Marshall Pass Camping

After our company left Sunday afternoon, we hurried around and finished packing the camper and headed out!!  Our destination was Taylor Reservoir but we didn't end up getting there - after driving into Buena Vista and heading out towards the pass, there was a large sign that said it was closed at the top.  DARN!  No idea why but we turned around and decided to go over to Poncho Springs and camp around Marshall Pass which turned out to be an excellent idea!

Glenn said there were some nice camping spots down by the stream so we headed that way just as we saw the sign - no turn around for large rigs!!  Oh no!!!  Of course the spots he was thinking of were all taken and I was beginning to panic, wondering how we would ever get the truck, 5th wheel and ATV trailer turned around when we saw a road to the left and a huge campsite below.  Good thing Glenn is an excellent driver because the turn to the left was very sharp onto a small wooden bridge - I think I shut my eyes not wanting to see the trailer hit the wooden bridge but it all worked out fine!!

We set up camp and relaxed the rest of the evening - Glenn even set up a hummingbird stand made out of a long branch and I put out our new feeder (which we keep in the camper) and immediately we had hummingbirds - they sure were fun to watch the next couple of days!

Bright and early we were up and headed out the door to ride - it was pretty cool out in the morning but by afternoon we were down to our t-shirts!!

We still found plenty of snow at the higher elevations - in fact, we were the first ones on several trails and had to break through the snow!!

Saw some gorgeous country - nothing like seeing it from the back of the ATV!!!

In all of our years of ATVing we had never seen this - on two different trails but in the same area, there were 2 pickups that were almost over the edge of the trail!!!  One had hit a tree and the other one was up against a tree - kind of strange - did their brakes give out or did Bigfoot suddenly emerge out of the forest and scare them???  Ha Ha!!

This is one of our favorite places to stop for lunch - and this year there was a grave stone up there - I'm sure someones' ashes are scattered and what better place than high up with a view like this!!

Glenn wanted to hike down in a forested canyon and I said I would go with him - that wasn't a wise choice - we no sooner headed down than the mosquitoes attacked (yes, lots of snow  and standing water)  We were in jeans of course and I luckily still had my sweatshirt on so I pulled up the hood and held it tight with one hand so just a little portion of my face showed and my hand - darn it if those mosquitoes didn't get my hand not once but twice!!!!  Poor Glenn was doing the wave with his hand as he just had on a t-shirt!!  We finally gave up and hiked back up to the ATV and hightailed it out of there!!

Now this lake is called Mosquito Lake - but luckily there weren't a lot of those buggers around!!

Our last evening I told Glenn I wanted to do an evening ride and go see the big boulders on this one trail that we had seen a couple years ago - we headed out and had a great ride until we hit the trail we needed.  There was a LONG batch of water that we had to get through which wasn't a problem as it wasn't too deep but as we rounded the corner and started up, the water had come over the creek and was gushing down the trail!  We went a little ways and I said NO MORE - it was just too scary and who knows what was around the next corner!!  Luckily there was a place to turn around and we headed out of there!!  Guess we both forgot about the spring mountain run off!!

All in all 2 great days of riding!!