Camping in the Intermountain West vs elsewhere in the nation...

My last post got me to thinking of the good ol' days and your reply just added to that line of thought.

I remember when they first put the steps in at seven falls, dad said they had ruined it, then they added width to the road and a parking area, that's when we stopped going there, too bad the buck drives everything.

Dad use to tell us stories how they would have to back up over some passes because the gas flow in the early cars was gravity feed and if you went up front first the carberator would be higher than the gas tank.

Boy have we come a long way in a very short time and most of it is not good.

Do you know if they ever paved the Wolf Creek pass?

Ray's comments and passion makes me think of Robert Frost. He has definitely taken "... the road less traveled," and for him, that has "... made all the difference."

For me, I feel strongly both ways -- any day camping, is like a day in paradise (communing with nature or packed in the busiest urban park). I can turn the absolute worse KOA experience into a pleasure. Guess it's all in the attitude. Towing that TM behind you is like taking that pioneer trek west. We try to go somewhere new each time. The way I look at it -- So much to see, so little time.

[RockyMtnRay]

Windbreaker wrote:

Do you know if they ever paved the Wolf Creek pass?

Oh my. Yes, Wolf Creek Pass has been paved for at least 22 years (I personally went over it as far back as '81 on my motorcycle). Wolf Creek Pass is how US Highway 160 crosses the Continental Divide between Alamosa and Pagosa Springs, thence onward to Durango. It is indeed a tough pass...the Wolf Creek Ski Area at its top gets more snow than just about any other ski resort in the state (something around 400 or more inches of snow each winter). And to the best of my knowledge, it is the only highway route in the state that had to have concrete avalanche sheds built to deflect snowslides over the road to avoid closures. In the winter, one nasty crossing of the CD. But also a fairly major east-west route.

Dad use to tell us stories how they would have to back up over some passes because the gas flow in the early cars was gravity feed and if you went up front first the carberator would be higher than the gas tank.

Yep. I can recall my parents relating similar stories when I was a kid. Either gravity feed or a weak fuel pump.

[Carol]

Ray,

I hope you are wrong about Nat'l Parks Retreat outside of RMNP. They do have a parking lot type area for most larger trailers and motor homes. We reserved back in June for our late Sept. visit and reserved a separate site with all the hookups. I even looked at aerial photos at Microsoft's TerraServer http://terraserver-usa.com/ in picking out the place, so I hope we won't be disappointed either. I will definitely post re: our experiences at this and the other campgrounds we will be staying at this Fall.

Rafter J CG in the Black Hills has the parking lot type spaces as well as wooded, more spacious sites. From the aerial photos of the Colter Bay CG in the Tetons, the sites actually appear to be more wooded than the NP CG sites. They will definitely be closer together, however. Again, a trade off.

As far as elec sites in the Big Horn Mountains in WY, Sibley Lake CG is the only one with elec hookups. We'll see if we can get away with some gray water in the forest via a hose. I'm sure it will depend on the actual terrain and how regulated the CG is. Thanks for the suggestion. (We were once at a WI State Park where a pop-up had 2 hoses going into a ditch between our sites. Every so often, there was a very strong odor, so one of those hoses had to have been black water. Illegal, of course!)

We're just hoping that the fires out West subside soon so our trip (starting Sept. 2nd) won't be affected. Right now, we plan to stay one night in Yellowstone (no hookups) on our way to the Tetons, but the last I heard the East entrance to Yellowstone was closed due to fires, so we may have to avoid Yellowstone and take a longer route to the Tetons.

Carol

[RockyMtnRay]

I checked the address of Nat'l Park Retreat on Terraserver and it came up with a real fuzzy image...but the 13 acres part of the campground description sounds most encouraging. I probably got a glimpse of their large RV parking area and assumed the worst.

In any case, it's got to be better than this godforsaken RV park along US Hwy 24 just north of Buena Vista (http://terraserver-usa.com/image.asp...p;z=13&w=2)...though a string of 14,000 foot peaks lines the valley's west side, the valley floor is hot, dusty, and dry. But you'd never know from their website just how crappy this place actually looks (http://www.snowypeaksrvpark.com/facilities.htm).

This upper Arkansas river valley area is a classic case of a situation where the NFS campgrounds (which are in up in the mountain side valleys) are cool, lush, and green whereas the commercial campgrounds down in the main river valley are basically about as nice as migrant worker camps.

