calling all southern Colorado residents (Alamosa, Walsenburg: house, fence, trailer)

[bluejeans]

Hi, I've been trying to map out a trip I'd read about (true story) but not actually being familiar with the area is pretty hard. Basicly, the guy started at Walensburg, wanted to go to Alamosa. He took a wrong turn:

I had taken a wrong right turn in Walsenburg and there was not enough time to go back and correct my course. Worse yet, there were no roads that would provide the short cut I desperately needed, except for a brown-dashed line that started at Gardner CO, went thru Red Wing and intersected with 160. We looked at the map's index and confirmed that a brown-dashed line on the map indicated a service road.

which took him to Gardner (on the 69 it seems), then on to Red Wing, where he tried to get back onto U.S 160:

I came to the dirt road, just before Gardner, that I guessed to be the brown-dashed line. I proceeded down a long and bumpy road that was lined with a barbed wire fence. At the end of the road was one of those small aluminum pull trailers from the nineteen fifties that looks like a can of Spam on wheels. It had markings on it that declared, "Red Wing Post Office." Apparently, Red Wing was a town because, in addition to a post office, there was a house. I pulled up to the house and knocked on the door. Dogs barked and a woman in a bathrobe emerged. From behind the screen door, she listened as I explained my need to find the service road that would get me to Alamosa. She looked beyond me to my sporty rent-a-car, and said, "That's what you're driving? There is a dirt road goes right over that mountain." she said pointing to a snow covered peak of at least 10,000 feet. And then she directed me to the service road entrance by saying, "Just drive down to the end of the fence and turn right. The road'll wind around a couple corners and then head straight over. Good luck."

Which he did, but not after going over the LaVeta Pass. If you're interested in the details, here is the link. Basicly, I'd like directions that I could put into my GPS such as "right out of Walensburg on the 69 to Gardner, then take county road 532 which goes via Red Wing and the LaVeta Pass onto U.S 160".

I'd really appreciate this very much, as its hard to follow directions in a story and apply them to a map (there are heaps of roads in the Gardner area that eventually lead to the LaVeta pass - sounds like a country friends' directions to his house - "Go about 10 minutes until you see the cow pasture that the Hills own, take the next left, and go down yonder a bit to our driveway, if you reach the greenhouse, you've gone too far!"). Thanks in advance!

[winglady]

Funny you should ask. I don't know if this is the exact same route as you're looking for, but here goes. BTW, this is in the reverse direction -- it leads from US 160 near La Veta Pass back to Red Wing and Gardner.

(This is an excerpt from the original text we turned in to our editor while writing the guidebook The Essential Guide to Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. Mosca Pass is just west of the towns of Gardner and Red Wing.)

Driving Directions to Mosca Pass - east approach
If you visit Great Sand Dunes National Park before driving to the eastern approaches to the 3 passes, consider using the scenic route to get to Mosca Pass. From the Park entrance on County Road 150, drive south to US 160 and turn left (east) on US 160.

Follow US 160 east toward LaVeta Pass. Before reaching the pass, about 29 miles from the turn onto US 160, and just after Mile Marker 276, turn left onto the first side road you see. There won't be a left turn lane here, so take care. This is County Road 572 (CR 572), although the only signs you'll probably see here are for "Rd. 29" and a development called "Paradise Acres."

Cross the cattle guard. A little-used road to "Paradise Acres" goes straight ahead, while a much better gravel road (CR 572) turns left immediately after the cattle guard and curves uphill. Turn left onto this road, and follow it for about 12 miles through beautiful ranchland and rocky canyons to the little town of Red Wing at the junction of CR 570 and CR 550.

After 9.2 miles from the turn off US 160, you'll reach the unsigned intersection with CR 570. We suggest turning right here for the more direct route to CR 550 (which leads to Mosca Pass). However, you can also reach CR 550 by turning left, since CR 570 is a "loop" road.

Once you reach CR 550, turn left (west) to continue to Mosca Pass.

Here's a link to a rough map (again, something we passed along to our editor to be turned into a "real" map for the book) that will help you visualize the route better:

Wet Mountain Valley map

[CrazyBeautifulDisaster]

I had never driven it until about a month ago with husband and kiddos.
Beautiful!