4th of July Buena Vista, CO trip (LOTS of pics)

[camdz]

I have a ridiculous amount of pictures but figured Id share some of the highlights, with a few of the 4runner thrown in there. Most of these were taken with my phone, but still pretty cool to look at!

It was definitely depressing coming back to this humid weather in Kansas City. Every time I go to CO, I want to stay.

Sorry for all the pics! I got carried away.

Leaving KS.

Campsite

Campsite View (Collegiate Peaks were behind us, but most were blocked by trees)

Cottonwood Pass

Small hike up from Cottonwood. Straight ahead is the road where the gf/snow pic was taken.

Mt Princeton (14k+ ft). We drove up as far as possible then hiked the rest.

Me trying to be creative. The 14,196 Mt Princeton sticker with the actual peak behind it.

 

[camdz]

View from the top

Zoom WAAY in and theres my 4runner and a Ford Raptor that followed us up.

Free place to stay near the top of Mt Princeton

"Easy" MTB trails. This was part of the Midland Trail somewhere.

Me huffing it up a small hill.

GF going down a small hill.

Creepy segregated cemetery near St Elmo. It had nun statues holding crosses just randomly placed. You can see one in the back.

Me and the lady on the way up to Tincup Pass. After riding trails to Hancock.

Sweet helmet...

We got caught in a COLD downpour for about an hour. This was afterwards when things were drying up. Hail was tearing my knuckles up!

View towards the top

 

[Net4n6]

Very nice. You guys had great time. At first look, I thought you have a tree inside your tent in the second picture.

 

[camdz]

Yea, it was a good time. The pad was a little small for our tent, but we didnt want to put it in the driveway area. So we rotated it just right and put the little tree by our front door. We decided it would be for additional privacy haha. It didnt get in the way of the door, and theres another opening on the rear of the tent, so it was a non issue regardless.

 

[quicksilvr]

Awesome trip! I'm the exact same way...go to Colorado, and don't want to come home. It makes it even worse when it's 95 degrees with 100% humidity here. Yuck.

 

[habanero]

Good stuff! We're heading out that way in a few weeks, complete with 4Runner, mtn bikes and hiking boots, your pics are psyching me up for it (like I need any more psyching!).

 

[nated05]

Good stuff! We're heading out that way in a few weeks, complete with 4Runner, mtn bikes and hiking boots, your pics are psyching me up for it (like I need any more psyching!).

Me too!! I love that area!! I have been to most of the areas in your pics, we drove up Mt. Princeton rd until the wife got scared of the exposed shelf. Next time you head that way you should try some rafting on the Arkansas River, that is a blast! The end of the month will be my 5 or 6 trip to that area. I assume you rented the ATVs, was that in St. Elmo? Where did you camp?

habanero, I just noticed you are from STL. We should caravan!

 

[Desert Fox]

HA HA
I wish I would ahve looked into what John Denver was singing about when he released Rocky Mountain Hi.
This is beautiful country.

 

[camdz]

Me too!! I love that area!! I have been to most of the areas in your pics, we drove up Mt. Princeton rd until the wife got scared of the exposed shelf. Next time you head that way you should try some rafting on the Arkansas River, that is a blast! The end of the month will be my 5 or 6 trip to that area. I assume you rented the ATVs, was that in St. Elmo? Where did you camp?

habanero, I just noticed you are from STL. We should caravan!

Sorry for the late response. Apparently I suck at checking up on my threads. We always stay at Arrowhead Point campgrounds. Yea we rented ATVs in St Elmo. Other than the rain, it was a blast.

My girlfriend braved the shelf roads on Mt Princeton for the first time this year. We have had to bail before too. We will definitely be trying some rafting at some point.

 

[Ron Helmuth]

cool pics-thanks for sharing. Glad you had a good time.