Over Independence Pass
Trip Start
Jun 09, 2007
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Trip End
Jun 16, 2007
Steamboat Springs, Colorado, United States
Monday, June 11, 2007
We began with a walk from the hotel to "downtown" Vail -- a distance of 1.5 miles, but along the bike path that follows the river. The first part of the walk was lovely -- the chatter of the stream, the vast fields of ... well, dandelions, but, still colorful. But after a half-mile or so, the bike path was closed off due to construction. Instead, we were detoured away from the river into the middle of Lionsgate Village -- which is itself a major construction zone. And even though it was Sunday, the site was active (probably a short construction season in Vail). It did not make for the most pleasant of walks.
We did reach Vail, then had a very tasty breakfast at a deli in town
Independence Pass
. On the walk back, we decided to take a different route -- through a residential section, along the road, rather than retracing our steps through the construction. It was definitely the right decision as we walked past many of the gigantic mountain homes -- some of which were quite attractive but others were ostentious to the point of hilarity.Checked out and began our drive through the Rockies. It was a gorgeous day -- sunny, with puffy while clouds throughou the deep blue of the sky. We could see some rain off in the distance, but we were never affected by it.
The drive to Leadville took us over one pass that was really more a high point on a high plateau than an obvious pass. Very green, meadow-y.
At Leadville, we toured the National Mining Museum. It was completely empty of tourists -- but very well-done: dioramas of the early mining days in the Rockies; rooms done to resemble the inside of a coal mine, a gold mine, and a prospector's cave; samples of different minerals from around the world. All quite interesting. Pas wd love it.
From Leadville, we continued around towards Aspen
More walking Independence Pass
. We were surprised at how "great basin" it seemed -- red cliffs, sage, scrub pine. We drove over Independence Pass -- a very high and clear summit. We paused at the top to walk out to the view point. Some of the snow had not yet melted off the path, so walked through in our sandals was cold at times. Still, lovely cool air and a great view.Dropping down from the pass, the terrain was less dry, more what we think of the Rockies. We saw shoosh lines coming down many of the snow fields. At one pull off, we saw a couple with their skis next to them, pulling off their boots. Farther along, we saw a dude asleep on the side of the road, his skis set up like a tepee above him.
The Aspen Valley is rather broader than expected -- and vast houses seemed to sit everywhere in the valley -- although the area next to the slopes was less populated with mansions. We parked near downtown and walked around the pedestrian mall. Being Sunday, many shops were closed, but there were still a lot of people out and about. The area was beding set up for the annual Wine and Food Festival.
As we drove out of town, we passed the airport -- amazing the number and size of private jets parked there
Great view, cold wind
. (Carbon-loaders!) I wonder what the average per capita income of the seasonal residents is ... The road out of Aspent is a divided highway. Once down, we followed the Colorado River through a few canyons. Again, red rock and bare -- much more Great Basin than Alpine.
After an hour, we left the highway to head north towards Steamboat. In the distance, we saw Flat Tops (more than mesas) and, up close, tall fingers of rocks. The last few miles into Steamboat opens to a wide, green expanse.
We checked into our condots -- one of the many, many condo developments in the Valley. Almost immediately, we went out to dinner -- creative Mexican cuisine in downtown Steamboat. The downtown here is less interesting -- much funkier and certainly less pricey -- than Vail or Aspen; more t-shirt shops and fewer art galleries. We walked a bit through the town after dinner, then returned to the condo to unpack and sleep.
