Trip to Durango, CO through Wolf Creek Pass 7/09

Our drive from Colorado Springs, CO to Durango, CO took us south on I-25 and turned right / west on US 160 at Walsenburg.

This mountain is off the road to the north. It is about 12,000 feet above sea level and timberline is around 9000 feet, so that is why it is bare on top.

We passed this thrift shop and thought it was cute. 2 reasons we didn’t stop – we were caravanning with friends and it is hard to find parking for our rig when we are towing a car.

Our first challenge was La Vita Pass. Even though it is only 9000+ feet, it is steep and the RV was not happy at all. In fact we had to pull off just before the crest to let it cool off. Downhill was fine.

Next obstacle was Wolf Creek Pass. Gotta say we were worried about this even before we left home and even more so after La Vita Pass. The up hill is steep but more gradual than the last one but the downhill is a 7% grade with a few hairpin turns.

The map says it is 10,550 but you can see what our GPS said when we got to the top!!

That is our road still going down and around the mountain side.

I have all the confidence in Gene, but I am a white-knuckle rider. Someone told me, on an RV message board, that the solution for me was easy - booze and a blindfold, LOL. We made it up and down just fine so all the worry was for naught.

Tunnel through the mountain.

We arrived at our RV Park the Alpen Rose – which we do not recommend to others. We are not the most experienced RVers but all the help except one lady was rude and unfriendly. We pulled in and Gene didn’t even have the RV turned off when a golf cart pulled up and the man barked, last name/ reservations? You have to off load the car here!!! No hello, glad you are here, nothing!!

When we made the reservations it was with the understanding the 2 RV’s would be next to each other. Someone switched the reservation and we were on one end and our friends where on the other end. After a lot of jiggling around the nice lady got us close to each other.

The pool closed at 8PM (which is early) and they were kicking people out 15 minutes before. The playground consisted of swings and a horsey on a spring.

There are lots of RV parks in the Durango area and there is no need to go someplace that is rude and unfriendly and 8 miles north of town.

We could see the train go by and hear the whistle so that was pretty nice.

Just across the small road was a field with 4 horses. The kids had a grand time visiting with them and letting go of all the pent up energy from the 6-hour trip.

Next day we rode the train.