Pacific Northwest; Day 16
Today, the first day of autumn, we were looking for the aspen trees at altitude, hoping the leaves were changing to the beautiful yellow-gold color.
We left our motel in Grand Junction, CO at 8:30. It was 68 degrees and sunny but clouds were moving in, which provided off-and-on light rain all day. The highest temperature we experienced today was 72 and the lowest was 41, on Grand Mesa at 10:00.
Grand Mesa, just east and south of Grand Junction, was our first destination to look for the aspens and we were not disappointed. On the way up Grand Mesa we came across an old ski slope (from 1940) called Mesa Creek Ski Area that had some pretty aspens on the slope. We stopped for a couple photos. After walking about half way up the slope we had a beautiful view of the valley below.
On Grand Mesa we made a few other stops for photos.
From Grand Mesa we drove down the south side to Hotchkiss and then started northeast to Redstone and Carbondale. After driving over McClure Pass, where there was a lot of pretty Aspen color, we stopped in Redstone for a break and a look around. We found the Redstone church with beautiful stained class windows.
Then we were off to Carbondale, where we turned towards Aspen. On the way we stopped for lunch at a Wendy's in Basalt. Traffic was congested in Aspen and beyond, as usual. The aspens were pretty between Aspen and Independence Pass. At Independence Pass we stopped for a bathroom break and some photos. The wind was screaming making it difficult to hold the camera steady. It was 46 degrees.
Our favorite and most beautiful part of today's travels (in terms of aspen color) was the area between Independence pass and Twin Lakes. The aspen color was amazing.
Just east of Twin Lakes we turned north towards Leadville, our destination for today, where we arrived at 4:30. Mt. Elbert, at 14,433 feet, the tallest peak in Colorado, was in clear view.
Leadville, itself, is over 10,000 feet in elevation.
We drove 250 miles today and it was a beautiful route. To see all the photos taken today click on this link: Day 16 Photos
We left our motel in Grand Junction, CO at 8:30. It was 68 degrees and sunny but clouds were moving in, which provided off-and-on light rain all day. The highest temperature we experienced today was 72 and the lowest was 41, on Grand Mesa at 10:00.
Grand Mesa, just east and south of Grand Junction, was our first destination to look for the aspens and we were not disappointed. On the way up Grand Mesa we came across an old ski slope (from 1940) called Mesa Creek Ski Area that had some pretty aspens on the slope. We stopped for a couple photos. After walking about half way up the slope we had a beautiful view of the valley below.
On Grand Mesa we made a few other stops for photos.
From Grand Mesa we drove down the south side to Hotchkiss and then started northeast to Redstone and Carbondale. After driving over McClure Pass, where there was a lot of pretty Aspen color, we stopped in Redstone for a break and a look around. We found the Redstone church with beautiful stained class windows.
Then we were off to Carbondale, where we turned towards Aspen. On the way we stopped for lunch at a Wendy's in Basalt. Traffic was congested in Aspen and beyond, as usual. The aspens were pretty between Aspen and Independence Pass. At Independence Pass we stopped for a bathroom break and some photos. The wind was screaming making it difficult to hold the camera steady. It was 46 degrees.
Our favorite and most beautiful part of today's travels (in terms of aspen color) was the area between Independence pass and Twin Lakes. The aspen color was amazing.
Just east of Twin Lakes we turned north towards Leadville, our destination for today, where we arrived at 4:30. Mt. Elbert, at 14,433 feet, the tallest peak in Colorado, was in clear view.
We drove 250 miles today and it was a beautiful route. To see all the photos taken today click on this link: Day 16 Photos
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