See that red roof

That is the house where we are staying at Slater, Colorado.   As you can see the topography is very rugged and very huge.    We are situated in the northwest corner of Colorado about 5 miles from the Wyoming state line and about 100 miles from the Utah state line.    As a matter of fact our most traveled road to go to town is in Wyoming to the town of Baggs, about 20 miles away.    We also pass through the little crossroads of Savery (where they have a fabulous old west museum complex) and Dixon.  This is a major cattle ranching area as well as sheep ranching.    We turn left at Baggs traveling about 4 miles where we cross back in to Colorado for a 40 mile trip to the town of Craig where there is a Walmart and other stores. When we go we always plan for at least 4 hours away from the house.  

The area is mostly high desert with sagebrush, scrub oaks and some other low growing bushes.   I have seen tumbleweeds here. Some of the mountain areas have aspen groves and there is also ponderosa pine forest at higher elevations.   Along the creeks and rivers are cottonwood trees and some bushes that look like willow.   The weather here is brutally cold most of the winter with snow that does not melt until April or later.  We were here one year in mid May and it snowed about 20 inches!   Spring has some rain but most of the water is from the snow melting.  Summers are dry and hot even though they very seldom reach 90F.   Fall is probably the most pleasant time here as the aspens and cottonwoods start turning gold with temperatures cool at night but pleasant in the daytime.   

We are definitely having a spell of fall weather as it is really warm outside.

To the east of this area is a major part of the Rocky Mountains that travel into Wyoming. Forests of pines and aspens.   To the north and west is more of the high desert much like this photo though much flatter with less high mountains but there are mesas and buttes.    To the south are higher mountains and valleys and the watershed of the Colorado River as it makes its way from the eastern Rocky Mountains toward Utah.      

People here have got to either love it or hate it.   One thing for sure, it is never boring in its different scenery!  

I happen to like it all!    So different from my home state of South Carolina.   

Alas,  no elk moving again today.