Thursday, August 4, 2022   Colorado “San Juan Skyway”

 

Left Cayton Campground and continued along the “San Juan Skyway”, thinking that we would stop within the hour at one of a series of BLM dispersed camping spots listed along this road in my forest service app.  The scenery along this stretch is exquisite.  We felt like we were at the top of the world (and we WERE high, about 10,000 feet) with mountains around us listed up to 14,000 feet.  Tons of clouds in the sky and intermittent rain.  When we reached the first of the BLM sites we were interested in, we realized that it was immediately beside the San Miguel River and EVEN CLOSER to the road, CO145N, which is busy.  The road was right above the camp spot, so it felt kind of threatening.  We didn’t want to camp there.  We checked out the other 4 or 5 camp spots further along the road, and they were the same situation, so we decided to look elsewhere.  Big problem was “No Service” on cell phones everywhere we went.  My forest service app works offline with basic info.  It will show me on a map where I am, and show me where the various FS campgrounds and BLM camping spots are around me, BUT, the roads on the map are practically invisible, so you can’t navigate with that alone and without cell service, the app cannot connect to the Google maps feature that gives detailed driving directions.  So, although we knew there were camps around us, we didn’t know how to get there (they are often hidden deep in the woods with many road turns).  We drove all day and covered a wide variety of stunning scenery and also tried to dodge two big rain storms with lots of lightning.  We pulled off down a dirt road that had been rained on and I took a nap while Dave took a break.  Later we got back on the road and decided to head toward Dove Creek which had some BLM camping spots that we had talked about on a previous day.  Essentially we had made a big circle in our day’s drive and were heading back toward Cortez, CO.  After a full day of No Service, we finally got a signal just in time to snap screenshots of the directions to the Dove Creek Camping spot.  We followed the directions and ended up on a steep mountain road heading down to the Dolores River.  Dave was alarmed by the condition of the road, and did not want to go on in our top-heavy, 2-wheel drive vehicle.  There was nowhere to turn around with steep drop offs on the passenger side of the road, so we had to keep going.  The road got extremely rough at the end because of previous recent rains.  It was a nerve-wracking drive.  We finally got to the campsite (no longer called Dove Creek, but Box Elder–10 primitive sites, some beside the river and lots of shade), but we decided not to stay.  It was threatening heavy rain and Dave was very concerned that if the road got muddy, we would be stuck down there for a while.  We left immediately and drove back UP the road–so incredibly steep with loose rocks on the road surface.  Dave used substantial driving skill getting us back up that road.  He had to go fast enough to have momentum to get up the steep parts, but not so fast as to spin the tires on the loose rocks and then slide into the ditch or, worse, over the drop-off side.  It was scary and dangerous, but he did it.  Morrison and I both heaved sighs of relief when we finally reached the top safely.  Dave was pissed off that there had been no mention of road conditions in the camp reviews.  People called it “paradise”, but they must have come in with a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  

 

When we got back to the town of Dove Creek, we decided to continue on to Cortez and eat in a restaurant.  We both needed some comfort after the road ordeal.  We ate at La Casita de Cortez–nicely done Mexican food.  By now it was dark, so we parked in the lot at the local hospital and had an uneventful night’s sleep.  Downside was all the parking lot lights.  

 

And so ended a day that was supposed to be a short drive to the next campsite, but turned into a full day of driving and sleep in a parking lot.  Gotta be flexible.