We packed our 2014 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite and headed out for our Colorado Road Trip with our dog, Stitch. Our first 3 nights we stayed in Show Low, AZ at Fools Hollow Lake.
Show Low, AZ
We love to head into the higher elevation of Arizona. Our goal was to escape the city and enjoy nature.
While fishing we saw a wild black bear. Jon said, “Relax, there’s a black bear right over there.” I said (in a panicked voice) “Where? OMG! There it is!” Jon wanted to stay and watch it; but not me! “It will smell fear on me!” I said, “Let’s go – NOW!” We packed on out of there.
Note: It’s hard to race up a rock covered hill at 8000 ft. elevation carrying fishing gear. Heck, I could of got a fish hook in my finger, and didn’t care! I just wanted far away from that bear!!!
On a mellower note, we saw a bald eagle soaring, a (creepy) snake in the water, and beautiful wild horses. We saw an osprey circle a lake, swoop down and catch a fish! (It happened so fast, I didn’t think to take a picture.) It was an amazing sight to see. We enjoyed watching a graceful, blue heron take off in flight. Also saw some free roaming cattle. We enjoyed seeing and hearing many song birds, and we saw a huge skunk running between camp sites, and a snake slither up a tree.
My wilderness meter was getting filled up fast! And no, we didn’t catch any fish, but we had an adventurous day!
Next stop… Durango, Colorado
We stayed several nights at United Campgrounds of Durango. Unfortunately it was during the time of the 416 Forest Fire was burning, so there was heavy smoke in the air. This is the price you pay when you set up reservations in advance for an area. At least Durango wasn’t on fire.
Our goal was to take mini road trips using Durango as our base camp. Our first morning we scouted out where we were scheduled to go fly fishing the next day. While in that area we stopped at Wines of the San Juan. The owners were very hospitable.
That afternoon we drove up to historic Silverton, CO. The smoke was heavy along the way. We capped off the evening with Animas Brewing Company in Durango.
The next morning we had to be at Resolution Guide Service early for a full day of catch and release fly fishing. Our guide, Steve Gill, was very knowledgeable. We had an amazing time and highly recommend them to others!
Colorado Mountain Day Trip
The next day the forest fire smoke wasn’t as thick, so we headed up into the mountains, looping around to Telluride, thru Ouray, to Siverton and back to Durango.
Grand Junction, CO
Our next base camp was Grand Junction, CO. From there we drove to Arches National Park, UT, Canyonlands National Park, UT. During our trip to UT we were surprised to find Spanish Valley Vineyard & Winery along Hwy 191 south of Moab. Signage is extremely minimal along the toad. They served an excellent dry Riesling. Lastly, we toured Palisade Fruit & Wine Byway, CO before heading back home.