Following a better nights sleep and breakfast at the hotel, we headed into the middle of Denver, just to get a flavour of the place. As it was sunday. the traffic was fairly light, but it still took about 35 minutes to get into the centre. The State Capitol, the US Mint and other governmental buildings are very impressive neo-classic in style, but we didn't stop in town.
Heading west we eventually joined the I-70 West and started to climb into the Rocky Mountains. The road passes several abandoned gold mines and small communities along the valley we were following. After about 30 miles we turned north onto the US-40 heading toward Empire and Granby. The road quickly climbed out of the valley through forest and eventually we crossed the Berthaud Pass (11315ft). The road, which gives fantastic views of the Rockies descended into the fairly modern ski resort of Winter Park where we stopped for coffee. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was pleasantly warm sitting outside.
We continued on to Granby where we joined the US-34 north toward Grand Lake. The road initially skirted Granby Lake which was fairly empty and then Grand Lake before arriving at the town of Grand Lake. Grand Lake is the largest deepest natural lake in Colorado.
We had a picnic lunch sitting by the lake before we had a wander around the old town. The main street is still lined with boardwalks in front of the old buildings, very touristy, but quite pretty.
From here we continued on the US-34 to the ranger station at the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park. Here we stopped and bought an annual pass for the National Parks which allows a car and passengers access to all parks, the pass cost $80. The cost of a day ticket to this park was $20. It won't take long to recoup the cost of the pass!.
The road through the high Rocky Mountains is spectacular climbing over several passes including the Milner Pass (10758ft), the Iceberg Pass (11800ft) and culminates in the Fall River pass at 12183ft, our highest point on our trip. The scenery throughout the park is nothing less than spectacular and speed limits keep traffic going slowly, so it is easy to see everything. Eventually, after a brief stop at the eastern end of the park, we arrived in Estes Park. It is rutting season for Elk and we seen a small group in the park, but in the middle of some houses in Estes park we came across a large stag and two hinds. Hopefully we have some good pictures of them.
It was a long drive back down to Denver and we took the scenic route along the Colorado routes 7, 72 and 119. The road was beautiful, but we were all very tired by the time we reached Golden just outside Denver. From here we headed back to the hotel briefly stopping at a Texas Roadhouse restaurant just off East Iliffe in Aurora.
Hotel - Fairfield Inn and Suites Aurora
Weather - Sunny and warm, but cooler up in the Rocky Mountain National Park
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