Well, it has been a very busy week. We have been hidden out for too long and I am sure a lot of others were the same because every where we went this week things were busy, if not packed. Early in the week I needed to check out 1 of a “supposed” fishing spot. On the map it showed a 4X4 road down to Monument Creek off Mt Herman road so we took off to find that spot…
On the way to that spot we passed several of these signs… It used to say “NO SHOOTING” yea like that works…
When we got there the road was closed and it was at least a half mile journey down and probably a mile further down to a spot that might have some beaver ponds as seen on Google Earth. Short story, no luck there. But there was a 4X4 road on the other side that lead to the south and on the maps there were lakes off that direction… so we took that road.
Now the trail doesn’t look too bad here but it was a spot smooth enough to hold a camera… huge boulders sticking out all over and you needed to dodge them as best you could to keep from getting hung high center… and if you know much about 4 wheeling… these roads are beat out by the smaller variety of 4 wheelers and trail bikes, then wash out down the center when it does rain…
There were flowers popping out…
The view from the tops was pretty good. Of course that was Pikes Peak to the far left but look close and you can see part of the “Z” for the road up to the peak where it goes up the back side then off to the left along and around those ridges to the top.
Also a land of huge TeePee’s but never saw the indians.
There are a lot of dry rocks but also a large area of burnt out trees too. As we came back out we took a different road back way down along Rampart Range road and then into the back side of the Garden of the Gods and this burn area was from the Waldo Canyon Fire.
That is the North Pole… well not the real one but the one west of Colorado Springs on Hwy 24 and the road behind is the beginning of the road up Pikes Peak…
Same spot looking east over the fire area and the Springs down below.
We got home from that long trip but then on Wednesday (47 years together) I asked what do you want to do today… She said, “it has been a long time since we had a Green Chili burger and a trip to Canon would be nice”… so we packed it up and headed south. I was way too slow to get a pull over and grab pictures of the troop planes making drops on Ft Carson… but did get some pics of the plans but not the actual drops.
Parachute in the distance…
We got there for a late lunch and hit Big Burger World for the burger and then to the park – which was open and enjoyed our burger…
oh and fried mushrooms. Of course now days we share “one” burger” since it is so much stuff…
Then on Thursday I wanted to check a couple more possible fishing creeks… I had been looking at the Colorado Fishing atlas… well they make guesses and it appears, not actual results.
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Supposedly the bottom green dot was a trout fishable stream. Not so at least down to the turn off to Long Hollow. We took the 4X4 road down to that spot and it was very narrow and only a high clearance vehicle would make that trip… ALIVE!… but that stream was no where near big enough to support fishing… at least not enough for some you could put in a pan or even catch on a #8 hook.
Yes we drove down that narrow rocky trail… hey the power guys do it… That angle didn’t look too bad but hey check out how deep the left side is..
We got to the bottom and turned back up FS 348, oh this was FS 351 down. Going up the 348 got better and better and wasn’t too bad a road and almost at the end we found a small pond. I looked but didn’t see any fish and no one there was fishing, yes there were already a few parked there. But just a little further up there was a lot of ‘”white rock” showing on the side of the hill? So I pulled over and found it had been a big white quartz mine… We picked up some samples and brought them back but when I walked up I forgot to take any camera… damn… Unknown at the time I would be back in a few days…
On the way out we went up FS300 (Rampart Range Road) past Devils Head – which was closed, all the actual FS camps are closed still. But along the way the view to the west was pretty dramatic and lot of people in every pull-off camp spot.
Devils Head from an open spot..
Looking west and the “pimple” on the left is “Signal Butte” I climbed that last summer. It also shows that the big fires of the past decade have cleared a lot of country up here. A little further up FS 300 we veered off to the right at a sign that said Jackson Creek road and Sedalia. Took that road down to meet up with HWY 105 that would take us back down to Palmer Lake and home… Along that road I did get a picture of this old barn..
At the very upper end of the road on private property is that community of Shamballah-Ashrama? Also they say there is a Brothehood of the White Temple up there but we didn’t turn up that road… Although those links are, at a minimum, weird when tied together. On the way up 105 and across on “Noe”/Greenland road I did spot the Queen of the mound and another old barn of interest…
So to bring this all to an end as it is way too long but getting longer… The kids showed up Saturday and wanted to do some 4X4 tripping… so back up Mt Herman road.
Cool old VW camper van…
Then down into Woodland for some Tea and a few burgs… and then after some consult with the maps back up Hwy 67 and off on Trout Creek road… to ? FS 350C which will turn into FS 348 later on…
This is about what every open spot looked like for the weekend. People wanted out and to hell with distance. oh and the 4wheeler and trail bike craze was over-whelming this weekend.
Yep FS350C is another of those small rut roads, very narrow and very rough and on this weekend ‘OVERRUN” with the 4wheel crowd and bikers. you couldn’t move up more than 100 yards with out having to pull into the brush, or back up or ? to let other pass one way or the other… and the 4 wheelers go a lot faster than we could.
When we headed up this road I remembered we had been down this one a few years ago (we were lost back then – following the stupid GPS in the jeep). We made it up the bad part and then we turned off on FS348 – again – and up to the little pond below the quartz mine..
This time some guys were fishing but no one had caught anything… Sean circled the pond but didn’t see any possible action… we all took a stretch and oh in the distant is the road up to the quartz mine… we moved up there and did a little “rock hounding” and then on out…
they have line some very large pieces to block the old road, although we could see that bikes and some small 4wheelers had been on up past the big rocks…
Up at the dig… a spiritual sign of ? entry?
It is a pretty big gash.
Ok, it is still realatively early so we consult the maps again and I had not been down FS 325, 324, or 323 so we decided that it would make a loop and could take 325 down, check out the upper end of Plum creek the up 324 and out 323… no need to offer too many pics here as it is a lot of one way, rough gravel road but not as rough as 350C or 351… but on the trail
This really twisted pine tree that is in some way still alive?
we did see a few more further up the road but not all together..
And this tree with very odd scars and or ? designs. Not sure this can be easily explained…
So that was the week. a lot of bouncy, rough roads and for the Holiday weekend, way too many people out at every spot…
WD0AJG