If you research state parks in Colorado by looking through various guides or online through reviews you will find Bueller state park mentioned as the gem, the best, state park in Colorado. Literally in the shadow of the infamous Pikes Peak, Bueller is everything it is advertised to be...and then some. Comparing this park to those in Missouri, for instance, where the emphasis seems to be on simply leaving things alone you find that here things have been left alone as well. However, the small area that is defined for camping has been meticulously cared for. The amenities offered are in great if not perfect shape. In line water heaters are found in the showers. The rest rooms are spotless, even the vault bathrooms. The visitor center is remarkably educational as well as functional. The roads and camping spots appear to have been paved last week. Again, this is the small part of the park devoted to camping.
The balance of the preserve is as wild as anything you might find in a wilderness setting. Bears, mountain lions, all manner of alpine mammals, raptors and migrating birds frequent the confines of the park and most obviously spill into it from the surrounding wild buffer zones of acreage for miles and miles surrounding the park. When we were there, in early to mid September, Autumn had arrived. The Aspens were bursting with rustling, brilliant yellows framed against the deepest blue sky I have ever seen. Even on warm afternoons, when the temperature might reach 75 or 80, there was a coolness to the breeze that whispered the reminder that soon the season would roll over to winter. It is hard to find through my memory such glorious days...days and evenings when you felt that the world could not produce a better environment for living.
The trails here inside the park are varied, challenging at times, visually stunning, and tremendously satisfying. Diane and I traversed several during our stay here. Being that the area surrounding Pikes Peak has, as part of its varied and storied history, been a gold mining mecca, we found several old log cabins now abandoned in the deep woods. They were falling down, ceilings and rooftops caved in from one to many harsh winter snows. Log chinking was the common thread of how these small fortresses were constructed. Some had evidence of habitation still within, bearing testimony to the quality of workmanship of the items’ manufacture. One iron stove looked as if it were simply awaiting the next warming fire to be lit. We could not get enough of the trails but saved some for our next visit, which will surely happen at some point down the long road of our 50 Amp Vision Quest.
A surprise to us, and perhaps to many folks who travel this way, was the Florisant Fossil Bed National Park, situated to the west but a scant few miles. We made it a point to visit the park, using our Golden Passport once again. We are saving a small fortune using this generous discount the US government has provided us. THIS Florisant, in Colorado, is named after the Florisant in Missouri, just west of ST Louis. Early settlers came from that area of the midwest as so many others had. Truly, St Louis was the gateway to the west as advertised.
We expected to find dinosaur bones. In this part of the country there are several places to find them unearthed for viewing and study. But here, the findings are relative miniatures by comparison to dinosaur bones. Dating back to the mid nineteenth century, collectors and now scientists have unearthed massive amounts of fossils from approximately 34 million years ago. The elegance of these fossils is amazing. Here, we are looking at small bees, wasps, simple, small mammals, dragon flies...nearly any creature that would habitate a lake environment...frozen in time and completeness of their fully formed nature. Some even feature their natural color!
The exceptions to the near micro size of the fossils found here are the largest living organisms that have existed. Petrified redwood stumps lie scattered about in pits dug out of the volcanic ashen cover of the earth in this region. When the last volcanoes erupted in this area, the redwoods were covered with volcanic mud and hot, poisonous debris to a depth of many feet. The upper trunks, devoid of life giving nutrients from their buried roods and lower trunks, died, leaving stumps to be preserved and eventually petrified by the water-borne calcium and minerals left from the volcanic eruptions. Early souvenir hunters carried away most of the petrified redwoods that were exposed above the surface. The scientists who saved this place from literal extinction have found huge remnants of the once heavy forest, and have carefully created ways for us to view what was once a proud redwood forest, in Colorado no less.
Arriving back at our campsite we found that a small covey of Clarks Nutcrackers were hanging around. These are wonderful animals, large for a bird species, and mainly ivory colored. During one of our hikes we had been followed by a small group of them. Diane, the modern day St Francis of Assisi, was able to get one of them to grab a peanut right out of her hand. It was amazing! Now, here they were again, apparently back for more. We took turns holding out our hands with a peanut laying flat in our palms. As they became more and more used to us they got closer and closer until they regularly began taking the peanuts from our hands after landing on our open palms. I was totally delighted with this. Having a wild bird land on my outstretched palm was something I never thought I would experience in my lifetime. I've always thought that Diane had a special way to communicate with animals. They sense her openness and are drawn to her...mammals, birds, turtles...you name it. Diane IS the modern version of St Francis of Assisi.
As has become our habit, we almost hated to leave this area when our time expired in Bueller State Park. But, we have also found that in this classic state of Colorado, there is seemingly no end to adventure, if you just go out and look for it.