There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been! - Percy Bysshe Shelly

We rolled out of South Dakota ahead of the cold weather heading south into Nebraska. Making an honest effort to visit all the states, neither one of us had been to Nebraska. What we found, at least where we visited was nice small communities with free community overnight parks with power and water! Some had a place for donations, others ask you to pay if you stayed over two days. All and all Nebraska is very RV friendly!

We met some friends in Denver where we met at a winery and discussed plans for our Alaska trek next summer. Nice making friends on the road who share your lifestyle. Accommodations in Denver were tight, a craft brewing fest was happening that weekend so we moved on to the mountains. We had taken some drives up to see the leaves and what a spectacular view with the blue sky, green conifers and yellow aspens. Unlike the east with hardwoods all changing with different shades the contrast was more stunning! We found a boondocking site outside of Leadville. Leadville was a gold mining town at 10,000 feet surrounded by high peaks in all directions. We were close to town and enjoyed visiting this less touristy old west mining town. One of the highlights of our stay was an afternoon train ride on the Colorado Southern Railroad, built up on the mountain we got a bird’s eye view of the Arkansas River valley and mountains that surround it on both sides. The ride took us past Prospect Mountain to a view below Mosquito Peak and an old water station for the steam engines where were being setup for a picturesque view and wedding the following day.

While at Leadville I got the opportunity to climb Mt Elbert, the highest peak in Colorado. It was good to climb my first ‘14er’, a peak that is over 14,000 feet. This was considered one of the easy 14ers but it was all I had to climb it! Most was hiking with one section of class 2 bolder scrambling.

After leaving Leadville we headed south towards New Mexico. We stayed overnight near the Great Sand Dunes National Park. It was amazing to see so much sand so far from the beach or desert.

Share this Story

2023 Will be a different for us!

Season 5 Begins!

Post COVID Travels & a New Baby

Firie Foliage of Fall

Our Corps of Discovery on the Lewis & Clark Trail

with a visit to Idaho