We can never get enough of camping in the Rockies so we planned a two week trip to New Mexico and Colorado. However we only got as far as New Mexico. We had intended to stop near Red River for a few days on the way to Colorado but we found such a nice place to camp in Carson National Forrest that we just decided to stay. So this gave us a chance for an extended exploration of the entire area. We managed to get "lost" once or twice which is always good for discovering new places. Getting lost in this part of New Mexico is really easy since most of the fire roads and jeep trails through the Indian reservations are not on any map (or the GPS either). So it was kinda fun to be blowing along at 60 MPH down a dirt road to nowhere after we missed the unmarked turn to the road around the western side of Herron Lake. Fortunately after 20 miles or so through Apache open range land our road ended up exactly where we would have wanted to be if we had known where we were (sort of, maybe, I think). I would not want to run out of gas or have a flat out there. Nothing but wild horses for 50 miles or so.

We had a great trip and we are ready to go back. We also took a few photos which you can see here

We were on our way home from MD Anderson Cancer in Houston last Friday (June 7) when I figured out that I did not have any doctor appointments for the following week. So I said to Joy, "Let's go to Colorado". So we got home, did some laundry and took off for Ouray the next morning. It was a wonderful week and the first time we have had a chance to get away in two years. We got there as spring was busting out and before the snow was gone. In fact quite a few mountain passes were still closed. A few passes have so much snow that Colorado DOT says they aren't going to open this year!

One thing brought tears to our eyes. The bad fire we were in a few years ago northwest of Creede did far more damage than we knew at the time. Basically everything is gone from Creede to Lake City on both sides of CO 149. This has always been our favorite road in North America. Now it will be another 100 years until it returns to its former glory. Very sad. On the other hand, north of Lake City the Aspens were just leafing out. We have never seen anything like the mountain sides covered in a fluorescent lime green that just looked unreal. You will see it in some of our photos. It was just amazing.

With so much snow all of the streams were running out of bank and our favorite waterfalls were just glorious. Of course this has destroyed the fly fishing and river rafting business. It will be late July before water levels are down to normal. My favorite fly fishing shop, Dan's Fly Shop, in Lake City was closed and probably won't open for a month.

Over on the other side in Ouray was pretty much the same with snow everywhere, rivers and streams out of bank and some passes impassable. But it was just beautiful and very much worth the trip. I hope you enjoy some of the photos we took on the trip which you can view here.