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Dave Rogers turns in a report that takes us up the passes of Colorado, through Wyoming, into Idaho, and back to Arizona by way of Montana. ... ... ... ... ...
This story picks up where, "Mountains of Coast? Whazoo's Funundrum" left off. Click on the thumbnail pictures below to enlarge. Also, some of the bigger photos are animated.
Whazoo’s Funundrum Continuum: An Epic Adventure Of A Lifetime
by Dave Rogers, AKA Whazoo
The Whazoos have completed Engineer Pass and the drive through Lake City, Colorado on the way to other locations of interest. Other than the bank, there’s not much interest there these days. Feeling free as a bird, we flew through the state with our nest strapped to our back. How many other birds can do that?
Crested Butte, Colorado was the starting point for the next pass. We fell in love with Crested Butte right away with it’s unique views and old town charm. The main street itself is a walk back in time. Active and restored, it seems to be on the crest of something big. The million dollar views jump out at you and, after stopping at a local real estate office, we found this to be more true than we had imagined. Goodbye Crested Butte, we knew you for just a minute.
Leaving Crested Butte, Schoefield Pass, a four wheel drive trail, was still closed due to snow. So it was Kebler Pass for us. Kebler may be the more domestic of passes to drive, yet it’s definitely not passe. All truck campers should take the time to make this easy drive for the scenery which is second to none.
Let’s see now Whazoo; are you doing some stretches, rubbing your hands in the dirt, or telling us he was safe at first? I have it; the road is real flat, real smooth, and well graded. I would never have known just by looking.
Traveling over the pass, we stopped at Irwin Lake and Lost Lake to check out the campgrounds. Irwin is the best kept of the two yet Lost Lake pulled at us the most with it’s scenery. However, the shoreline was dotted with fishermen wearing camouflage outfits. This disturbed me a bit. Did they really think the fish would be fooled by the clothing?
I know for a fact that trout are fairly smart fish. I personally have taken a chapter from the duck hunter’s bible and use a rubber trout decoy, on a string. I call him “Kilgore Trout” and when we fish it becomes a “Slaughter House”. While I won’t debate the usefulness of Kilgore I will say that at least I don’t look silly fishing with camo clothing. But the camping wasn’t what we were looking for so we moved on.
With a sign that told us we had fourteen miles left before hitting pavement, the pressure was on to find a camp spot. Luckily, the next turnoff leads us to what I call, “Lynnview Estates”. Mrs. Whazoo expressed her desire to have a cabin right there, which made me smile and point out that we do. Our cabin has four wheels under it and we call it a “truck camper”.
That evening was everything we could have asked for. We sat outside in the perfect temperatures. It felt like time for dinner and a movie. The picture playing was, “The Greatest Show Of Earth” starring Ms. Terra Firma in all her glory. My friend, Buck, came by to visit for awhile, dropping off some popcorn to have with our movie. The popcorn was a little off color though, so we passed.
Finishing the drive through Kebler Pass the following day, I had the thought that Colorado must be the US Mint for the color green as every shade of green seemed to be made here. I love green and wish I had more of it in my back pocket. I certainly enjoyed seeing so much of it on Mother Nature’s canvas in Colorado.
Coming down a long grade, I saw a sign along the highway that I thought was just plain wrong. So I took out my digital magic marker and changed it. It’s better, don’t you think? That’s how the Whazoo skis, on his back. Some call it sledding.
Next up on this wonderful trip was the drive over Independence Pass, the second highest paved pass in Colorado at 12,095 feet above sea level. Even though it’s the second highest, it might well be the narrowest of the paved passes. We were heading east on this thin ribbon of asphalt which put Mrs. Whazoo on the outside looking down. At times like these, her religion shows as I heard exclamations of, “Oh Dear God” as we skirted the edge, a near vertical drop.
Independence Pass was beautiful and reminded me that even though there are some troubling issues in the world these days, we in America had two things right from the very beginning... independence and truck campers! If you ask me, the two words are synonymous. I don’t know exactly what “synonymous” means as I wasn’t very good in synometry. It just sounds like the two words could mean the same thing.
Clearing the pass, I heard Mrs. Whazoo letting go of held breath. Happy to be on safer ground, we felt our independence as we got the lead out for the next destination, Leadville. Colorado. There we hoped to climb Mosquito Pass, the highest of all passes in the continental US. Some passes are higher, but they are up and back the same way and not a true cross-over pass. We had been to Mosquito Pass before in a Jeep and wanted to go back with our truck camper.
The mining sites above Leadville were very interesting and many pictures were taken.
How many you might ask? Well let’s just say that with the advent of the digital camera and the eight gigabyte memory card, more pictures were taken than should have been.
Here are only a few...
Well chute, might as well fill ‘er up. I could use a little high grade.
Hold onto your Truck Camper hats, this is going to be an “E” ticket ride.
Inside this building owned by the Barney Rubble Yours and Mine Co., we found some very interesting old equipment. The cables looked like they had rusted into one large mass in the years of neglect. Yet, with a little imagination, you could still hear the lever-man shouting cautions over the generators whine while gears meshed to pull the cables heavy cargo. This was silver mining on a grand scale.
The drive up Mosquito Pass was a rocky affair and not a trip to be done quickly. The rocks made their presence known with every forward movement. Then I remembered why they call it Mosquito Pass, it’s a very rocky road. Having made it near the top, we were disappointed to find a snow field on an off-camber hairpin turn. Several tries later, the issue would be backing down the side of the mountain or making a ten point turn. Let’s just say that I’d rather not do a ten point turn again anytime soon. “What’s that crunching sound Dear?” I asked as both front sway bar links gave up the struggle and snapped at the threads.
Not to be denied, there was a side road to the top of an old volcanic crater just below Mosquito Pass that we four-wheeled to and spent the night. We were camped at 12,500 feet where breath is short and the view is long, stopped only by the limits of our vision. We were so close to the sky that I felt like I was being watched by the Angels of Avalon. When I turned around, it was no surprise to see one standing just inside my camper door, smiling at me.
There was no one else on the entire side of the mountain. We were alone. What an incredible feeling to have when we are all so connected these days; solitude. I think solitude and truck campers are synonymous. I don’t know what synonymous means but, “Whats that Dear, I’ve already used that one?” So now you know that Whazoo has the same affliction as many fellers my age, CRS, “Can’t Remember Synonyms”. Moving along please excuse all of the truck pictures, I took them to pass the time as it was too windy for badminton.
A pleasant surprise was discovered on this mountain top of lava in the form of the smallest yet most perfect and beautiful of flowers, as pretty as any china rose. Jeff Goldblum said it in the first Jurassic Park movie, “Nature will find a way”. Indeed it does.
After breakfast and a cup of Whazoo’s Lava Java, we are on the move again. More places to go and things to do. But first we had to get off of the rocky topped mountain.
Stung by a small patch of snow on Mosquito Pass, I hung my head and buzzed back to Leadville and another pass just south, Weston Pass. It was another beautiful drive that had a rough beginning on the west side, but any truck and camper with four-wheel drive should easily make it. There were quite a few nice camp spots along the way and we found the perfect place for lunch. I have named this Pass Out Pass, POP for short, since lunch on the grass next to the small creek made me pass out. Way to go POP. Well, I was just posing for the picture but feel I should receive an award for the acting. Do you know how hard it is at my age to act like you’re taking a nap?
With a passing grade, we left the, “pass or fail” portion of this trip. We have both passed and failed but everything has a reason, and I reason we would not have seen Weston Pass if we had made Mosquito. There will be another time for the Mosquito!
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