Ray, your initial observations were pretty much right on target.....sometime you should travel to the outter banks of NC to the beaches. Can take that tow vehicle right out on the beach, back it up 5 feet from the waves, throw out some beach chairs, throw a few lines in the surf, turn the radio up, and open up that cooler filled with whatever AM, or PM beverage that suits ya, and simply relax for a change. If ya simply can't stand it, and need some exercise, you can go out and swim in the rip tide anytime ya want! Nah, it's not that bad, but you'll DEFINATELY get a full body workout, that's for sure! If ya go out on Okacroke Island (sp?) It's so private that you and the little lady can find some private time right on the beach.........Not commercial, not all built up, tho these days the OBX are "kinda" getting that way, but on the island, and dry camping your thing, you'll be just fine! It's a beach, every bit as nice as you personally would want Ray, just like ya brought it from home. Spralled out, not many people, and really nice.

[glow=red,2,300]Happytrails..........[/glow]

[RockyMtnRay]

sometime you should travel to the outter banks of NC to the beaches.

Actually I already have traveled the entire outer banks of NC. Did it back in '76...I was a USAF officer stationed at Ft Lee, VA and did a lot of traveling all over the east coast.

throw out some beach chairs, throw a few lines in the surf, turn the radio up, and open up that cooler filled with whatever AM, or PM beverage that suits ya, and simply relax for a change.

Wellll...

I don't fish and don't particularly like to even eat fish. Tried fishing once...about 10 years ago...found it mind numbingly boring. Way too passive...you mean I have to wait for some stupid fish to find my hook???? After 30 minutes of impatiently waiting, I decided to try a proactive approach by holding a pan over the water and yelling "here, fishy, here fishy" That didn't work either but I felt better because at least I was actively doing something and not just waiting. ;D

Because my job is totally sedentary (sitting in front of a computer all day writing software), relaxation for me is moving, challenging my muscles, etc. If I'm sitting, I'm working or reading...actively using my mind. The idea of just sitting and doing nothing is, for me, simply incomprehensible.

Basically I'm an REI-type Xtreme-sport oriented outdoorsman, and definitely not a Cabela's hunting/fishing type of traditional outdoors sportsman.

If ya simply can't stand it, and need some exercise, you can go out and swim in the rip tide anytime ya want!

Swim??? Me??? In the OCEAN??? You have gotta be kidding! Come on, Bill, I'm a mountain man who grew up in and lives in what's basically a high altitude desert. Water is a precious commodity...you drink it, shower the stink off with it, and maybe play on it (like with a Kayak). But get in it???...no, no, no, homey don't play that game. ;D

I think the last time I actually waded out in the ocean was somewhere around '72 when the Air Force had me stationed down around Panama City FL.

It's so private that you and the little lady can find some private time

LOL. The private part would be nice but there's no little lady in my life. I'm one of the "happily never married" types. 99% of the time I travel solo, very occasionally I'll bring a male buddy along.

It's a beach, every bit as nice as you personally would want

I'm just not a beach person. Or an ocean person. I mean, most of the time, the water just sits there sloshing back and forth like in a big ol' bathtub. (Yawn). And most beaches, especially those along the Atlantic and Gulf are realllllly flat...and I don't deal at all well with flat landscapes. I gotta have vertical and lots of it.

The other problem I have with beach/ocean environments is all that water also means gobs of humidity. And I also don't deal at all well with humidity levels over, say, 20 to 25%. Especially when it's mixed with high temperatures (over 70 degrees). Accordingly I will never again voluntarily travel east of the 100th meridian...the actual dividing line between the moist east and the arid west. (http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa011402a.htm

bill-n-karen
that outer banks trip sounds so lovely, i'm sitting
here daydreaming about being there. one thing
though, instead of idly tossing a line in the water,
i'd much prefer being out on a boat hauling in the
big ones. living here in kentucky i sure do miss those
atlantic ocean fishing trips.

Ray, boy can I relate to what you said about fishing. The one time I can remember that we tried it that I enjoyed was when I took a group of Boy Scouts to the Rockies in northern New Mexico and we stream fished the "Indian" way, with our hands. Catch them and throw them out on the bank. That was fun. Cleaning them was the pits, but after roasting on an open fire they sure tasted good.

Unlike you, I find great beauty in all of God's wilderness.
Forest are fine, deserts a delight, sea sides sensational, mountains are marvelous. I admit however that for the most part plains are a pain but fruitfull. Besides if everything were grand, how would we know.

Fishing is an excuse to sit in a boat drinking beer all day.