Poncha Springs and Salida, CO

I’ve moved again; this time about 60 miles south, to Shavano Wildlife Area near Poncha Springs, CO. I was shocked at how many campers were already here on a Tuesday!! I guess it’s because of Labor Day weekend coming up? The road is not very good and I had to go back farther than I wanted, but I found a really nice little shady spot between two big pine trees. I had to squiggle and squeeze in and it took lots of back-and-forthing, and twice I thought I was in a good place but when I raised the roof, it hit big tree branches. As it is, there’s a small tree branch touching the peak of the roof that squeaks and groans when it’s windy. But nearly all of the sites that I saw had no shade at all, so I’m feeling lucky……well, hardly any other campers could squeeze into this tiny spot. There are beautiful views of some of Colorado’s “Fourteeners” from here, and the cell service is decent too. (Verizon) I have almost a 360 degree view of high mountains.

The elevation here is only around 7000’, so quite a bit warmer here. Near 80 during the day, and about 50 at night. I don’t even need to use the heater here…..and I’ve been using the heater nearly every night so far this summer!

See that branch that goes across the front of the door? (below) Yep…..right at top-of-the-head height for me when I go out the door.  I’m always looking at my feet when I’m climbing out of the camper, so that darn thing has caught me several times but I’m learning to duck as I go out.

There’s an old 70’s Class C RV not too far away, but hidden in the trees. They seem to be real rednecks. Last night they were revving their truck motor over and over for about half hour.  (Is there an actual point to doing that???) Luckily they all went away the first morning and haven’t been seen since.

Salida is a classic old mining town with 4 or 5 blocks of historic district filled with neat little shops & restaurants. And it’s big enough to also have a nice new Safeway store and a small Walmart!  I haven’t seen any wildlife at all in the Wildlife Area where I’m staying but every time I go to Salida, I see 3 or 4 mule deer right in town! One of them bounced right out in front of me the other day.

This area has a lot of whitewater rafting and kayaking. Sigh…..it makes me think of my old whitewater kayaking days. I loved it so much!! 

Oh and I forgot to post these photos of the really cute little Victorian homes in Leadville!!

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