Royal Gorge Bridge and Park

Today Dead Ed the Head and I visited the Royal Gorge.  If you have never been there, it is an incredible place.  Just remember to take your vertigo medicine first, the bridge hangs 956 feet over the canyon floor and Arkansas River.  

To give you an idea of the scale of this gorge, here is a picture of some rafters at the bottom.  I took this (very carefully) from the bridge.  That tiny orange dot is the raft.  I was zoomed in almost all the way.

The bridge itself is the tallest suspension bridge in the world, built in 1929.  The cables each had 2,100 strands of galvanized wire, and totaled over 300 tons.  The original cables are still visible, but no longer in use.  Dead Ed was pretty relieved that he hadn't just traveled across a bridge using 83 year old cables.

Lining the bridge are different state flags.  Not really sure why, except maybe to make all the tourists feel welcome.  Both Dead Ed and I were happy to see the Texas flag.

In June of 1995 a very brave, or very stupid man, named Ken Fuller set the record for a free rappel, but rappelling all 1,000' from the bridge to the Arkansas River.  He literally just slid down a rope, without ever touching anything between the bridge and canyon bottom.  Dead Ed was freaked out enough just sitting on the railing!

If you don't want to walk across the crazy high bridge, you could always try one of the cable cars.  Dead Ed the Head wasn't sure which one was worse. (You'll have to expand the picture to see the tiny cable car hanging over the gorge.)

Once you get to the other side of the gorge, there are some pretty cool things to do.  My favorite was the SkyCoaster.  A giant swing that hurls you out over the gorge, to a height of 1,200' over the Arkansas River. Dead Ed wasn't thrilled with facing a second death, so left the swinging to me.  

Also on the far side of the gorge is the petting zoo, and animal park.  The screaming children that would almost certainly scream more upon seeing Dead Ed kept us away from the petting part of the zoo, but we did check out the buffalo.  The park has three rare white buffalo that are really impressive.  I think Dead Ed was jealous of their horns.

It took some convincing, but we finally found a thrill ride that Dead Ed could participate in.  They let me take him on the zip line, provided I carabiner him (through his eye socket, poor fellow!) to my seat belt.  Despite the painful safety measures, I think he had fun.

Dead Ed is a closet nerd, so he made me take his picture with the water clock at visitors center.  With this clock, time is measured through the regulated flow of water into and out of a measured vessel.  Along with sundials, this is probably one of the oldest forms of measuring time.  

This frog thought Dead Ed was food.

And speaking of food, Dead Ed really didn't understand why it was illegal to feed the deer.  He felt very discriminated against.

http://www.royalgorgebridge.com/

For most of the month of July, Dead Ed the Head and I are visiting Colorado.  This is Dead Ed's first trip to Colorado, and he seems to like it so far.  The air is still try, just like West Texas, which helps to keep Dead Ed's particular odor at a minimum.  He tends to get self conscious.  

This past Sunday, I took Dead Ed to Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site outside La Junta.  

The fort was one of the major centers of the fur trade along the Santa Fe trail.  It was named after brothers Charles and William Bent, who opened the fort in 1833.  The Arkansas River, once the boundary between the United States and Mexico, runs along side the fort and facilitated the movement of furs.  Later, the military used the fort in the western expansion of the United States.

Despite being located on a river, life at the fort was pretty harsh.  The summers are brutally hot, and the winters miserably cold.  

Travelers on the Santa Fe trail died from exhaustion, dehydration, heat stroke, and diseases such as cholera.  There were confrontations with Native Americans, and wildlife.  The cemetery at Bent's Old Fort has never been excavated, and this is the only grave with a marker.  Dead Ed wasn't thrilled with the cemetery, fearing I would leave him there.

One of Dead Ed's favorite animals can be encountered on the trails around the fort:  rattlesnakes!  This area of Colorado has two species, the Prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis) and the Desert Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus).  Signs warned visitors to stay on the trail and watch out.  

Tours of the fort are self guided, and visitors get to wander almost wherever they want.  We were even allowed to touch some of the items, as long as we didn't go behind chains.  Dead Ed is very "head" on, so he liked this part.  

Our first stop on the tour is the main trade room, where most of the trade was done.  I say most, because any trade with hostile Native Americans was conducted in a special room outside the fort, where goods could be passed through a small window, protecting both sides.  Besides furs, goods such as Mexican chocolate were also sold.  The gift shop still sells heritage recipe chocolate, which Dead Ed loved.

The carpentry shop, kitchen, and dining room were also open for exploration.  I thought it was really cool to look at all the old tools, but Dead Ed just got depressed over his lack of hands.

Bent's Old Fort is a living historical site, meaning there are actors playing the parts of residents.  Dead Ed made friends with this woman, hoping she would sew him a shirt.

A working blacksmith shop is also part of the tour.  We stopped to watch the smith making a flint striker for starting fires.  Dead Ed wanted to pull the bellows, but lacking arms wasn't able to.

In the doctors quarters we found more evidence of our reptile friends.

Throughout the fort there is evidence of it's somewhat violent past.  Lookout tours feature shooting windows, and cannons adorn the corners of the walls.  I can't speak to the accuracy of the canons, but Dead Ed sure liked them.

All in all, it was a fun adventure.  And at $3 entry for adults, and $1 donation for the guide book, a very affordable one.  Dead Ed wants to go back already, but I think mostly for the chocolate.

http://www.nps.gov/beol/index.htm

This is Dead Ed the Head.   

 He lives on the dashboard of my truck, and has many adventures.

Sometimes his adventures are just riding along with me on a road trip, but sometimes he goes on adventures of his own.

Like me, Dead Ed enjoys tequila.  

In this blog, I will be documenting the adventures of Dead Ed the Head.  Since he can't type without hands, the work falls to me.  Dead Ed likes to visit state and national parks, historical sites, museums, and all kinds of places. Sometimes his adventures are not so adventurous, but sometimes they can get pretty wild.  He appreciates all comments, and suggestions.  

(And before anyone says it, I know Dead Ed is a doe.  Don't hate on transgenders.)