Search for Aspen Gold; Day 4
We left Dillon, Colorado this morning at 8:00 under sunny skies with a temperature of 44. Another BEAUTIFUL day!
Our route today was I-70 west to exit 195, 91 south, 24 east, 82 west to Independence Pass, 82 back east to 24 east, 285 south and 291 south to our destination of Salida, CO.
Beautiful stands of golden Aspen were seen along 91 on the way to Leadville.
Our first stop was Turquoise Lake just outside Leadville, where we drove around the lake, and stopped to take a few photos. It was a beautiful area but we were surprised to see they were doing some logging there.
We did some lollygagging, shopping and lunching in Leadville, at 10,000 feet elevation. We enjoyed some fried chicken at the Golden Burro Cafe.
From Leadville we drove to the top of Independence Pass, where turned around and headed back east. At the pass we put the top down (it was 53 degrees) and it stayed down almost all the way to Salida.
Historic Twin Lakes, Colorado is located east of Independence pass. On the east side of "town" there's a sheriff's car parked by the road. Closer inspection reveals that the deputy inside the car is just a dummy. Not a human deputy sheriff with a low IQ but a real dummy with a hat and sunglasses. I'm sure it is effective in slowing traffic.
The golden aspens were beautiful in the Twin Lakes area.
From Twin Lakes we were off for Salida. As we approached Salida there was smoke from a forest fire visible in the distance. When we arrived at our hotel at 3:15 the clerk confirmed that the fire was about 9 miles south of Salida and had been burning since September 8th. They are letting it burn due to all the beetle kill pine trees in that area. I did put the top up a few miles away from Salida because I did not know how thick the smoke would be.
As we were walking to the pool and hot tub at our hotel we saw some deer outside a hotel door. Maybe they were escaping the forest fire???
We drove 174 miles today. The high temperature was 79, which we reached as we drove into Salida.
To see all the photos taken today click on the following link: Day 4 Pics
Our route today was I-70 west to exit 195, 91 south, 24 east, 82 west to Independence Pass, 82 back east to 24 east, 285 south and 291 south to our destination of Salida, CO.
Beautiful stands of golden Aspen were seen along 91 on the way to Leadville.
Our first stop was Turquoise Lake just outside Leadville, where we drove around the lake, and stopped to take a few photos. It was a beautiful area but we were surprised to see they were doing some logging there.
We did some lollygagging, shopping and lunching in Leadville, at 10,000 feet elevation. We enjoyed some fried chicken at the Golden Burro Cafe.
From Leadville we drove to the top of Independence Pass, where turned around and headed back east. At the pass we put the top down (it was 53 degrees) and it stayed down almost all the way to Salida.
Historic Twin Lakes, Colorado is located east of Independence pass. On the east side of "town" there's a sheriff's car parked by the road. Closer inspection reveals that the deputy inside the car is just a dummy. Not a human deputy sheriff with a low IQ but a real dummy with a hat and sunglasses. I'm sure it is effective in slowing traffic.
The golden aspens were beautiful in the Twin Lakes area.
From Twin Lakes we were off for Salida. As we approached Salida there was smoke from a forest fire visible in the distance. When we arrived at our hotel at 3:15 the clerk confirmed that the fire was about 9 miles south of Salida and had been burning since September 8th. They are letting it burn due to all the beetle kill pine trees in that area. I did put the top up a few miles away from Salida because I did not know how thick the smoke would be.
As we were walking to the pool and hot tub at our hotel we saw some deer outside a hotel door. Maybe they were escaping the forest fire???
We drove 174 miles today. The high temperature was 79, which we reached as we drove into Salida.
To see all the photos taken today click on the following link: Day 4 Pics
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