Cortez and Bayfield, CO (7/10 and 7/12/2019)

Returning to camp after visiting Hovenweep National Monument, I drove through McElmo Canyon, which is a little more than twenty miles long.  Not only is this canyon scenic, but numerous side canyons display interesting formations and nice color.

Right at the Utah-Colorado border sits an old trading post.  Later, my research turned up some interesting information about the Ismay Trading Post.  Started by John Ismay and his wife in 1921, the trading post served the Navajo and Southern Ute tribes, as well as the few white settlers in the area.  A newspaper article in 2011 quoted one Navajo woman who told how her mother always brought the kids to the Trading Post to get outfitted for each new school year.  The Indians also came to use the only telephone for many miles.  Unfortunately, the post closed sometime after that, probably due to the death of the third generation proprietor.

I had been told by a Forest Service Ranger that a boulder near the trading post contained petroglyphs, and was marked by a small blue stake in the ground.  I never saw such a stake, but did find a boulder with petroglyphs, as well as a lot of graffiti from more recent times.

There was also a small cave nearby with what may have been ruins from an ancient shelter.

Farther along the road were ruins of a more modern kind.

Later, I came to the trailhead for hikes into two canyons.  I had read about these and knew they contain ruins and petroglyphs scattered along the trail.  However, it was still around 100F so I passed up the opportunity.  Maybe I'll come back in a cooler season.

In one canyon, I spotted a very large home almost hidden among the sandstone formations.  Talk about privacy.

After moving to Bayfield, I took a ride into the mountains to explore around Vallecito Reservoir.  A Ranger at the Public Lands Office suggested there may be plentiful wildlife in that area.  I had not even gotten out of town before seeing a herd of about fifty elk grazing in a field, maybe 300 yards from the highway..

The reservoir, built in 1941, is the largest high altitude lake in Colorado and has attracted plenty of development.  Lodges, campgrounds, marinas and other commercial operations line the lake, and all seemed to have plenty of customers.  I was happy to get beyond that so I could enjoy the beauty of the forest.  

The reservoir is supplied by the Los Pinos River, which continues on down the mountain and through Bayfield.  Up in the high country, the river makes beautiful rapids as it passes many large boulders.

The road ends about 25 miles into the forest, with a small campground and a trailhead for a hike to a waterfall.  Since the hike is nine miles to the waterfall, I decided to forgo that opportunity also.  There are also two ranches near the road's end, one called Granite Peaks Ranch.  I later Googled it and found it is for sale.  It has 565 acres of pasture surrounded by ten peaks of at least 12,000 feet elevation.  There is a 5000 square foot main house, plus several guest houses.  They raise Icelandic horses and yaks, bot appropriate for Colorado mountain winters.  Asking price is only $24,000,000.  I couldn't even see the main house from the road.