Gators In Colorado?

Who would have thought there were alligators in Colorado?  Just down the road from our Cool Sunshine RV Park is a gator farm with a story.  I have to admit when I pulled in at 10:00 in the morning, I was a little suspect.  It's not Disney World, African Safari or even your local zoo.  It's rather fallen into disrepair. 

For $10 as a senior, you too can ooh and aah over their critters.  Here's the story.  Originally this was a tilapia fish farm.  They raised fish to sell to stores and restaurants.  These big guys are obviously not fish, but African tortoises.

 When you have a big fish farm, you end up with dead fish.  Instead of spending a fortune to dispose of them, they purchased four alligators.  Problem solved.  Why are there snakes?  I'll get to that in a minute.  These are both rattlesnakes, kept in iffy looking glass cages. 

 So ..... pretty soon Fish and Game from all over the country were calling to see if they could take rescue alligators that people had dumped in the local ponds because they got too big.  In no time they were taking in rescues from everywhere and now have over 300!!   

Little did I know when they hand you this little cutie that they take a picture to SELL.  I gave them my camera for this one.  Then I felt bad and let THEM take one, which of course I had to buy, that turned out dark and terrible.  This little guy was solid as a rock and much heavier than you would think.

 The first thing you see in the door besides lots of tortoises hiding absolutely everywhere, is the section of really BIG snakes.  These guys were over 15 feet long and gave me the shivers.  Again, these are all rescues.  They all got too big for people to handle and ended up here.  Sadly, their enclosures are not much more than a trough full of water.

 As you move through the building where they grow plants hydroponically (don't be alarmed by all the rusty hanging steel), you come upon huge vats of fish.  There's a bucket of chow for you to throw at them.

 As soon as you walk near, they all come over to your side because they KNOW you have food.  As soon as you throw it, they erupt into an explosion of fish.  Since the tilapia market has declined, they now sell most of them to Fish and Game and people who have ponds in Texas.  Bass fishing is big there.  The bass eat the little fish and grow big for fishermen.  The big fish eat all the yucky stuff in the pond, keeping them fresh and healthy.  It's a win-win!

 I've no idea where this 100 pound snapping turtle came from, but he lives with the fish.  Don't get too close.

 Once outside, you'll find the alligator enclosures.  There's lots of chain link fencing, much of which has been repaired ... sort of.  Luckily I was there in the morning.  They all come out of the water to warm up in the sun.  Otherwise they would all be UNDER water.  The tires help them get out and stay relatively clean.

 The water is well water, so it stays at a reasonable temperature, even when there is snow.  The American alligator isn't as big and impressive as say a crocodile, but their numbers make up for it.  You can buy alligator chow to feed them, but they were mostly sleeping on this morning.

 

There's much more to see, including all the movie star alligators, but I've got pulled pork to cook, so I'll introduce you tomorrow.  Think the Lubriderm commercial ... remember the alligator walking around?  He's here, along with Elvis!!  Who knew?

 

 

 

Moving Right Along ......

Things are moving at a pretty fast pace.  We did visit the Colorado State Prison, a once maximum security facility, now downgraded to minimum.  The latest and greatest in Federal prisons now lives about ten miles down the road in Florence, housing guys like the Green River Killer and McVey before he met his end.  I'll get to that in a minute.

In the meantime, we packed up and moved on up to Alamosa.  The road follows this canyon, a twisting turning 25-45 mph headache.  The scenery made up for it though ... it was a gorgeous sunny 80 degree day.

We followed the river most of the way down, or up as the case may be.  We were going straight for that 9,000 foot high pass.

 As the canyon opened up a bit, we saw snow still on the mountains from the week before. 

About this time, I started losing power ... baby was having a hard time breathing just like me.  

Up the pass we went and finally hit the long downhill through a huge valley into Alamosa.  Our original plan was to ride the Rio Grande Scenic railroad, but alas, they have moved into bankruptcy.  Too bad because the little town depended on that tourist dollar.

So here we are back at the prison.  Luckily no one found this to be their new living quarters.  

Originally, men and women were housed together next door, guarded by that tower which is still in operation every single day.  Of course that caused some problems, so they moved the women to this building, adding bars on all the windows.  This is now the museum.

For your viewing pleasure, here's the gas chamber they used up until Colorado abolished the death penalty.
 

Inside, the women were kept in these very small cells.  They were allowed to decorate them with crocheted curtains and artwork.  See that sawhorse looking thing?

Here's how it was used in the old days.  Corporal punishment with a big leather belt was meted out to a prisoner tied down to the old grey mare.  Yikes!!!
 

 

 

Downstairs in what used to be the chow hall, the prisoners have set up an entire art gallery of current prison art.  Some of these guys are pretty talented.  Most here are either going to be paroled soon or are at the end of their life sentences and will never leave.

Pretty amazing stuff.  

 

 

 Many movies have been made here, the first and most well known was Canon City about their 1929 riot that killed 18 guards and many inmates.  I admit, I've never heard of it.  However, the likes of John Wayne and others spent many days here punching out movies. 

 Also downstairs is the kitchen where the ladies prepared all their own food, which consisted mostly of soup or stew in that huge vat cooker on the right.
 

 They were also required to do all their own laundry in these huge washers.  It must have been stifling down there with all that heat and moisture.

 Those that died in prison received a less than regal sendoff.  They were dumped in a box (this is actually one of them) and taken out to the cemetery where they were UN-ceremoniously buried WITHOUT the box.  It was brought back for the next guy.

 So there you have it.  Prison life in Canon City.  Since arriving in Alamosa, I have had close encounters with alligators and ate my fill of some amazing stew.  That's coming up next.

