Britton and I decided to take a day trip out to eastern Weld County to see one of the only landmarks that is out there: the Pawnee Buttes. We had visited before but it had been at least 10 years and we had never gone together.
Grover Train Museum that looks like an old fashioned school house
Our first stop on the 70-80 mile trek from Greeley was the small town of Grover. Grover is not quite a ghost town, but pretty small, with only about 100 people. We stopped to check out some of the old abandoned houses there and decided they would make good settings for a creepy zombie or other horror movie.
Creepy House on the Prairie
Weird/Cute Squirrel thing in the window
Desolate Prairie/mountain view from within the abandoned house
The whole time we were out we could imagine Native Americans traveling through and then the old west time of the 1800s trying to make it out on the dusty flatlands of Northeastern Colorado.
This type of scene has not changed much in 200 years
However, one thing that has markedly changed the landscape is the wind power in the area. As we entered the Pawnee National Grasslands we were awed by these huge, gigantic windmills that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. I mean, we have seen them from a distance before, but never had we been right up underneath them. They were staggering as they swooped around and around gathering the wind that is so prevalent out there.
Some of the hundreds of windmills we saw
It is hard to explain in photos the size of these things. Here you can see Britton (who is over 6 feet tall) in the lower portion of the photo
Check it out in this video! I am the small being at the bottom.
Juxtaposition of the old and the new
Finally we made it to the trailhead of the Pawnee Buttes. From there it is about a 2 mile walk to the actual buttes themselves and we had to walk through pretty harsh terrain of spiky yucca plants and cactus.
At the start of the hike to the buttes
The buttes with windmills in the background. Something that was not there the last time we had visited
Me and B at the Buttes
Britton conquering a strange new planet? No just northeastern Weld County
On the way back home we spotted this fence with cow skulls hanging from it. I thought it was cool and strange and definitely worth a photo since the light was just right:
In sum, it was a fun day trip into the wilderness of the Colorado High Plains and I would recommend you try it, if you haven’t yet. And if you want to maximize your driving out to the middle of nowhere, also time it to go to the Grover Rodeo on Father’s Day weekend to see an old fashioned rodeo with real cowboys. Happy Trails!
Jack loved Grover and the High Plains. We’d go out with him, Char and later Cassie and Justin just to check it out. One time he and I think Char and a friend and I were delivering appliances to a Grover home. On the way back, Jack ran out of gas. It was hilarious at the time, but can’t remember exactly why. Larry and I went out to Pawnee Buttes once with your family and got all wet, but we had fun anyway.
Those windmills may be delivering their “juice” to Las Vegas (is it Rocky Mountain Power installation?). A friend of ours who works for the feds says windmills are going up all over the High Plains, with huge transmission lines to be put through Spanish Fork Canyon in Utah to the Nevada border and then down to LV.
Thanks for the post. Brought back memories of good times.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 29 years ago today Larry and I met at a St. Pat’s Party, very lucky for us!
You will see many more giant wind turbines in Puerto Rico. Good thing or bad thing? A bit of both. Watch the documentary “Windfall” for the bad.
Do they have wind turbines in PR already? If so where?
I’d be ok with it as long as it reduces the cost of electricity although it does change the way the landscape looks.
There’s a big wind farm in Santa Isabel that we see whenever we go to Ponce via the 52 expressway. There are over 40 wind turbines there. And another smaller one in Naguabo right next to the 53 expressway that we see when we go up to Fajardo, which is often. That one has 13 turbines. I know because I counted them being erected one by one each time we drove up over the past year. The first one was startling because of the way the highway curves, it looked like it was sitting in the middle of the road! And as big as they are, they are either cool or creepy, I haven’t decided. I think there is another farm on the north coast or it’s in the planning stages. We haven’t been up that way. Seriously, rent Windfall. — Fran
When we saw them it was a surreal futuristic experience. They are creepy in a way. Set against the landscape of the desert/grasslands with old 1890s house foundations and a ghost town like setting, it was even weirder.
I am sure against the jungle landscape it is a similar feeling.
I would much rather see them than coal smoke going up into the atmosphere so that’s good 🙂
The wind turbines in PR are not in/near jungle. They have a backdrop of the ocean. The closer to the ocean, the better they can pick up the winds. They have not influenced the price of electricity; al contrario, it continues to be the highest in the US, and rising. In October we paid $0.2325 per kWh; in February it was 0.2933 (plus the basic monthly fee of $38.64).
Whoa your monthly fee is higher than what we pay. We have ours on (not being used) and it’s $8/mo.
Solar leasing might be a good option.