not to mention [ok I’m mentioning them] Gerlach, Empire, Nixon, Wadsworth, West Fernley, Fallon, Austin, Eureka, Ely, Scipio, Grand Junction, Montrose, Gunnison, Howard, Westcliffe and Gardner as well as numerous basins, ranges and some Rocky Mountains…but first the last

of Wall Spring’s year looked very much like this from the kitchen table, lucky strokes;

 

Come Monday morning it all cleared off

and we were away, myself in a sense of distracted disconnect, by 8:18 to Gerlach

and the glare-y road beyond wherein

when not driving I mostly slept sitting up

until lunch at Bob Scott [this one’s for you, Phil]

and on

into Utah and early dark.

In Delta we had dinner at The Rancher, lied about dogs at the Day’s Inn* and set off into the

morning glare again…East on 70, Temple Rock to air the pups,

Green River for breakfast,

Rabbit Valley with a stiff chill breeze off the Western Slope and into Colorado where we

pulled in [not shown] at Blue Mesa Reservoir to let a problematic erratic driver [never to be seen again] get ahead.  After Gunnison the snow deepened, the light lowered but except for the

last few miles near the top of Monarch Pass, we had dry clear roads.  In Salida we located our dog-friendly motel, found our way to an early dinner at The Fritz** and back for a night of truly trashy TV though the Denver news at its end was far better than what Delta’d  offered up. Next morning, precipitously Rousted by Puppies, we shopped, went downriver as far as Cotopaxi and

up to Westcliffe where Frank’s Sumatra Coffee Lounge had a mellow Recreation State ambience, quite passable homemade breakfast burritos and generous warm beverages.

From there Highway 69 continued dry to Gardner’s eternally temporary Post Office

after which we snow-wheeled to Libre without incident to unload and approach complete collapse prior to lunch on the trip’s leftovers while outside the puppies figured

snow must have been invented especially for them. More on that later.

 

* like pretty much everyone else Day’s Inns maintain a two-dog limit.

**named for a small spotted dog, they say, though not this one;