Subject: Rocky Mountain Adventure,
Spring 2008 issue
I hope people aren’t thinking they can get easily from Walsenburg to the Great Sand Dunes. Quote: “Located a little over an hour’s drive east of Walsenburg…” They are on each side of a very large mountain range, and a mountain pass that will thrill some people and intimidate others. And most of all it’s west not east. There’s not much to see east of Walsenburg.
Boy are you going to be slammed with mail about this.
Frances Stone, Albuquerque NM

Dear Frances,
Thanks for correcting us regarding the drive from Walsenburg to the Great Sand Dunes National Monument; it is indeed west of Walsenburg, and not east. That was our error. However, we’ve been on many drives that were more torturous and steeper. In fact we saw several RVs, fifth wheel trailers, and campers traveling the route with ease. There is a somewhat steep grade for a few miles, but overall the drive is picturesque, easily traveled, and the route is wide and safe.
Carl Calvert, author

Hi Tweet,
We just came back from a too-short vacation at the beach. I picked up my new copy of RV Journal. I always enjoy the articles and especially your recipe page. Many of the camping cookbooks I have come across are too gourmet! They have too many ingredients...I don’t want to hassle when I am on an RV vacation. We do enjoy home cooked meals on the road, but I want them to be short and sweet...and home cooked. You know what I mean...Thanks again...
Barbara

To Donald Cook:
I read the article in the Spring 2008 Journal titled “The Other Side of Reno, Part of the Vanishing Old West” and would like to know the source you used for the information. The area you told people to go to in the article is mostly on private property. It says “there are dozens of roads throughout the region”. Yes, and these are all posted with signs that say “Private property”. I know, I live on one. 
The horses in this area are not “wild” but are estray, which means they are on privately owned property but are not “owned” by any individual. Long Valley Road is not a county road! The property owners in this area have an association known as the “Virginia City Highlands Ranches Property Owners Association” that maintains and is responsible for the road. 
Please also see the web site for “Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association.”
Norma Coppick

Dear Norma,
My source for the story is my extensive experience in the area, where I also live. The area is indeed a public treasure and should be treated as such.

Coming in from Lousetown Road totally avoids the residential area. I was cautious to avoid problems by specifying the use of a Topo Map to allow folks to take the public access dirt trail known as Long Creek (as opposed to the Reno Gazette Journal’s route, which took folks through the middle of the subdivision).

There are dozens of interconnected access points (even on BLM land) that lead to this public treasure. I attempted to note the best compromise between the least invasive and getting folks hopelessly lost.

As you are aware, not all of the roads in the area are private; I could have noted that people should not traverse property that is signed as “private,” I just took common sense and common courtesy as
a given.

As an aside, the wild (estray) horses in all of the photos I submitted were photographed on public land. Ironically, they were less than a half-mile from my house, which is adjacent to BLM land. The horses in question are indeed wild and roam the entire Virginia Range throughout the season.
As a local resident, I am in these remote areas all of the time, as are hundreds of other folks. Frankly, I thought any element of controversy regarding the old Reno Gazette Journal article and access was long since put to rest.
Sincerely,
Donald Cook