#feat. bark of aspen and pine tree

[lindagoesmushrooming]

[pinelakechic]

Day 45: Following the (Colorado) River

With John Denver's Rocky Mountain High and some of his other songs as our soundtrack, we left Rocky Mountain National Park via the Peak to Peak Highway. The ponderosa pine and subalpine fir slowly gave way to  lodgepole pine, Doug fir, and quaking aspen as we went down in elevation. The forests were broken up by meadows, ranches, and estate homes periodically, but much of the land we drove through appeared to be part of Roosevelt, Arapaho, and White River National Forests.  We drove through quite a number of small towns, including a number of historic mining towns such as Black Hawk, Central City, and Idaho Springs, with remnants of mining equipment by the hillside.

Our route today followed the general direction of the Colorado river, heading southwest from the Rockies to the Colorado Plateau. As we went west and gained elevation, the landscape started to change quite dramatically: gone were the dense forests and they were replaced by steep rock faces with sparse shrubs and trees - a transition to a montane/subalpine to an alpine region. We drove through Eagle Valley which is quite developed and home to many ski areas, including Vail. We decided to drive through the town of Vail; it has the same look and feel of Whistler, but the village seemed smaller; and from what we could see of the ski runs, I can tell you that I am not going to swap time in Big White for time in Vail any time soon! 

Although Vail was not quite as grand as I have expected, we were definitely impressed with Glenwood Canyon. The Colorado River flows through the canyon and it starts where the Eagle River, a tributary of the Colorado River,  drains into the Colorado. The Interstate 70 courses through this 12.5-mile canyon and sits hundreds of feet above the water. The scenery was spectacular with the red rock walls of the canyon contrasting the bluish green of the flowing river and the green vegetation beneath. This used to be a train route in the late 19th century; it was later a gravel road for cars in the early 1900's. To build a roadway through such rugged landscape was truly an engineering feat. Another thing that impressed us was the paved bike trails that run parallel the highway. We started to notice them when we were in the ski areas and wondered if they connect all the way to the one in Glenwood Canyon. We stopped at the last full service rest stop within the canyon, called No Name Rest Area. We made sandwiches and had a picnic lunch at the parking lot. 

Once we came out of the canyon, the scenery changed again: we were now in a desert landscape with a lot of bare ground and low-lying shrubs and clump grasses. There were also impressive mesas on either sides of the highway and in the distance. We are now in the Colorado Plateau, a desert region centered on the meeting point of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. This landscape went on for miles up to and beyond the Colorado-Utah state line, punctuated only by Grand Junction, the last big town before we hit the state line. This section of our journey gave the grasslands in Wyoming a run for their money as far as how remote it was! 

As we got further west, the rocks started to change from more a yellowish colour to the brilliant rust red that is typical of the images of Arches, Cayonlands, and Zion National Parks. The rock walls and formations were so stunning! And we weren't even in the national parks yet! We also saw this beautiful, paved bike trail along the highway and before we even saw any official sights in the area, we were already scheming a bike trip here with both mountain and road bikes in the future!

We were getting a bit nervous with our gas situation because we were running low and there was not a town in sight for miles! When we finally got to the turnoff towards Moab, we pulled into the gas station at that intersection. That was where we paid for the most expensive gas ever (by North American standard, mind you!)! The whole set up was really like something out of a bad movie: the building looked dilapidated, covered with graffiti, and sporting homemade signage. It was staffed by an discheveld old man who, when asked if the gas was really $5.39, said that "Yes, and it will be the best gas you will ever have!" We only got enough to get us a bit further, only to find out that our campground, Archview RV Resort and Campground, which was only a short way down the road from the intersection, was right next to a gas station!

We checked in, found our site, and then went into Moab for a bit of a wander. It was a typical resort towns with many 4x4 and jeep rentals. It was very hot though, so there were not as many tourist walking around like in any other tourist towns we have been to so far. I found a couple of yarn shop in town, but neither was open on Sundays, so we will just have to come back another day We did visit a couple of shops and had early dinner at the Quesadilla Mobilla food truck just before they closed for the day. 

Archview RV Resort & Campground really has a view to the arches within the national park. They also have an old western style church building on the property that looks really cool but we do not know if it authentic or not. There is a pet area; though it is not off-leash, at least there is somewhere for me to walk the Gimster. There is also trail access to Sovereign Trail which we think is on private property and does not have pet restriction. So we can probably take Gimli for a proper walk early one of these mornings.

Once we settled at our site, we turned the AC on to cool things down, did laundry, and just relaxed. The bathroom/shower rooms near our site are all "family style", i.e. the toilet and shower are in the same room. It just provides more privacy and makes for a more spacious room. They were a bit stuffy, but not too bad once we waited until it has cooled down a bit. For some reason, when Dan went to take his shower, there was no hot water (too many people doing laundry?). But lucky for me, by the time I went, it was totally fine. It has cooled down enough so we do not need AC for the night. In fact it got so windy that our awning was being knocked about, making loud noises that spooked Gimli enough to wake him up and get him barking after quiet hours! Note to self, retract awning before going to bed in the future! Tomorrow, we only have a short way to go to Arches National Park, so we get to sleep in! Until then, good night from Moab, UT.

Check out our route on Roadtrippers!