DESPATCHES
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11.
Follow the Santa Fe Trail
June 18th
Another 7.30 start. Already cloudless skies and blazing
sun. Travel with Julian, Clive and Michael Orrit. Pass several
huge cattle feedlots. One had 11,000 cattle!!! There are
more cattle fed and processed in this state of Kansas than
anywhere in the world. You can smell them before you see
them. A hurricane force crosswind is blowing - very uncomfortable.
I have to try and re-arrange my headgear and keep up with
Julian at the same time. Another minor detail is keeping
the car on the road with one hand. I succeed in changing
my glasses for my goggles and feel much happier. The roads
stretch as far as the eye can see. A bend is a big event.
After 130 miles we leave KANSAS and enter COLORADO. Peter
takes over driving. My head feels it has been blown off.
We are travelling the old Santa Fe Trail.
The first thing we spot is the Santa Fe Express which we
overtake. 
| More
trees are appearing and more greenery in general. We
stop off to do the tourist thing at Bent's Fort and
find a little gem of a guide. It is the best guided
tour I think I have experienced. He is the doctor in
the fort in 1846 and talks us through all the happenings
of the time as though it was the present. |
Bent's
Fort |
He
offers to cleanse our blood of morbid things by 'bleeding'.
His little knife has two blades, one for humans and
one for horses. He must remember which is which because
his horses are valuable! We thoroughly enjoy the tour
of this uniquely preserved adobe (mud) built trading
post
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Swallow at
Bent's Fort |
We
press on. The altitude is slowly increasing. We
pass a sign saying 4052 Feet asl. A distant glimpse
of Mountains, or is it a mirage. No, gradually the Rockies
are appearing . We reach Colorado Springs, the famous
ski area and get our first glimpse of Pike's Peak, the
highest hill climb in the world. Awsome. Read to-morrows
despatches to hear what happens. We are concerned at
the reports of major fires in the area and will have
to wait and see how the situation is to-morrow. The
Hayman fire is burning North of route 24 which is the
one we take to Pikes Peak. Fingers crossed!
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