Our first trip!

[DK-in-SC]

Here is a replacement screen door latch. Don't ask me how I know about it...


http://www.amazon.com/RV-Designer-E2.../dp/B000BRJTZE

[Kansas Camper]

Thank you! My 7 year old told me she only tried to open the door and it broke. Cheap fix.

[mike.t]

Kansas just about any where that has water. Will be coming from So Cal.so probably western side.
Thanks

[Kansas Camper]

Mike. We do not go on the west side often. South fork and Creed are beautiful. Wolf creek pass is a must!! The pine Beatle has really hit that area hard.

[elundquist]

Mike

Here are a few camp grounds we have stayed or scouted for future trips. Each are near or on water with fishing. Not sure your route through Colorado, but the South West around Ouray & Pagsoa Springs are our favorites.

Western Colorado Camping:

South West
Ouray KOA - Ouray, CO
East Fork - Pagosa Springs, CO
West Fork - Pagosa Springs, CO
Wolf Creek - Pagosa Springs, CO


Western Platte
Rifle Falls - Rifle Falls, CO


Vail Valley
Sylvan Lake - Eagle, CO
(There are several camping areas near Sylvan Lake)


Aspen Valley
Redstone - Carbondale, CO
Crystal River KOA - Carbondale, CO
Little Mattie - Rudi, CO

Leadville Area
Molly Brown - Leadville, CO
(There area several camp grounds around Twin Lakes besides Molly Brown)




Erik Lundquist

[mike.t]

Thanks Kansas those look good. Now it looks like Erik is going to keep me busy for a while.
Thanks to both.
Mike

[elundquist]

Mike,

There are many more camp sites in Western Colorado, but many are spots in the scrub oak and sage bush. These are too dusty and hot for us. I tried to give you some of the ones we like to stay at. These are usually shaded sites with some sort of water near by.

The Ouray area is where we camp each year - mostly the fall (Sept to Oct), There are a bunch of nice camp sites down there, but we have not really looked at them. We like to spend most of our time traveling the remote host towns and mines along the off road trails. We use the KOA or 4 J RV camps more for a basecamp with full hook ups.

While the Ouray/ Silverton are in the news with the mine release, it's a very nice area to camp. If you love history of western living & mining it's a great location.

Mining in Colorado has turned the mountains are very much like Swiss cheese. Down in the Telluride, Ouray, & Silverton you will see more ghost towns with educational information presented at the sites.


Erik Lundquist

[Kansas Camper]

Erik. Thanks for sharing. If we go on over the pass we will have some good destinations.

[mike.t]

Erik. Stayed in Durango a couple of years ago at Alpen Rose RV park. Nice place. Full hookups. On Highway 550 going to Silverton. Fishing sucked due to rafters on the Animus But that is what i am looking for. To old to dry/dirt camp anymore. Ouray looked nice still checking out the others.

[mike.t]

Just looked at it on Map quest. Just a spit from Silverton. Going to do some research on that KOA.
Thanks again.
Mike

[rockfordroo]

Watch out for that big EPA spill that just happened last week near Silverton. It all went down the Animas River. Lots of heavy metals and other toxins.

[mike.t]

Erik. Is that the Cement creek/river by the KOA that the spill started in?

[drhroo]

The EPA spill was on the opposite side of the "pass" from Ouray. Not sure how it impacted the roads around Silverthorne and Animas Forks. My wife and I will be in that area in September and have considered doing the Alpine Loop off road trail but we'll need to see how the roads are.

We will be camping at Ridgway State Park - one of the highest rated in CO. It is north of Ouray but not that far. (Farther than the town of Ridgway, which BTW, is where they shot scenes from the original True Grit move.) I believe they have full hookups on some loops and electrical only on others. We're trying one of the electrical only. I don't know about fishing. My brother is a guide and works for Cabelas but I never got into it - something about having to touch it once I caught it.

If you do like driving around off pavement a great drive is Last Dollar Road into Telluride. And there are a couple very cool county roads, one of which cuts through the Ralph Lauren ranch.

[mike.t]

Thanks drh. From what i understand(which is little) it went from the Gold King mine above Silverton through the Cement creek/river to the Animus through Durango. Don't know about the Animus forks though. My truck is OK off roading and wouldn't mind doing it to get one of those things ya gotta touch.

[elundquist]

Mike

The spill dose not go past the KOA in Ouray. These discharges from mines happens are on going. In this case they were starting the work to seal a mine below Gold King that was discharging water. They uncovered the entrance to the Gold King mine as they were going to use it to monitor the water level in the mine below once they sealed it. They did not know the mine below flood up into the Gold King. So they released this water.

