Pawnee Buttes (Denver, Greeley, Lamar: rent, camp, live)

[vegaspilgrim]

When my old thread titled, "Is there anything on the Eastern Plains?" was recently revived, it reminded me of a trip I took during the late summer about two and a half years ago to the Pawnee National Grassland, about an hour northeast of Greeley. Very beautiful, very unexpected in the middle of a sea of grass going on forever it seems. And very uncrowded. We saw maybe two or three other cars the whole several hours we spent there. I remember it was extremely windy and tons of giant grasshoppers that looked like aliens from another planet. It was a surreal experience. I thought these pictures were permanently deleted when my hard drive crashed last year, but just found them on my parents' computer. Not being one to let a good picture go to waste, here they are!

[dynimagelv]

Excellant pics Pilgrim......I grew up on the plains in Limon......and it was beautiful there......except in the winter

[lalahartma]

Cool! Thanks!

[McGowdog]

It's a beaut of a butte!

I wonder where that was from Merino, Haxtun, Otis, Holyoke, Wray, etc.

[ottodog]

Hey there's Two Socks, well maybe not... I think thats a cow.

[b.adams]

I used to camp there almost every year in Boy Scouts ... back in the 80's. It was an absolute blast. We saw so many rattlesnakes in this area! And climbed the buttes before one of them got knocked over on top.

And now it's not even recognizable ... all ranger-i-fied and protected. You used to be able to wonder around anywhere and now it's 'stay on the trail' only. The place has is very unusual It's a really cool area ... and the nearby ghost town and missile silos are also interesting to see. There was a graveyard in town from the late 1800's that is interesting to see. And this area was filmed in the made for TV series 'centennial' ... I believe.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

It's a beaut of a butte!

I wonder where that was from Merino, Haxtun, Otis, Holyoke, Wray, etc.

McGowdog - The Pawnees are out northeast of Greeley about 10 miles off Colorado 14. You can see them from the highway.

[drb85650]

Good shots again!! And those with any interest in Colorado history should rent and watch "Centennial" as mentioned earlier. Much of it was filmed on site, fantastic series. Of course a bit dated to watch now, but still great history. One of those snowy days inside things to do.
VegasPilgrim, ever been to SandCreek Massacre site? Way down southeast corner of the state?

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by drb85650

Good shots again!! And those with any interest in Colorado history should rent and watch "Centennial" as mentioned earlier. Much of it was filmed on site, fantastic series. Of course a bit dated to watch now, but still great history. One of those snowy days inside things to do.
VegasPilgrim, ever been to SandCreek Massacre site? Way down southeast corner of the state?

Nope, but I want to see it some day, as well as Bent's Fort. I figure it could be worth doing a roadtrip going through some backroads in eastern Colorado and Kansas, seeing the real Great Plains, all the way to Kansas City. The Pawnee Buttes to the north and the town of Kiowa to the south is the farthest east I've ever been in Colorado.

[McGowdog]

I've got a Lamar/Wiley/McClave/Bent's Fort little photo thread in here somewhere.

I used to deliver food to the people who lived at the site of the Sand Creek Massacre; the Mables, I believe. Some Mayos and Blodgetts up there too. They up and sold their property to the Native Americans for a couple Mill and moved to the Springs. I used to swing by there every other Monday for about a year!

It was right there between Chivington and Brandon or maybe west of Chivington towards Eads (but closest to Chivington), but north on some county road that curves around... you can tell the sight by the strange line of trees (maybe native cottonwoods or something) right smack dab in the middle of nowhere!) If you're in the Denver Metro or Springs area, head to Kit Carson and head south through Eads, then head east on that road and don't turn on to 287 going to Lamar. Just continue east towards Healy Kansas. But if you see a Chivington sign, you're close. Not much in Chivington! I knew the whole town by name I did!

That was MY stompin' grounds... from Lamar west to Hazwell, then north through May Valley, Chivington, Brandon, sometimes Sheridan Lake to Towner (where my mom was born), up to Arapahoe, Cheyenne Wells, First View, then north to Burlington, Bethune, Scratton, Vona, Seibert...

I wished I had my EnV phone with me back then. I didn't even have a camera phone and not much time to snap shots. Dry land farming out there mostly.

Now along that Ark Valley, that's another story for another day.

Centennial! Watchin' it now!