Lathrop State Park, Walsenburg CO

View from our site at Lathrop State Park

Snow at the top of Wolf Creek Pass

Saturday we left Durango and headed East. Our destination was Lathrop State Park near Walsenburg CO.  On this route there is one big obstacle, Wolf Creek Pass, its summit is 10,857 ft with significant 7-8% grades. This is the highest pass we have yet to tow on. The truck now has a high performance transmission and an exhaust brake all installed to help us with just such places. So it was time to see how the truck would do. It definitely tested the truck but using 2nd gear and on the steeper parts just slowing down made everything run smoothly. One cool thing that came with the Banks system is a monitor that monitors just about everything on the engine. One of the things John watches is the exhaust gas temperatures(EGT). When it get too hot it beeps at you and lets you know to let up on the throttle. It did beep at us a couple times and just made us aware it was time to slow down. The truck has plenty of horse power so it would be easy to go faster but this way we know when it is a good time to back off. We took a little break at the top in a parking area across from Wolf Creek Ski Area. I remember this spot from the times we came and skied this are of the state. This is the most snow we have seen all year. The decent went very smoothly and soon the most challenging part of the trip was over. There is one more pass but it was a piece of cake.

Another view from our site.

We arrived at Lathrop Park mid-afternoon and there were still plenty of places open. All the sites are non-reservable until May. Since it was the weekend most of the sites with the best views were taken but the one we found was pretty good. The park is on a Horseshoe Lake and there is a walking/biking path all the way around the lake, a little over 2.5 miles around. I think we would have liked to have stayed longer but I made reservations in Colorado Springs so two nights were all we’d get. This is definitely a park I would come back to and if you find yourself on I-25 in southern Colorado I recommend you make a stop here.

We made the short trip to Colorado Springs and the Garden Of the God’s campground. The site is typical RV Park with close sites and more like a parking lot with hook ups but it is convienient to the things we want to do. It is nice to have FHU for a little while too. There is a bike trail that we can get on and bike or walk to Manitou Springs and we are within walking distance of Garden of the God’s. Its hot today but we are still going to head to the park to do some hiking. We’ll have to take a lot of water with us. 

Tomorrow is John’s birthday; maybe I’ll get him to write something about turning 60. Hard to believe I’m married to such an old man. :)

Happy Trails.........................