is at about 9,000 ft elevation and there is so much lodging there. It’s dead right now because there’s no snow, but in season I can see where it would be packed based on all of the lodging. Cyclists enjoy the summer there. There’s no way in the world that I could ride a bike at that elevation or tackle some of the areas around Crested Butte.  I have a hard enough time at Hibiscus by the Bay parking lot.

On the bright side, we bought a few Powerball tickets, so hopefully we can buy a mansion and fly all of you out to see us this summer. Fingers Crossed.

I will upload the pictures when I can get to WIFI. They are incredible!!