Plan and Map
Our
Trip :
Updated after the trip
| Day | Events | Locations, targets | Notes | Approx.
driving distance for this day |
||
| Monday April 7 - Day 1 | Fly to Denver, pick up rental vehicle and start birding. Our first location will be in Allenspark where there are feeders that often attact Rosy Finches. Then we will head to Georgetown stopping at a couple of locations if we have time. | Feeders at Fawn Brook Inn |
Flights booked, vehicle rented. | 137 miles- Denver Airport to Georgetown via Allenspark | ||
| Night 1 | Georgetown | |||||
| Tuesday April 8 - Day 2 |
After checking feeders in Georgetown we will head up towards Guanella Pass. The pass is no longer plowed in the winter but we will go up as far as the road is open. We will then head to Loveland Pass where we will search for ptarmigan. Our route south will take us through Leadville. We expect to have lunch in Buena Vista where we will search for Pinyon Jays and Clark's Nutcrackers. We end the day at Gunnison | Loveland Pass is at 11,990 feet. It is the highest moountain pass in the state that stays regularly open. | 174 miles - Georgetown to Gunnison via Buena Vista | |||
| Night 2 | Gunnison |
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| Wednesday April 9 - Day 3 | Up early for to be at the Gunnison Sage Grouse lek at dawn. We will return to our motel afterwards. We will have several possibilites during the day for Dusky Grouse in the Curecanti National Recreation Area. We do not have a huge distance to cover which will be nice after an early morning. | Gunnison Sage Grouse Conservation |
This will be the first of five early morning visits to a lek. | 124 miles - Gunnison to Grand Junction | ||
| Night 3 | Grand Junction |
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| Thursday April 10 - Day 4 | We started the day at our best location for Chukar. There are birding opportunities around the area before we head north to Hayden. We will need to meet a local contact late afternoon in Hayden to get oriented to the Sharp-tailed Grouse lek. | Cameo Canyon |
180 miles - Grand Junction to Steamboat Springs | |||
| Night 4 | Steamboat Springs |
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| Friday April 11 - Day 5 | This will be the first of three early mornings in a row. We will start at a Sharp-tailed Grouse Lek before dawn. After dinner we will visit Sage Grouse habitat and possibly see evening lek activity. | Sharp-tailed
Grouse Lek
Varied Thrush stakeout Rabbit Ears Pass Coalmont lek |
|
95 miles - Steamboat Springs to Walden | ||
| Night 5 | Walden | |||||
| Saturday April 12 - Day 6 | This will be the second of three early mornings in a row. It will also be "biggest day" of the trip. We have lots to do! We started at a Greater Sage Grouse lek. Then we moved over to the Pawnee National Grasslands for Mountain Plover and longspurs. By 4 pm we were in Wray to check in at the Chamber of Commerce for the Prairie Chicken tour. This tour includes entertainment and a dinner. | Coalmont lek Pawnee Grasslands Wray |
Early Morning! | 286 miles - Walden to Wray via Pawnee National Grasslands | ||
| Night 6 | Lodging
provided by the Wray
Prairie Chicken Tour |
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| Sunday April 13 - Day 7 | After leaving Wray (Greater Prairie Chickens) we will head directly south towards Lamar. We will be out in the high plains and will stop at various parks and access areas. We will end the night in the Lamar area | Wray Fish Hatchery Bonny Lake State Park Nee Noshe SWA |
168
miles - Wray to Lamar |
|||
| Night 7 | Lamar area | |||||
| Monday April 14 - Day 8 | After checking areas in the Lamar area we stopped at a couople of places before we headed east to Elkhart, Kansas. | Willow Creek Park Two Buttes SRA Campo Lek area Elkhart Sewage ponds
|
Elkhart is in the Central Time Zone. This will screw us up! |
160 miles - Lamar to Elkhart Kansas |
||
| Night 8 |
Elkhart, KS |
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| Tuesday April 15 - Day 9 | Up early and out to the Lesser Prairie Chicken lek in the Cimmaron National Grassland. . Heading west we birded the the Cottonwood Campground area. Our goal for the day was to reach Canon City | Elkhart Sewage Ponds Cottonwood Canyon Pueblo State Park Canon City Riverwalk |
264
miles - Elkhart Kansas to Canon City via Cottonwood Campground. |
|||
| Night 9 | Canon City | |||||
| Wednesday April 16 - Day 10 | We birded the Canon City area before driving west to Salida and then North through Buena Vista and Leadville. We made a brief stop at Loveland Pass before moving on to Golden | Ecology Park Tunnel Drive Trail Temple Canyon Road Loveland Pass |
181
miles - |
|||
| Night 10 | Golden | |||||
| Thursday April 17 - Day 11 | We birded Genesse Park and Loveland Pass before heading to the airport |
Loveland Pass |
45
miles - Golden to Denver Airport |
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| Night 11 | Home! | |||||
| Night | Reservations in |
| Monday April 7 Night 1 |
(reservation
made) Conf# 6952 for Night
1 |
| Tuesday April 8 Night 2 |
(reservation
made) Confirm # 68846848 |
| Wednesday April 9 Night 3 |
(reservation
made) Confirmation# 69051732 |
| Thursday
April 10 Night 4 |
(reservation made) Stayed
in Steamboat Springs |
| Friday April 11 Night 5 |
(reservation
made) Walden Antlers Inn #460 Main St. (betw 4th & 5th) Walden, CO 970-723-8690 "a bit pricier, but options were few, if you remember - about $100 for the king room and $90 for the other two rooms. Wireless internet, nonsmoking. No continental bkfst. They'd like cancellation morning of the day before if needed. They remembered me, and had us "pencilled in" their "new book." Now we are official." "I confirmed wireless internet, non-smoking, no fridge, no microwave, +restaurant We can cancel up until 11am 4/10/08 King room $98, others $89" |
| Saturday April 12 Night 6 |
(no reservations necessary) Wray Chamber of Commerce event |
| Sunday April 13 Night 7 |
(even though no breakfast,
took this hotel since everything else booked) |
| Monday April 14 Night 8 |
(reservation
made)
no internet |
| Tuesday April 15 Night 9 |
(reservation
made)
$72 per room |
| Wednesday April 16 Night 10 |
(reservation made) Stayed
in Golden Comfirm
E6953 for Night 10
|
Planning
Map
Red dots indicate leks of specific species
Location of nights are subject to change. This is a work in progress
(Refer to route map for actual trip)
