Salida Colorado, we're on our way!!!

[cowboy357]

To be Honest Eddie , I went there as a kid as well as all the other sites in Colorado . Untill You asked I never questioned wether They were real or not . But since doing a little googling it appears You may be right & the ruins may have been brought in from the 4 corners area in the earlly 1900,s . Allthough I dont see how its posablle after being there .

Sure seemed real to Me & I had never heard that before . Sounds like its more of a tourist trap now from when I was there . As well as other places I remember visiting . So You might want to stick with Mesa Verde , as Theres No doubt They are Authentic . & May be what I remember the most . But Definatlly dont miss the Royal Gorge if You haven,t been there . Hope You have a great & safe trip. Bob

 

[Redneck in training]

Mesa Verde is definitely worth seeing. I have seen it several times while taking friends there.
When camping in Blue Mesa by Gunnison we climbed down to Black Canyon every visit. We would start from the look out looking at the Needle and follow the trail down but then we would leave the trail and jump from boulder to boulder in the stream running along the trail. We would swim by the Needle. Take fishing gear with you as you could catch salmon and trout there. It is about half day trip.

Speaking about fear of rafting. We took rafting trip every visit to S. CO. We felt quite seasoned and got braver every visit. When we took the last trip we did Royal Gorge when the water was quite high but not high enough to cover all the boulders. To make story short it was so scary that even our guide was afraid of one rapid. We had to stop and watch other people turning the rafts over just fighting for life. When asked if we are really sure to do it instead port the raft both my wife and me said we don't want to do it but we will do it. When he asked why we said because our kids would never forgive us. So we did it. It was first time I was really scared for dear life and especially life of the children. We always took three or four less affluent kids with us to our camping trips. One of the girls fell of the raft. She just disappeared and was gone. You can imagine the panic. I was ready to jump of the raft and look for her. The guide hit me over my head with a paddle to get back down and paddle. I was thinking how will I tell to her parents that she drown in Colorado. Later on I fell off the raft but got back in, my wife fell off the raft and was also pulled back in. It was totally crazy. It was the longest, I suppose, ten minutes of my life. Anyway we made it down totally exhausted but alive. Our lost girl was also there hanging on a kayak of some guy who pulled her out of the rapids. She had large bruise from her hip to her knee but otherwise was unhurt. She is married with children now but still thinks it was the best vacation of her life.
Speaking about taking few kids classmates. It was the best decision we ever made. They entertained themselves and we had wonderful time. No complaining, no fighting etc. Were they ornery? You bet. But that is what vacation is for.

 

[jayste]

Great story Ladia. I can relate to it somewhat. Our trip through the gorge wasn't quite as rough! We did have a few episodes with those usual "suck holes" that like to draw you back in and had a few folks who went in and under and got spit out down stream! Helmets and life vests were a requirement though.
Eddie, I sure wish Steph would at least consider a half day float on some gentle water. Maybe a lower class rapid would build up her confidence. We saw a lot of kids enjoying the trip. It's great when your floating along on gentle flow and your able to bale out and float along with the raft keeping your feet down stream. Also, I believe there is a rail car of sorts that will take you down into the gorge and back out.

Jay

 

[Bird]

As for the white water rafting, it's not gonna happen. Steph is pretty open to most things, but that just terrifies her. And the thought of her kids out on a raft in a river is just too terrifying for her to deal with.

Sounds to me like Steph's a pretty smart girl. I watched somerafters and kayakers on the Arkansas River and I believe I'd pass, too. So far, I've not had many suicidal tendencies.

 

[ScottOkla]

So Eddie, what is the status of your trip?

I just stumbled on this thread. My wife and three of the kids and I are going to Salida Aug 6-8. We haven't decided whether to stay in the tent or hotel. Wife says hotel but the rest of us say tent. It'll probably end up being in a hotel.

Before we had kids, my wife and I spent a couple of days in the area and I remember the sand dunes south of there, the Black Canyon west of there, and some hiking trails near Bueana Vista (we saw Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goats) as places that kids would love to see. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is probably too far away to visit and not much to do other than look down, though.

If you get back before next Wednesday, I hope you post a summary. If you aren't going until after the 9th, maybe I'll post a summary. If you are there the 6th-8th and see an ugly, tall guy with a hot wife and three crazy elementary-aged kids, it may be us.

 

[RobertN]

Eddie,

Tell Steph to look a the "National Geographic Photography Field Guide". It has a wealth of excellent information in it. Mine is an older version, geared towards film, but they have updated versions available.

Some of the keys I like to point out is aperture control for depth of field, the rule of thirds, leading lines. One big thing I have found, is foregoing the "programmed automatic" features and using more manual functions. A almost always use auto focus, but will control shutter and aperture either in full manual mode, or aperture priority to control depth of field. I like to bracket too; multiple pictures of same subject with slight under and over exposure.

I think the big thing is composition as compared to point and shooting, even with an SLR. When we were shooting only film, you had to pay attention to detail, because you had to make the shot count; you didn't have instant access to the picture. Now, a lot of people seem to click away without really composing the picture.

Here is Amazon link to the books I mention:

Amazon.com: National Geographic Photography Field Guide: Secrets to Making Great Pictures (9780792274988): Peter K. Burian, Robert Caputo: Books

One of the secondary reasons for the trip is to get some really nice pictures for a calender that I want to create for clients. We have some pictures, but would really like a few more to finish it off. It's funny how many pictures that we take, but only a few come out that are really good. Steph bought a book that has been explaining allot of things to her about her camera, so that should help in getting a few really good pics.
Eddie

 

[westcliffe01]

from experience of a few visits, there is very little "public" internet access in south central CO. In some of the towns it is offered (wireless) at coffee shops and "tea rooms" but otherwise its no go until you get to colorado springs.

 

[LBrown59]

Pikes Peak has a tram that goes to the top, which is high on Steph's list of things to see and do. I've always wanted to see the Royal Gorge, so that's another thing that we want to do. We're also a few hours from Utah and the Arches. We've been to Arches State Park, but remember that there was about a dozen different parks to see. The kids have never been there, so a day trip to one of them is also on the agenda. Then there are the ghost towns to explore and hopefully some wildlife sitings to take pictures of. Thank you,Eddie

I've been to both of these .
It's a lot longer trip from here in Ohio than it is from Texas.

 

[tommu56]

Eddie

Royal gorge was great!
Steph has to take a picture of you swinging over the gorge in the big swingy thing on the edge.

tom

 

[ScottOkla]

So Eddie, what is the status of your trip?


If you get back before next Wednesday, I hope you post a summary. If you aren't going until after the 9th, maybe I'll post a summary. If you are there the 6th-8th and see an ugly, tall guy with a hot wife and three crazy elementary-aged kids, it may be us.

My wife was looking over my shoulder last night when I typed that, so in the name of honesty let me instead say that if you see a tall, ugly guy with an "above-average" looking wife and three crazy kids, it may be us. Hot for someone in her 40s though, that's for sure.

Oh, and now I can't really remember if the sheep or goats were in Wyoming on a similar hike up the continental divide during that trip instead of near Salida. I wouldn't think you would see both on one hike since they like different terrain. Anyway, have fun.