Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Mile 6122

We are blogging from Glenwood Springs, Colorado right now at Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse. Here's the scoop up until now:

While we were in Denver, it had been pretty cloudy the whole time. As we headed west on Interstate 70 into the Rocky Mountains, it turned into a full on downpour. It kind of ruined the view because the clouds were so low... or the mountains were so high. The going was pretty slow because of the weather and twisty mountain route. Guess we had been pretty lucky this trip with practically perfect weather up until now, especially considering what the rest of the nation was going through. So unfortunately we decided to skip Rocky Mountain National Park.


We detoured near Vail and went south to the town of Leadville. It claims to be the highest incorporated city in the nation. Not sure if that's true or not. There was an event going on there called Boom Days, celebrating their old west heritage as a mining town. They had closed off all the streets for it. But unfortunately, it was raining pretty hard so hardly anyone was there. It's sad, because that is probably their big annual tourist event. This town is so isolated, can't imagine that many people get up there very often. So we didn't even get to see any of the town because of the street closures and rain. It's just as well, no dogs are allowed at the event. Not even walking around on the street.

As we headed back to I-70 the rain started to let up and we were treated to some spectacular views. The whole valley west of Vail is gorgeous. But the real treat was Glenwood Canyon. A gap carved out by the Colorado River barely wide enough to accomodate the interstate freeway with vertical rock walls that shoot up hundreds of feet.

At the other end of the Glenwood Canyon was the town of Glenwood Springs where we spent the night. Quite the bustling town considering it was after dark. We had passed through so many towns where nothing was open after 6pm.

This morning we got up early so that we could head back east through the canyon for one more look. There is a nice hiking/biking trail that runs right next to the freeway and sometimes under and over it that we walked on for a bit. Then we turned around and headed back west again to grab breakfast and coffee at Sacred Grounds. We will be home in another day or two probably!

Interesting link:
www.leadvilleboomdays.com