The Long Road Home. Day, 3. Camp Along the San Miguel River.

Heading north (still).

Around 10:45 we got onto US 491. Our tanks were full and we were ready for another day of exploring our way home.

We drove through Cortez, Colorado and got onto scenic 145.
At the town of Dolores we got onto Highway 31 and after a few miles the pavement ended.
We were back in our element (dust).

It was a very scenic drive through the foothills of the Rocky’s.

We followed 31 north through the mountains and eventually stopped to have lunch at Miramonte Lake.

After lunch we continued north.

Along a short stretch we noticed these Aspens were already turning yellow. A sign of an early fall? Or some blight?

Here we are dropping into another beautiful valley.

Eventually we came back to the pavement and followed scenic highway 141. Still going north.

It was getting late in the day and we were looking for some place off the highway to camp. We had already tried one place but it was too windy so we moved on.
As we were driving along side the San Miguel River I was watching for a river access road.
Finally I saw it, a two track dirt trail going toward the river. We turned around and drove down the track. At the end was a good flat spot with room enough for both vans.

Miraculously, when we stopped the van it was perfectly level.

We put out the chairs and started enjoying the view of the cliffs across the river.

After short time I noticed something black making its way down the slope across the river. It turned out to be a young black bear.

This bear continued past us and went on up river.

A short time later I spotted another bear higher up on the mountain. He appeared to be about the same size as the first one.
We think it may have been following the first bear.
The wind was blowing in the bears direction and it had apparently gotten our scent so it turned around and left the area.

This bear was too far for our camera but you can see it on Bob’s Blog. At Bob's Eyes

Bob and I walked through the brush to the river to see what it was like. What you can see of the river looks, not to fast and not to deep and not to wide.

As you may imagine, most of the conversation this evening concerned bears.

The evening was kind of placid; no storms, no flashy sunset, just the sound of the river, the crickets and the Mosquitos.