Some think the mining operations made these toxic materials. The fact is these materials are from natural processes. Water, oxygen, iron sulfate, and pyrite form an acid. Then the acid eats the rocks to release the natural minerals. The problem with the mining is the pools/ pond and mine shafts/ tunnels. These fill with water, but still allow oxygen access to the water to form the acid. Then the water quickly becomes concentrated with these metals/ toxins.

It many of the old mining towns Telluride, Ouray, Breckenridge, Snowmass, Eagle, Minturn, Leadville and others have streams/ rivers with these mineral concentrations. These are from water flowing through/ over rocks containing these minerals. The old mining operations just compound the problems.

Typically you can tell which waters are heavy in minerals, because the water is cloudy (milky) and has a color typically yellow, orange, red and sometimes green. You will see these colors stained on the rocks in the water.


The fishing regulations will tell you if the fish are not safe. There will be signs along most populated water ways letting you know if the water is not safe for humans.

Basically if you do not drink or play in cloudy (not from mud) water ways you will be fine. I would never walk into an old mine, ponds near mining, or on the tailing piles. Especially if there is slimy muck in these areas.


Erik Lundquist

[elundquist]

The water from the Gold King mine flows into cement creek down to Amimus Forks where it flows into the Amimus River that flows down through Silverton, Durango, etc.

This is all south east of Ouray. It's not going to prevent me from visiting and camping down there the this fall. This area is remote. While they are accessible from county roads these roads require 4x4 and good off road driving skills.

I have driven up to the Gold King mine and to the Rosa mine below it .




If I remember correctly the photo attached is if the Rosa mine the EPA was going to plug. The mine opening is covered in tailings to prevent access. The flooded water flows out of the mine through the tailings. See how slimy the tailings and water are? I would avoid playing in this mess. Green is typically copper, red/ orange is typically iron and lead, white is typically zinc and yellows I think are sulfur and/or acid. In the photo I believe the Gold King mine is above water discharge.




Erik Lundquist

[mike.t]

All very informative Erik thanks. I google earthed Ouray and the KOA and noticed the river/creek was milky. (i realize this is a probably an 3/4/5 year old google earth picture) is that from some mine?
Thanks again
Mike

[elundquist]

Things to do in Ouray, Ridgeway, Silverton and Telluride area:


All the towns rely on tourism, so you will find the typical shops. The area has a high population of Artis. You will find hand blow glass art, metal art (both jewelry and decorative), carving, painting, and photography.

Many of the streams have world class fishing. The fish typically did not live in the water ways heavy in minerals. You will find good fishing in the Dallas Divide Creek just past the turn down to Telluride and the lake in Ridgeway State Park. The creek at the discharge of the damn is my favorite location. You don't have to hike down step rocky slopes or walk up stream to the good fishing. But of course everyone fishes there as well. Be very careful in reading the fishing regulations and getting permission to cross land to get access to the water ways. Plus some streams are privately owned.

Camping - (besides the ones I listed before). You have sites at Ridgeway State Park. They have everything from tent sites to full hook ups. It can get really busy there and all the sites I have seen are in grass fields with a few small trees that don't provide much shade. Some of the sites are next to the lake and one is below the damn. The plus side of these sites is the walking distance to water.


Off Road Touring - this is how you will see many of the ghosts/ mining towns, waterfalls, meadows of wild flowers. Many of the county roads access these areas, but many of these roads really require 4x4 and off road driving skills. I suggest buying the following book to plan your off road adventure:





The book will give you likely travel times, expected road conditions, skill level, and recommended class of vehicle. You can travel most of these roads using your Truck/TV, but I don't recommend anything above the books rating 3 or 4. Going off road here it is normal to have broken u-joints, sway bar links, shocks, engine mounts, ball joints. Or to have a cut tire or the exhaust ripped out from under the truck.

I would rent a modified jeep or take a tour from the local off road firms. I rent jeeps from Farabees or Riverside Jeeps. They are Jeep Rubicon's that have been slightly modified. I prefer them because they have the disconnects on the sway bars that prevent breaking the links and provide more flex.

