Hiking and climbing in Colorado - Day 6 of 8
Waking up late this morning, I was sore all over the place. Megan and I had breakfast, then lazily packed up camp. Today will be a day of rest. We dropped by the Estes Park public library to check weather on Mt. Elbert, then started on the long and scenic drive to Leadville through Rocky Mountain NP.
Aspen trees
The Rockies were really beautiful this time of the year, the mountains were painted with gold by patches of aspen trees. I've never seen aspen trees before. The autumn on the east coast is generally a colorful blend of red, orange, yellow, and green. But the aspen trees were uniformly gold. Whenever there was a gentle breeze, the leaves would shiver in the wind, making the whole forest glint in the sunlight. It was something that had to be seen in person, not a single picture I took could do it justice.
Our auto-tour was nice, allowing Megan and I to place the roles of tourists. Road 34 winded through the forests and alpine meadows in the Rockies, taking us as high as 12,183 feet. I was quite disgruntled when I noted this however, since my highpoint prior to Longs Peak was only 11,239 feet, and I worked hard for 7 hours to get that high. Yet you can drive higher than that in Colorado. It just seemed unfair. And don't even get me started on the mountains on the east coast.
Once out Rockie Mountains NP, we turned west on highway 40, passing rolling hills that looked remarkably like the Sunshine Valley in eastern British Columbia. Soon we came to a little town called Hot Sulphur Springs. Hot Sulphur Springs? I wondered... we stopped in a gas station for a quick break, and I asked the attendant, "this may be a silly question, but is there a hot spring nearby?" "Yes." she answered, and helpfully gave me directions, which was somehow completely wrong. But no matter, we made it to the hot spring after driving several miles in the wrong direction. Ahhhhhh... this was just what the doctor ordered after yesterday's long march on Longs Peak. We soaked our sore muscles in the warm, sulphuric water, watching the sun dipping behind the mountains, the thin clouds in the blue sky, the cute little rabbits hopping around in front of the pools...
Megan playing in a hot spring pool
But all too soon we had to leave the hot springs, if we hoped to make it to Leadville at a reasonable hour. We left the little town of Hot Sulphur Springs, feeling so relaxed that I thought I could fall asleep at the wheel at any moment (but I didn't!), drove through more scenic hills with snow capped peaks in the background, followed the shore of the Colorado River for a while near sunset, and arrived in the town of Leadville two and half hours after dark. We abandoned the idea of finding a campground and cook dinner, opted to have dinner at the local Subway. We then drove to the North Mt. Elbert Trailhead parking lot and crashed in the van.
Rocky Mountain National Park
The Rockies were really beautiful this time of the year, the mountains were painted with gold by patches of aspen trees. I've never seen aspen trees before. The autumn on the east coast is generally a colorful blend of red, orange, yellow, and green. But the aspen trees were uniformly gold. Whenever there was a gentle breeze, the leaves would shiver in the wind, making the whole forest glint in the sunlight. It was something that had to be seen in person, not a single picture I took could do it justice.
Our auto-tour was nice, allowing Megan and I to place the roles of tourists. Road 34 winded through the forests and alpine meadows in the Rockies, taking us as high as 12,183 feet. I was quite disgruntled when I noted this however, since my highpoint prior to Longs Peak was only 11,239 feet, and I worked hard for 7 hours to get that high. Yet you can drive higher than that in Colorado. It just seemed unfair. And don't even get me started on the mountains on the east coast.
Once out Rockie Mountains NP, we turned west on highway 40, passing rolling hills that looked remarkably like the Sunshine Valley in eastern British Columbia. Soon we came to a little town called Hot Sulphur Springs. Hot Sulphur Springs? I wondered... we stopped in a gas station for a quick break, and I asked the attendant, "this may be a silly question, but is there a hot spring nearby?" "Yes." she answered, and helpfully gave me directions, which was somehow completely wrong. But no matter, we made it to the hot spring after driving several miles in the wrong direction. Ahhhhhh... this was just what the doctor ordered after yesterday's long march on Longs Peak. We soaked our sore muscles in the warm, sulphuric water, watching the sun dipping behind the mountains, the thin clouds in the blue sky, the cute little rabbits hopping around in front of the pools...
But all too soon we had to leave the hot springs, if we hoped to make it to Leadville at a reasonable hour. We left the little town of Hot Sulphur Springs, feeling so relaxed that I thought I could fall asleep at the wheel at any moment (but I didn't!), drove through more scenic hills with snow capped peaks in the background, followed the shore of the Colorado River for a while near sunset, and arrived in the town of Leadville two and half hours after dark. We abandoned the idea of finding a campground and cook dinner, opted to have dinner at the local Subway. We then drove to the North Mt. Elbert Trailhead parking lot and crashed in the van.
posted by Boer @ 9/22/2005
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