Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs sits in the shadow of Pike's Peak at the southern end of the Front Range in Colorado.  Pikes Peak is a granite batholith that was formed over 1 billion years ago.  It remained underground even as the ancestral rockies rose up about 300 million years ago and were eroded away. Between 85 and 50 million years ago the Laramide Erogony uplifted the Pike's Peak Batholith along with the rest of the Rockies.  50 to 85 million years of erosion, including multiple glaciations created the mountain that exists today.

We drove the 19 miles up Pikes Peak, from 7,800 ft at the gateway to 14,110 ft at the summit.  Just past Glen Cove at 11,450 ft you emerge from the trees and zig zag up switchback with no trees and no barriers.  Looking out the downhill side of your vehicle, all you see is sky and the mountain far below.  It is a bit unnerving.

The first day we tried to drive up the road was closed above Glen Cove because of 70 mph winds.  We came back again the next day and were able to drive to the summit. 

Caption

Besides the hazards of weather, there have been multiple Bigfoot sightings in the area.  It's a good idea to carry brownies to offer as a sign of friendship in case you run into him.

Bigfoot is out there

 Despite the "good" weather on the second day, it was still cold and windy at the summit.

Brrrrr!!!

View north from Pike's Peak with North Catamount Reservoir visible below.

The erosion of the Ancestral Rockies left behind sandstone formation covering the plains east of the mountains.  When Pike's Peak was uplifted it ruptured these sandstone formations and left portions of them standing on end, tilted 90 degrees from where they formed.  The most prominent of these are in Colorado Springs and are known as the Garden of the Gods.  Driving around the region, you see tilted sandstone everywhere.

Garden of the Gods with Pike's Peak behind

 

North Gateway Rock, Garden of the Gods

On the west side of Pike's Peak, just outside the town of Cripple Creek, we found our sixth Thomas Dambo troll, Rita the Rock Planter. 

Rita the Rock Planter

 

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Our first stop after leaving Texas was Great Sand Dunes National Park in the south east corner of Colorado.

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Sangre de Cristo mountains

The sand for the great sand dunes comes from erosion of the rocks on the west slope of the Sangre de Cristo Range and the east slope of the San Juan Mountains.  The sand accumulated at the bottom of a lake in the San Luis Valley between these ranges.  When the lake dried up, the prevailing winds pushed the sand against the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Dune location and the San Luis Valley

Medano Creek has its headwaters on the north side of Mount Herard.  It winds around the peak on the east side before descent to the west and running south along the edge of the dunes.

Medano Creek with the south face of Mount Herard behind

 Of course I had to climb the dune.  That's me at the bottom, heading for the summit.

View from the bottom of the dune with Mount Herard behind.

 The reward for the climb to the top is a spectacular panoramic view of dunes and valleys and mountains.

View from the top of the dune with Carbonate Mountain behind.

Leaving Texas

After our extended stay to replace our leaf springs we had about 730 miles to get to get out of Texas and we were behind schedule.  On our way out we stayed at Abilene State Park and Caprock Canyons State Park.  

At Abilene State Park we celebrated Mother's Day down the road at Perini Ranch Steakhouse.

Barbadilla greeted us at Perini Ranch

 We were teased with the possibility of spotting a lesser prairie chicken, but alas we did not see any.

Silhouette of the male lesser prairie chicken 

 

At Caprock Canyons we saw a herd of buffalo and enjoyed a sunset lighting up the reds and oranges of the canyon.  

Herd of Bison at Caprock Canyons State Park

Caprock Canyon

 Our last stop in Texas was in Amarillo.  

Buc-cee's Amarillo

 

Tex Randall

 

Broken Leaf Springs, again

As we were leaving Austin it was pouring rain.  I looked in my mirror as we were going down the road and noticed that I could see more of the side of the trailer than normal.  The last time this happened we had a broken leaf spring so I pulled into a gas station, waited for the rain to let up a bit then went out to see that not one, but two leaf springs had failed.  

I found a KOA nearby where they would let us have a mobile tech come work on the trailer and we went there while I ordered parts and found someone to install them.

I should have replaced all four the first time around so I made sure I replaced not just the springs but all of the pins and shackles as well.

Four days later, with brand new suspension, we resumed our travels.

Passenger side front

Driver side rear

New springs, pins, shackles, and bronze bushings

This time we had a nice asphalt pad for the mechanic to work on.  Much nicer that than the dirt pad we had when the first spring was replaced.

Springs being installed

Three down, one to go.

The load balancers hole one end of the leaf spring on either side.  The result is that the center pin takes twice as much load as any other pin in the system.  Despite this the pin and bushing are the same size as all of the others.  Clearly the pin should be a larger diameter so this doesn't happen.

Load balancer hole wallered out pretty good.

 Just like last time, the fracture surface showed beach marks, indicating that the failure was a result of fatigue.

Passenger side front fracture surface

 

Austin

In Austin we met up with our friend Tamy at the Walburg Biergarten.  They have good beer, good food and the band did some yodeling. 

Walburg Biergarten north of Austin

 

 

We went to Pease Park in Austin to see Malin's Fountain, the first troll we visited in the US.

Malin's Fountain

 

This guy has created a multi level structure in his back yard using junk.  It has been dubbed the Cathedral of Junk

Cathedral of Junk