To get an idea and see the drives you can search YouTube as many people have taped there drives. Search for:

Engineers Pass
Cinnamon Pass Trail
Silverton to Animas Forks Ghost Town
Eureka Gulch
California Gulch
Yankee Boy Basin
Imogene Pass
Ophir Pass
Alta Ghost Town
Corkscrew Gulch
Black Bear

Black Bear and parts of Engineers Pass are the most extreme notable adventures. My favorite is Corkscrew, because of the step slopes and my wife's favorite the three point turn at the top. We rented a four door the one time that didn't have a tight turning radius. So I had to make a three point turn with a manual transmission at the top to go down the other side. In backing up the rear tires had to go to the edge of a extremely step slope of tallis; it would have been a 1500 to 2000 feet to the bottom! The wife took the two dogs and got out of the jeep before making the turn. [emoji26][emoji38]

Manual Rubicon Jeeps have such much power they are really fun to drive off road. I wish I didn't blow up my jeep up in Moab.




Erik Lundquist

[elundquist]

Mike

The creek through Ouray, past the KOA into Ridgeway is milky from devolved minerals in the water. Heading south on the oh my gosh highway I found a few mines flowing water into the creek. There is no fish in that water until you get down into Ridgeway. I believe the water is safe to humans as many kayakers, rafters, and swimmers wade in the water. I have note seen or heard about warnings with that water other than for flash floods.

I won't get really concerned about the water, from a health aspect. Milky water just means there is a high mineral content, but not necessary toxic. Its just more likely toxic in the mining areas. I wouldn't bother trying to fish the milky waters as they don't typically have fish.

The KOA has a fishing pond that is stocked. I fly fished the water below the damn/ lake in Ridgeway State Park and along CO 145 just west of the turn south to Telluride (traveling from Ridgeway).

The fly fishing shops in Ridgeway have guides and information on the good fishing spots. All the waters I have fished have been so clear and clean that you have to fish up stream. The fish are very spooky and can see you coming a mile away! With good sunglasses you can watch the fish in the waterways.

I use to hike a lot and while out I would source drinking water from streams and lakes. I was more concerned back east (VA, PA, MD, WV) about the water than out here. Back east the waterways are full of toxic things like human waste, farm wastes, petroleum (gas & oil), & fertilizers. Here most of it is natural minerals that are there always, it's just in the mountains there are higher mineral/ metal concentrations. Hence the reason for the mining. I only know of two cases of toxic pollution that was a result of the use/dumping of toxic material.

Climax in Leadville - an active mine.

Gilman in Red Cliff south of Vail. The mine closed and the owner decided to make money by selling toxic waste storage in the old mine. The mine flooded, the steel drums rusted, and the water spilled into the waterway. Huge Superfund cleanup project.

The reason the Gold King spill is getting a lot of attention is because it was caused by the EPA! There are a lot of mines that need to be cleaned up, because the discharge of these high mineral water kill off the wildlife. The wildlife is one of Colorado's largest economy's. The mining areas are not toxic waste lands.

While touring these mining areas I worry more about falling into old pits and shafts. They are every where and many are not identified or mapped.


Erik Lundquist

[karrun]

Originally Posted by elundquist

Mike

The spill dose not go past the KOA in Ouray. These discharges from mines happens are on going. In this case they were starting the work to seal a mine below Gold King that was discharging water. They uncovered the entrance to the Gold King mine as they were going to use it to monitor the water level in the mine below once they sealed it. They did not know the mine below flood up into the Gold King. So they released this water.

Some think the mining operations made these toxic materials. The fact is these materials are from natural processes. Water, oxygen, iron sulfate, and pyrite form an acid. Then the acid eats the rocks to release the natural minerals. The problem with the mining is the pools/ pond and mine shafts/ tunnels. These fill with water, but still allow oxygen access to the water to form the acid. Then the water quickly becomes concentrated with these metals/ toxins.

It many of the old mining towns Telluride, Ouray, Breckenridge, Snowmass, Eagle, Minturn, Leadville and others have streams/ rivers with these mineral concentrations. These are from water flowing through/ over rocks containing these minerals. The old mining operations just compound the problems.

Typically you can tell which waters are heavy in minerals, because the water is cloudy (milky) and has a color typically yellow, orange, red and sometimes green. You will see these colors stained on the rocks in the water.


The fishing regulations will tell you if the fish are not safe. There will be signs along most populated water ways letting you know if the water is not safe for humans.

Basically if you do not drink or play in cloudy (not from mud) water ways you will be fine. I would never walk into an old mine, ponds near mining, or on the tailing piles. Especially if there is slimy muck in these areas.

Erik Lundquist

The EPA tested the water that was released from the mine accidently and found it high in arsenic, copper, cadmium and aluminum. These are not elements that are normally found in high concentrations in nature, but are used in mining operations. They definitely are toxic.