SNAKE!!!!!!!

 Hiking the Royal Gorge Canyon started out an exciting adventure, slowed to a snail's pace and ended up with a screaming, running melee!  What could be more fun?

 There were five of us driving up a bad dirt road to discover the trail head.  It's not well marked .... I looked the entire way for a sign.  Eventually we landed here.  Still no sign, but at least there was a trail.

If you have any kind of cell service, there is an App called All Trails.  It will not only give you directions, but can track you, shows mileage and exactly which way to go.  If you PAY for All Trails (which I do not) you can download the entire trail to your phone to keep you from getting lost.

The scenery was spectacular as we came to the edge of the canyon about a mile down from the bridge.
 

Of the five people, four came with three dogs.  One very well behaved bulldog stayed right on the trail behind her parent and never wandered.  On the other hand, one of the two labradors wandered incessantly, ran ahead, ran back, almost knocking people over and crossing over cactus like it wasn't there.  This is NOT a good thing when hiking in high country.

 

Welcome to LeView which is looking over the cliff from the rocks above.  Just as we were leaving, we were met by three ladies.  Since the dogs were not cooperative at all, and the two labs NOT on leashes most of the time, we left so as not to knock the ladies into the canyon below.

 

Just as we were heading out, the train whistle blew.  She makes three trips a day along the tracks.

 

This is the unruly guy, Rocky.  I mentioned several times that he needed to be on a leash, to deaf ears.  It almost cost him his life.

 

Here's our rally hosts, Patti and John Painter.  Cocoa sitting below is our hiking guide.  She's a master class act!!

 

 

 

So ... we're just hiking along, with me looking down and side to side the entire time.   After running into ratttlesnakes at my house, I'm VERY aware of my surroundings.  I heard just the slightest rattle and caught sight of this guy not twelve inches off the trail.  SNAKE ... RATTLESNAKE!!!  

 

Just then the dog Rocky ran by me ahead, as did his mom while dragging the other dog Charlie.  Just then Rocky caught the smell and ran back.  I whacked him in the head with my camera to keep him from being bit.  Two more steps and he would have been toast.

 

Now Rocky's dad, who is left back on the trail, grabs a big rock.  "You don't need that, just walk by at the far side of the trail and he won't bother you".  It took a couple of encouragements, but eventually we were all past the snake and all in one piece.  

Wouldn't you know out here in the middle of nowhere, I'd run into another snake.  Isn't he a beauty?  He blended in very well.

 

 

Finally back at the cars after our 2-1/2 mile hike, everyone is okay.  It was a close call I hope not to replicate.  Rocky is seriously lucky to be alive.

Next up, Colorado State Prison ... won't THAT be fun!!  In the meantime, I'm already in Alamosa. 

ALL ABOARD!!!

From 1881 to 1889, William Barstow Strong was President of the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. I don't know the whole story, but I think it's his grandson that is one of our original members of the Golden Spike Group.  This one's for you Bill!!

 It was time to check out the main reason we came to Canon City.  This is the Royal Gorge Route train that meanders through the canyon underneath that crazy bridge and zip line at the very top edge.

Meet part of the Golden spike RV group.  We travel all over the Western states in search of trains, mostly of the steam variety, to ride and relive the old west days of yore.  That tells you why I'm involved ... OLD WEST is what I'm all about.

 

 

All Aboard!!  We filled up half the car.  The train was surprisingly full considering the circumstances.  Weird that we were required to wear our masks OUTSIDE, even in the outside car.  Inside, we took them off.

They did have several open-air cars, so of course that's where I spent the entire time as we headed out through the canyon.

In spite of the low water level, there were lots of rafters heading down the mini rapids.  Their worst problem was not hitting their butts on the many rocks clearly visible.

 Here's an interesting site.  That's not a log along the edge, it's a wooden wire-wrapped pipe, now very much rotten and falling apart, that carried water from far up the river clear down to Canon City.  Apparently they couldn't get water from a closer location due to the alkali.  More about this further into the trip.

Suddenly, the Royal Gorge Bridge came into view. 

 

Wow ..... that's a LONG way up there.  That little black blob that looks like a bug on your windshield at the very top left .... is the gondola.

 

 

As we came around the corner, the zip line passed by.  I think we all cringed when we realized we were actually standing up on that bridge the day before.

 

 

As we came out from under the bridge, we passed over the part of the tracks that are held up by these steel braces on each side.  That's right, there is nothing under the train here but water.  Four of these braces kept us above the water level until firm rock was reached ahead.

 More rafters cruising along made for some colorful scenery.  They all yelled and waved at us as they passed by.

Finally through the canyon, we were greeted by these very colorful Yurts which you can rent.  Many of the rafters put in here also for your patio entertainment.
 

In 1908 the citizens of Canon City put out a bid to construct a wooden stave water pipe, settling basin and filter to bring fresh filtered water to town.

I don't know how they did it, because that pipe above is suspended over the water part of the way.  The settling pond and filter were all made of concrete.  It's amazing how they could build this on the canyon walls.  The little town had not only clean filtered water to drink, but they also ran it through a plant to make electricity, and in the end, sold the rest of the water for irrigation.

 

 

 

The trip back was just as spectacular as it was going.  I just can't imagine them building this railroad in this valley of solid rock.  By the way, the train has a great menu with excellent food if you want lunch, along with what I understand was EXCELLENT beer, even a fancy sampler of brews.

 

Back at the station, they accommodated our group for pictures by the William B. Strong car. 

 

 

As the sun set, we barbecued whatever we could find in the fridge and shared salads, along with enough dessert to feed an army. 

Next up, I can't seem to get away from the snakes!!