The Boondockers: May 2013

Great Sand Dunes National Park

We diverted to visit the Great Sand Dunes NP.

This massive dune area is 107,000 acres and the highest dune is 750 ft.

Royal Gorge

Just out of Canon City is a deep gorge called Royal Gorge. The bridge over the gorge was built in 1929 and is 291 metres above the Arkansas River and has a span of 268 metres. To get an idea of its size look at the train running next to the river below. In true American style the bridge site has an amusement park with Zip Line, Aerial Tram, Sky-coaster, etc.

Cripple Creek

There is a narrow dirt road out of Canon City which took us into the mountains to Cripple Creek, an old mining town.

It is not unusual to drive down an "out-of-the-way" track and spot a home that seems out-of-place. I often end up scratching my head wondering where the entrance is.

Main street of Cripple Creek. There is not much else in the way of commercial establishments however a local told me in its heyday it had over 100 casinos.

Victor

Victor is a small mining town only a few miles from Cripple Creek. It had more appeal to me as it had not been restored to attract tourists.

This old Dodge (I think) caught my eye. It looked like it was still registered and in operation.

Victor City Hall with a colourful elk statue.

The Masonic Hall, currently being restored. Most of the streets are still dirt.

A lot of the buildings still had original advertising.

Colorado Springs

Garden of the Gods is a spectacular park of colourful rock formations in Colorado Springs.

Rock spires in the Garden of the Gods.

A road takes us to all the points of interest in the park.

Pikes Peak

The Summit of Pikes Peak. The air is very thin here and at times I started to get light headed.

The windy road up to the summit. The road was narrow and I thought a little dangerous however many vehicles tackled the route. Looking down from this point I saw one driver seem to panic and do a dangerous U-turn. He/she then very slowly inched back down the mountain.

The Pikes Peak Cog Railway. This engineering masterpiece was first built in 1891.

The 8.9 mile trip takes its passengers to 14,100 feet, the highest Cog rail in the world.

Denver

We stayed in the Bear Creek Lake RV Park in Denver. Nearby was the Tesoro Cultural Centre and we were lucky to be there at their 2013 Annual Pow Wow.

This tee pee was erected just inside The Fort entrance.

A craft worker inside the Tee pee.

The market at the Pow Wow offered some exquisite hand made Indian jewellery for sale.

This piece won first award. It is sterling silver worn one way and copper with an Australian gaspeite stone on the opposite side.

You probably have worked out by now that I am fascinated by birds of prey and in particular eagles.

Bald Eagle

These people are a part of a voluntary organisation HawkQuest that educates people about these fascinating birds.

This cute fellow is a Spectacled Owl.

Prairie Falcon.

The very colourful Pow Wow begins. The Armed Forces men and women Indians march behind the chiefs.

This little Indian warrior had more energy than the others. He was on the floor for every dance.

His head gear slipped but he didn't miss a beat.

Colourful tail dress. (There's probably a name for them)

There were a number of tribes represented at the Pow Wow. I could pick out different tribes by the costumes, face paint and facial features however I could not find out who was who. Navajo, Sioux, Cherokee, Hopi, were some of the artists.

I believe this man was the only member of his tribe attending as no other wore a similar costume.

A performer rests.

Mounted Sheriffs.

Red Rock Park and Amphitheatre. This is the venue for major concerts in Denver. Denver city is in the background.

Image downloaded from Internet.

Rocky Mountain National Park

In one word, "spectacular". Although I do think we lucked out and arrived at the right time. The winter snows had just melted and the elk, moose and deer were still down in the valleys.

Bear Lake. A higher elevation from where we were camped.

Young buck elk.

Quite often we encountered elk and deer crossing the roads.

This young buck came close to our RV. I was able to get some great shots of him. Notice his shiny new growth antlers under the furry outer skin.

He poses for the camera.

There is a drive within the park that takes us over Gore Range and down to Grand Lake.

It's cold! The tundra is still frozen.

The road is carved through the snow drift.

Over the other side of the mountains we spotted a moose and her calf. This was very exciting because we hadn't spotted many moose and to find one with a calf was a bonus.

Back near to camp there were a number of elk bucks enjoying the sun.

Here is a big buck with an American Magpie on top.

Down loaded photograph.

This is an American Black-Billed Magpie in flight. Much more majestic than the Aussie version.

We took the back road down to Estes Park, the closest town.

Horseshoe Park. A large herd of elk grazing.

We came across a group of large buck elks.

This guy is going to have a big rack when they fully grow.

I was standing on the road taking pictures when this elk decided to cross. Unfortunately he decided to cross just where I was standing. As a dedicated photographer I stood my ground, noticing that his new antlers were still not pointy. My storey is that it was only when he breathed on me did I step aside.