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!