Jun 29 – To Gunnison Area

Today we headed back east into the high country. We are camped at Elk Creek Campground next to Blue Mesa Reservoir in Curecanti National Recreation Area.

We climbed from around 4800 feet in elevation in Fruita to 7500 feet at the new campground.

The climb was slow and the scenery boring on the way to Montrose.

Just east of Montrose we had to climb 1000 feet in 4 miles. Thankfully there was a passing lane the entire way and I just chugged up at about 25 mph.

The scenery is now greener but still mostly just scrub.

We hit some construction on another steep section. Here I was lucky to get to 15 mph. The highway is not very busy so I only collected a few cars behind me. There was nowhere to let them pass.

Then a short very twisty section up a gorge.

Until we could see the reservoir off in the distance.

These hills are called the Dillion Pinnacles. We will try to hike there on one of the days.

All the sites in the campground are nicely spaced out but there is no shade. At least we are faced the right way for the least sun exposure.

There are 4 loops in the campground. The one we are in is the only one with any hookups and it only has power. It is also the farthest from the reservoir which makes no sense because it is the most used.

We are facing the wrong way to see the water. I have to get better at picking a site.

Obviously boating and fishing are big here. A lot of people in the campground have boats as well as trailers and motorhomes. The parking lot at the marina was jammed with boat trailers.

It is still pretty hot. I had hoped with the gain in altitude that we might get some relief. At least the forecast highs are in the high 20s rather than the high 30s.

We are here for a week and are going to do some driving trips to explore a wide area.