The Colorado National Monument is spectacular, but if you take another route up and back, you can find some really interesting scenery in a place called Glade Park. It’s a favorite of Terry’s, who discovered the place when he was working as a surveyor for Drexel Barell. He has hidden several Geocaches in the vicinity, and given the quality of cell service, should be able to deploy a Munzee or two.
Stu and I rode there today. Click on any picture to enlarge it; click again and it will shrink back to its original size.
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The Glade Park Store has been in the same crossroads location for 100 years; it’s the real thing, with soft drinks, snacks, and everything the neighbors might need.
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Across the intersection is a house that must be occupied by a very, very interesting person. The outdoor stairs lead to an observatory (!):
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and in the back yard, you’ll find an old bridge, painted shocking pink, which will take you from the second story of the house to the roof of a perfectly restored Rio Grande Railroad boxcar. How did the boxcar get up here? The nearest tracks are probably in Fruita or Grand Junction, and I wouldn’t think that transporting it up there was a trivial job.
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and a phone booth that still bears the manufacturer’s brass identification; it was made for Mountain Bell Telephone by Western Electric. No phone, but we tried:
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The road continues to Utah past a perfect arch. The top is white sandstone, the bottom is red. It looks like a candy cane.
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Across the road is a rancher who must have a windmill fetish; there are probably ten of them. Although it was breezy, none were blowing.
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About eight miles from the Utah border, the road turns to gravel, so since we didn’t have the right kind of tires or machines, we turned around.
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Stu expressed his opinion of a homemade cattle guard. Unlike his, which are designed to meet all the standards and look good, this one looked like the amateur hour. A horse would break its leg trying to walk across this one.
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Driving back. Such boring scenery!
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Looks like a neat trip Steve. If you would have turned left at the store i and went south a few miles you would have went past Jerry Flecks place k0du. You may have know that already..
73’s
Don
W0DET