Colorado Rocky Mountain High, 2

As we headed west from Gunnison to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park,  again the scenery was absolutely spectacular!  The Blue Mesa Reservoir provided deep blue contrast to the surrounding hillsides, mesas, rocks, and road.  It's gorgeous! 

Unfortunately we didn't make it to the Black Canyon.  We were about 3 miles from the turnoff when a deer came up the steep bank from the lake and jumped into our car!

We are fine, and the car is drivable -- just the bumper and front headlight were damaged and the hood's a little pushed in.  The deer walked away!   But instead of continuing on, we turned back, returning to the campground to Gunnison so Jim could temporarily patch up the bumper.

To see more of the journey from Gunnison to Deer Crossing, click here:  Gunnison to Deer Crossing (19 shots)



  

The deer encounter was on Saturday.  On Monday we visited  Gunnison Country Collision and had along chat with the owners -- a couple originally from Pennsylvania.   Anyway, Marty, the owner agreed with Jim that there's nothing wrong under the hood, and the hood latch is good.   As it would take around two weeks to get parts and repair it, we were leaning towards delaying repairs until we return home.  Marty assured us that this would be okay, that the Subaru was up to the task.  Our insurance agent agreed with this plan, so, the next day we set off for another leg of our journey.   Our car is no longer photogenic enough for those Subaru like ads. 

 

Here's the last before shot:

 

We travelled the same road past Blue Mesa Reservoir without incident, enjoying  the beauty as we went.  We drove over a pass and then through a canyon and then everything turned green as we passed through a beautiful valley. 

 

Eventually we came to Montrose, surrounded by what looked like Sand Dunes. 

From here we travelled south on US 550 to Ridgeway State Park.

We arrived at Ridgeway State Park without a reservation, but knowing there were sites available.  We were told that we could only book for two nights, and for each additional night we wanted, we had to come back to the check-in booth, one day at a time, and if our site wasn't reserved by someone else, we could have it.  Or we could reserve online or by phone, also one day at a time, and pay an extra $10 reservation fee for each night.  Very complicated and a lot of extra work for the person in the check-in booth, as well as inconvenient for the camper.  But evidently, that's they way they work It in Colorado State Parks.  Oh well.  We managed to stay four nights by following their stupid procedure. 

But the campground was lovely, quiet, had a great view, and was convenient to what we wanted to do over the next few days.

The first evening we were visited by several mule deer.  Beautiful animals that reminded us of our unpleasant encounter with their cousin.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For pictures of our route from Gunnison to Ridgeway Park, click here: Gunnison to Ridgeway State Park  (53 photos)