An Adventure With Jen In Buena Vista, CO

Driving Up A Rocky Hill In An Old Truck

	My friend Jennifer, who spent many of her childhood years in Buena Vista, was in town and we spent time doing interesting things. After having breakfast at Jan's Restaurant, we got in her father's old truck and drove up a faintly marked road up a very rocky hill.
	I'm telling you, it was quite a bumpy ride that reminded me of last summer's drive to Tincup Pass! At this point, I got out of the truck to snap the adjacent photo that included the summit of Mt. Princeton.
	We walked a bit up the hill and I captured two photos of the Arkansas River valley facing east. We were northwest of Buena Vista and that main dirt road is Chaffee County Road 367. Here are my truck and car pages: Phil's 1955 Chevy Truck 1978 Datsun Flatbed Truck 1977 Chevy Truck 1978 Chevy Truck Assorted Truck Pictures Honda CRX 200,000 milestone Bad Muffler Hot Rods
	We reached a clearing that had this very nice view of Mt. Princeton.

Heckendorf Wildlife Viewing Area

	Along Chaffee County Road 361 (north of Buena Vista) is a wildlife viewing area that is a popular area for elk. This one, and the viewing area for bighorn sheep inside Chalk Creek Canyon, are two excellent places for viewing wildlife.
	The views of the mountains aren't too shabby either: Mt. Princeton (top), Mt. Yale (center) and the Buffalo Peaks (bottom).
	We didn't see any elk at the lookout, but we spotted some elk way out in the distance on Chaffee County Road 367 (top - the view of the mountains to the west). Click the bottom photo to see my best zoom-in photo which faintly shows the group of elk. ;)

Old Midland Railroad Grade (Chaffee County Road 304)

	Our third mini-adventure was driving on the old Midland Railroad grade, which has become a dead-end road. To get there, take the turn for the overlook west of Johnson Village, and make a right instead of heading up to the overlook.
	A nice view of Mt. Yale.
	There are quite a few stretches where it is clear this road once served as a railroad grade.
	Special thanks to Jen for driving up there! :)
	The views of the mountains and valley to the west are really great! Top: Mt. Antero (left), Mt. Princeton (center) and the Buena Vista Prison; Bottom: Mt. Yale (left), Mt. Columbia (right) and the town of Buena Vista.
	This road dead-ends at Hop Gulch. The railroad crossed over the gulch on a tressel bridge. Many of the old foundations of the bridge remain and read the sign (adjacent) to learn more.
	One token picture of me in the tressel bridge area. Here are my railroad pages: Colorado Railroad Museum Old Midland Grade (Manitou Springs) Model Train Set Old Railroad Tunnels

You are very welcome to comment about any of these adventures in the Buena Vista area on my:

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