Greetings to you!
I’m sitting in one of the most scenic places I’ve ever been to–Ridgway State Park in Ridgway CO. My view as I look up is the Cimarron Range of the San Juan mountains in southwestern Colorado. Our campground has great spacious sites, very clean bathrooms, a community center for showering, laundry and washing dishes, and a visitor center with folks like Malcolm and Linda, who make us feel welcome and love sharing what they know of this country where more than 100 movies have been filmed, including ‘True Grit’ with John Wayne.
Let’s back track a bit and let you know about a hidden gem we didn’t know we’d fall for. After leaving Bishop CA in the High Sierra on Sept. 30 we headed east on Hwy 6, considered the loneliest road in America. Indeed, we drove for miles in open country after leaving Tonopah, a former mining town which lays claim to a Tonopah Airfield where fighter planes were tested and flown between 1942-1992.
Gassing up in the next town of Eli NV, we thought we might want to camp at a NF site, Ward Mountain, but it had a desolate lonely vibe and its outhouses smelled so strongly of bleach. We headed for the town of Baker, which lies at the base of Great Basin National Park. With no reservations, we found the sites booked at the National Park.
Inquiring with the Stargazer Inn and Bristlecone General Store about camping, we were told we could boondock along the fence by the gas station where the Stargazer Inn ran a little adjunct–rooms 7-10– to its sweet rooms next to the General Store as well as a few RV campsites. We could even use the restrooms and showers–provided we donated $2 for the showers. Fine with us! Met a couple of friends from California staying at the little motel. One insisted we do not fail to hike up the trail to see the oldest living thing on Earth–4000-year-old Bristlecone pine trees. Well, how can you argue with that? We had planned to get an early start the following morning because we had a long drive to Green River UT, but, since we had reservations there, we thought it would be OK to arrive at night.
Turns out Baker is a dark sky town and we saw a view of our galaxy’s Milky Way bands not seen before. Stepping out to visit the restroom in the early morning, it seemed as if Orion was a jeweled vision in the sky. Bill woke up at the same time and walked over. While I was in the restroom looking out the window, I saw the biggest shooting star I’ve ever seen. Waiting outside, Bill saw it too. Here are some photos of Baker and Great Basin National Park. It’s worth going out of your way for. We will return. Good vibes here.
We left Baker after lunch at Sandra’s delicious taco truck and arrived in Green River, UT at 7:30. Starving, we pulled into a tacqueria we visited before, Tacos La Pasadita. Popular place.
Camping overnight at the busy Green River State Park–a jumping off point for extreme sports folks into the Moab scene, we headed out early the next morning heading to Fruita CO, a great little town with a red rock national monument. Here, we stopped in to have GF pizza with cauliflower crust at Hot Tomato Cafe. I swam at the town’s aquatic center before heading for Ridgway CO.
Accompanying us along the way was Jack Kerouac’s story, ‘On the Road,’ narrated by Tom Parks. The fictional character Sal drives cross country looking for work and defining the beat generation. Jack can surely write about the antics, expressions, smells, tastes and feel of the people he’s with, whether it’s Skid Row bums, a lovely Mexican lady who picks cotton, or his crazy jailbird friend Dean Moriarty. His way of looking at life helps us view our world with a focus on the present–for instance, while stopped for a road crew for half an hour, I studied the tatooed hard-hatted woman holding the stop sign in front of us. She guzzled her water, smoked from a vape, reached long fingernails into a plastic bag with cashews? and repeated the process. When her relief came–a sleepy older gent, the woman gestured impatiently at him. Must be tough to work under the sun on your feet like that. A trucker handed her a bottle of water and she gratefully gulped it.
But that was one moment and then we were at our Ridgway campground. The western-themed town of Ridgway has served as the backdrop for movies such as ‘True Grit’ and ‘How the West was Won.” The views are all we want to look at. Here’s a peek:
Signing off for now. Adios pard’ner–gonna rustle up some grub. –Bajada Bill and Cactus Kate