Campo, CO

The drive from Tulsa to the next destination was a pretty enjoyable one. For one, I was leaving that hotel so that was a plus. Second, I got my first taste of the west.

There were a bunch of farmlands. I saw the biggest windfarm I’ve ever seen. I counted over 50 wind turbines all grouped together in what seemed to be tens of miles. I drove past my first Nitrogen Plant which was interesting. I didn’t know such a thing existed. Also, there were quite a few solar panel farms. It’s great to see that some people in the world are starting to make a concerted effort to move towards renewable, clean energy.

When I came up to my first red rock and mesa formation I got really excited, it was when I was almost parallel with Fairview, OK. I took my phone out and took a picture (while driving) and everything. After that there were a few more hills and some big open planes but nothing great, lots of farm land. But, it was all new to me so the drive (7.5 hours) flew by. It helped that I had a really good book on tape Oryx and Crake which i would recommend.

After a while I started climbing in elevation slowly, no big mountain ranges or anything, mostly just farmland. Then I got to what seemed to be a large plateau with even more farmland and turned down a dusty county road.

After about 15 miles of dust flying everywhere and vast farmland and ranches all around I came down a hill and into the canyon. That’s where I found the trailhead and multi colored rocks shooting straight up out of the ground.

My hip was still a bit sore from the 17 mile journey so I opted to only go for the short 4 mile loop overnight. I misread a sign and overshot the trail by about a quarter mile and had to backtrack, but I ran into a herd of cows who were startled and loudly started scurrying away from me.

I finally spotted one of the natural wooden posts that someone stuck in the ground that are supposed to lead the way. This was much different than the highly trafficked trail in Missouri, where it was hard to lose the trail. This trail was like a scavenger hunt. Where I kind of chose my own path of least resistance while trying to spot the next wooden post. Which was a challenge at first but pretty easy once you know what you’re looking for.

The path took me up on top of the hills where I could see for what seemed like 100s of miles around. Farmland to the north and canyons and plateaus to the south. It was quite beautiful. Once I crossed paths with the other trail I started to look for a good place to set up camp.

I found a flat spot at the top of the tallest hill I could find, which was overlooking the prettiest canyon that I passed. I started cooking my dehydrated chili mac and cheese with beef and started to dry out all my gear. Everything was still damp, but the breeze and warm sun dried everything out pretty quickly. Most of the stuff stopped smelling like wet dog mixed with ball sweat after about 20 minutes.

 

While the sun was setting I took some good (hopefully) pictures of the aforementioned canyon and backdrop. The sunset was pretty amazing that night. But, that paled in comparison to the stars. Without all of the light pollution that I’m used to in Cleveland, the sky looks amazing. It was a perfectly clear night and I could distinctly see the milky way (or the arm of it or whatever). That was my first time clearly seeing it. This was one of the few time that I said “Wow” aloud so far. Also, I saw a shooting star!

I didn’t get to see any of the wall paintings or carvings that were mentioned at the trailhead. Those must be on the further of the two trails. Maybe next time. If I have the chance I would definitely like to come back.

The next morning my hip was more sore than the previous day so I decided to cancel the next day at this location take it easy and start driving north. Into the mountains.