Sunday, July 6, 2008

4x4 on the 4th in Chihuahua


Reason #1 to buy a 4-wheel drive and use it: get the family out into Colorado vistas such as these. We spent the Fourth-of-July weekend in the mountains, with my primary goal of driving up Chihuahua gulch. This place is just east of Keystone, and is within view of the two 14-ers: Grays and Torreys (back-side is to the right of the picture). The drive itself was only a little over an hour, from Keystone to the beginning of the trail head, but of course there were quite a few wondrous places to stop before reaching the end of the road. Troy joined us in his "new" 4Runner on this bumpy ride, and it was the first of its kind for my wife. There were a couple of creek crossings, one of which could be tricky having 2-foot-sized rocks in the way, as you ford through axle-deep water. After lunching at the trail head, we walked a little ways towards the upper lake taking pictures along the way. I think everyone enjoyed it, encountering beautiful flowers in bloom and wide-open vistas featuring waterfalls, marshy flats, and rubble strewn mountain sides. The weather was about perfect while we were there, with a few clouds breaking up the blue, mountain-cut skyline. We closed the day with a drive back to Siverthorn through a long missed 4-o-clock thunder storm.

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