Heaton Bay to Ruby Mountain

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Went grocery shopping at King Sooper then took off for the Heaton Bay Forest Service Campground near Dillon. The campground has changed a lot since our last visit three years ago. The Pine Bark Beetles took their toll. The dead trees have all been cut down so there is no shade and no privacy between campsites. We got real lucky and snagged the very best campsite in the entire campground. We’re directly on the reservoir. Carol has a super view from inside, of the reservoir and the surrounding mountains. The best campsites are as follows: 21 (us), 19,18,22.

Monday:

When we woke up it was 40* outside. Turned out to be a wonderful, blue sky, sunny day. We all walked to this small “island” that’s off the main path. Let Gopher run for a while.
Mostly we just talked and read our books.

Tuesday:

Mostly had the place to ourselves. Let the dog run free. Went grocery shopping & dumped the tanks. Enjoyed a nice day.


Wednesday:
Another nice, sunny day. 44* when we got up. Dr. Hoods office called about 10:00 am. He had reviewed Carol’s lab results and everything was just fine. Very good news for both of us. Since I hadn’t taken our blood pressure for some time, I decided to finish our “checkup”. Both of our pressures were quite high. The 9,000’+ elevation is the culprit. Not wanting to take any chances with Carol having another heart attack, we packed up. In general we were going to Salida. Drove through Leadville. At 10,325+_’ elevation, it claims to be the highest incorporated town in America. The days drive was just beautiful.
The elevation in the Buena Vista/Salida area tends in the 7,500’ range as long as you don’t head into the mountains. We stopped in Buena Vista for lunch and checked our pressures. Right where they should be. Going forward, we decided 8,000’ would be our maximum camping elevation with 7,000’ being even better. I remember Carol’s doctors in Cheyenne mentioning the 7,000’ figure. Rechecked our blood pressure readings after dinner. All’s well.
Poked around Buena Vista for a while then headed to the Ruby Mountain Campground which is a part of the Arkansas River Headwaters Recreation Area. This campground is very popular with river rafters. Set our chairs on the river bank and enjoyed a perfect day. We even changed into shorts. We say one couple on a rafting trip with their dog.