Wild West Tour: Issue 4

Day #3: Salida CO

Last Night in Garden City we had strong winds, we thought the tents might blow over at one point. There were more feed yards, that were stinky. We confirmed our belief that Kansas was FLAT!

From 2006_Wild_Wild_West_Tour

About 20 miles from Pueblo CO. we saw some rain ahead, and decided to stop and put on our rain gear. It was a good idea. We had a serious downpour for about 15 miles coming into Pueblo. It was pretty intense with some puddles and heavy rain. As we left Pueblo we headed towards Cannon City, someone hollored at us, there was some flooding "up there".

Cannon City brought to us a BEAUTIFUL Route 50. The winding road was next to the Arkansas river which up to this point had been empty. We stumbled upon the South entrance to the Royal Gorge. WOW! was about all that was going through my mind. We entered the park and there were Cows on the road, this was the first time I had actually seen cattle when the signs said, "Open Range". This US 50 route was fantastic with sweeping turns right next to the river, there were rafts floating down the river and the view was outstanding. On both sides were the Magnificant Rockies and the everlasting road was unbelievable.

After leaving Cannon City we headed towards Gunnison, CO. with a stop in Salida for Gas. As we left Salida there was a big sign that said that US 50 was closed due to a Mud Slide. Apparently this is the "Flooding" that the man in Pueblo was speaking about. We didn't know that "Up There" was really about 150 miles down the road.

So we were forced to head back to Salida for the night. The campground we found there was a bit more rustic but also scenic with the mountains in the backgound. Dorothy told us what restaraunt to eat at and we did. It was great.

So we spent the night at Salida and at about 7000 feet it got a little cooler that night. I actually had to bundle up in my sleeping bag for the first time on this trip.

This has been a fantastic trip!

-matt-