Colorado June 2012

We went on this trip with Zach’s sister Julie and her husband of 38 years, Doug. They were supposed to go on a trip to Arizona with us in 2009, but it didn't work out for them. After flying into Denver airport, we picked-up our rental car and drove to Colorado Springs. After checking into the hotel, we drove to the Gardens of the Gods where we did a drive and a hike through the park.

It was good we chose to go to the Garden of the Gods that day because the next it was closed due to a wildfire. Day 2 started early; we had to be at the Pike’s Peak Cog Train depot by 745 am. The trip up and down the 14,110 feet high mountain was spectacular. Fortunately, we were prepared for the cold and wind at the top. It reminded us of the top of Kilimanjaro. The difference here was we could go inside a building to warm up.

By the time, we returned to the Cog Train terminal, the temperature was already over 100 degrees. From there we went on a tour of Miramont Castle in Manitou Springs, which was originally built by a French Catholic priest and his wealthy mother. After our tour we ate lunch at the Castle’s Tea Room wearing period headwear.

Coming out from lunch, Cathy noticed some smoke on the mountain. While we were in lunch, the horrific Waldo Canyon fire had started. From there we drove to Cave of the Winds hoping to take the tour. We were told the Cave was closed and we should leave because the fire was heading that way. We drove back to Manitou Springs where we walked around the town and watched the fire grow until we were told to leave because of the fire danger.

Later that day many parts of that area were evacuated. As an alternate to the Cave, we went to the Air Force Academy. We could see the smoke from the fire in the distance never thinking the fire would be threatening the Academy in two days.

On Day 3, we drove to Durango with a lunch stop in Pagosa Springs.

We stayed at the Wyndham Durango, which is in the downtown area. After check-in, we walked along the Animas River, which had many rafters. We had an enjoyable dinner at a restaurant called The Office and walked the street until dark.

The next day we went to Mesa Verde National Park. On the way there, we drove through an area close to the Cortez wildfire, which had been burning for a month. From the entrance, it was a 15-mile drive to the top of the Mesa. The Mesa has been home to Ancestral Puebloans about 700 years ago. There cliff dwellings were scattered about the canyon walls. We visited three of the most notable: Balcony House, Cliff Palace, and Spruce Tree House. Since they are cliff dwellings, it was always a hike down and a climb out of the dwellings.

It was back to Durango the afternoon for a beer and dinner. Day 5 we took the Durango-Silverton Train roundtrip. The train follows the Animas River from Durango to Silverton from 7000 feet in elevation to 9500 feet in elevation. It was about three hours in each direction with beautiful scenery most of the way. Silverton was the disappointment of our trip. It was only the destination because that was the end of the line for the train and used to be a mining town years ago.

Day 6 was time to leave Durango and head for Leadville for our climb up Mt Elbert. On the way to Leadville, we spent several hours at Great sand Dunes National Preserve. While there, Doug and Zach climbed to the top of Star Dune, the tallest at 750 feet. It took them an hour to the top and 10 minutes to run down. It was one of the most physically difficult hour's Zach ever had. The run down was a friction free blast.

The next day, the hike up Mt Elbert was more difficult than we expected. We started at about 10,000 feet and climbed to 14,433. We anticipated a 4-hour climb to the top. It took 5 hours. The first part was gradual up hill on nice trails. Once we hit the tree line that changed. It was steep scree fields and about a 1000 feet scramble up large boulders in between two scree fields. There were several false summits before we made it to the top. Because of the steepness of the trail, climbing down was harder than climbing up. In the middle of the climb down, we were pummeled by a hailstorm. We made it back to the trailhead in three hours. Julie and Doug picked us up and we headed for Denver.

Denver was the surprise of the trip. It was a much nicer town than we expected. It had a rail system that actually went to where people needed to go, a river and large creek running through downtown with miles of trails along both, a vibrant downtown with a nightlife, the 16th street mile-ling pedestrian and bus only mall and etc. We visited the Capital, Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Larimer Square, REI and LODO. We had the best beer of the trip at My Brother’s Place, the oldest bar in Denver. We celebrated Julie and Doug’s 38th anniversary at the excellent Ambria Restaurant and ended the evening with a buggy ride and watching the great fireworks after the Rockies game. On our last day, we went to the beautiful Denver Botanic Gardens before going to the airport and heading home.