Fall on Wolf Creek Pass, Returning Home (Thursday, October 6th, 2016)

We decided to come home following the same route we took down to Havasu.  We enjoyed the fall colors so much the first time that we decided to see if it had changed in the last two weeks.  This isn't a route that we would choose later in the winter.  There are too many mountains passes, and it could be a long treacherous drive in snowy conditions.  But the weather forecast looks good, so we decided to go for it.

More of the trees have now lost their leaves, but the ones that still have leaves were even more beautiful than two weeks ago. The fog from tropical storm Paine is gone, and the mountains now have some snow on them, although we didn't drive through any snow at all.  It must have been our lucky day.

In the next few pictures, you will notice a lot of dead evergreen trees.  This was caused by the pine beetles that went through most of Colorado within the last 10 years.  The beetles infest and kill all of the old or weak trees, but they don't bother the younger, stronger trees.  The area just north of Wolf Creek Pass was hit very hard by the point beetles.  Steve and I are guessing that they killed about 90 percent of the trees in that area.

The hardest part about driving this route is finding restrooms and food.  There are no truck stops along this route, and all of the towns are pretty small.  As we headed north, beyond Wolf Creek Pass, we were getting hungry, but didn't really want to stop at a sit-down restaurant.  We were hoping to find some sort of fast food that we could just eat in the car, but small mountain towns don't really have fast food.  

So we tried our luck, going about two miles out of the way, into a slightly larger town called Buena Vista.  We were hoping to stumble onto something that we could eat in the car.  And luck was with us again.  A little fast food Mexican restaurant called Panchos, right on the main street.

We each ordered a bean burrito smothered in green chili, and when they came out in a cardboard basket, we were skeptical, but we dug in, and it was quite good.  The green chili wasn't spicy, but it was homemade and pretty tasty.  We were pleasantly surprised by this little place and will happily go back if we are hungry and in the area again.  And we both ate for about six bucks a piece!

It turned out to be a great drive home!  Great weather, beautiful trees, and a meal that we really enjoyed in a cute little town that we have never visited before!