Yesterday I made my way from Glenwood Springs back to Brighton. I stopped about 20 miles east of Glenwood to hike the Burnt Tree Ridge Trail near Dotsero at the east trailhead of the Glenwood Canyon path. As I initially started up the trail, I thought this would be a good trail for families with small children. It is a very wide trail and was once used as a one lane dirt road. I quickly changed my mind however as the trail was pretty darn steep with very few flat spots. It took about an hour and a half to reach the summit which seemed pretty high. Near the top of the trail, there were lots of sheep like droppings, two watering holes, and 2 open bags of animal salt (like a salt block but not in block form). I assume there is some grazing going on up there although I saw no live animals. I did see, however, two animal skulls, one of which was somewhat large. It appeared to be larger than that of a sheep. There were some other bones and fur nearby. It was definitely fur and not wool so that was another clue that I was not staring at the skull of a sheep. There were great views from the summit although, because of trees, I could not see straight down. That was probably good as it is sometimes frightening to see how high up one is. The mountain I hiked is in the picture below. It is the peak to the left and behind what appears to be the tallest peak.
After my hike, I headed back east on I-70. Although road conditions were perfect, this is most definitely a two-handed drive . . . and I never drive with two hands. I stopped in lunch for Silverthorne again and also stopped at a few scenic overlooks. There was one scenic overlook I was going to stop at but we were going down mountain and I was going too darn fast to make the exit. It would have been a Thelma & Louise flying over the cliff moment. The picture is of Lake Dillon between Dillon and Frisco just off I-70.
On I-70 between Denver and Glenwood, there are two passes. Vail Pass is 10,700 feet and you really feel as though you are on top of the mountains and extremely high up . . . and you are. The second is Loveland Pass which is at 12,000 feet. Let me just say that these are feats of engineering and that they are best appreciated as a passenger in a vehicle and not the driver.
Before I sign off and head home, I'd like to talk a little about my gear. First, I wore Under Armour Cold Gear and I highly recommend it. It kept me warm like regular long johns but wicked away the moisture (and I was sweating LOTS) so that I never got cold. Secondly, on my feet, I was wearing Asics 2140 Trail Running Shoe. This is the same as their 2140 running shoe but made for trails. I highly recommend it as well. I had zero feet problems, blisters, etc. I can also give some credit for my lack of blisters to my Feetures socks. Finally, I must say that all the ladies here who wear stocking caps are geniuses. If you continually wear a stocking cap, it never matters what your hair looks like. Genius! If you're traveling to Colorado and have never been before, just bring your comfy clothes. You can wear fleece and running pants anywhere here. I didn't even pull my jeans out of my bag.
Until next time . . .
1 comment:
Hey Barb,
Sounds like you had a great time! The only time I've been to Colorado was to Colorado Springs. I went in the spring and the weather was beautiful. Only snow I had was on Pikes Peak and everyone had to evacuate cause of blizzard conditions. Anyway, glad your trip was fun and now it's back to the grind. Take care!! Jean
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