We spent the first few days of our Colorado trip visiting with Larry and Rose at their home in Centennial, just outside Denver. On 7/23, we headed out to Gunnison, where we would stay for a couple of nights. The drive there is always cool, going over Monarch Pass, 11,312 feet. We both had memories of going over the pass in the RV and towing the Elantra, a slow uphill grind. This time, in our rented car, we zipped past what looked like evidence of a large wildfire in the past. Dead trees were everywhere. Further inquiry showed that the dead trees were actually caused by spruce beetle infestation. 90% of the mature spruce trees in the area have been wiped out by these beetles. 90%!! The large number of dead trees creates a significant fuel load, increasing the risk of catastrophic wildfires, so a project is underway to remove the dead trees.
We stayed in Gunnison that night and had dinner in a restaurant there that was adorned with 20 to 30 large stuffed elk, deer, moose, and bison heads. We stopped at Walmart to pick up some snack stuff for the trip that would serve as lunch: apples, pretzels, granola bars, and also a $5 foam cooler to keep water and the apples cool. This was, by far, the smallest Walmart we have visited. The average size of a Walmart Supercenter is 182,000 square feet. This one was 43,000 square feet.
No photos today.
No comments:
Post a Comment