weekend trip in Colorado

 We decided to take advantage of a quiet weekend and head out on the BMW, staying in Salida for two nights. Yesterday we rode 3 hours from home to Salida and unfortunately it rained about half of the trip. That's why we have rain gear!

overcast skies along US 285 North in the San Luis Valley 

It stopped raining before we arrived in Salida, a town of about 6,000 people on the Arkansas River in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. We walked to Soulcraft Brewing for an early dinner, then enjoyed a root beer float (Mike) and chocolate malt (Lynn) from 50 Burger while we walked through town and along the paved Monarch Spur Trail that follows a section of the old Monarch Spur railroad. As we were walking down the lovely, shaded streets we passed a couple of deer, one a big 6-point buck, lounging in the front yards, not at all concerned about people walking less than 3' away from them. Salida is a friendly town where everyone says hello as they walk by.

This morning we rode from Salida to the top of Independence Pass between Twin Lakes and Aspen. Independence Pass tops out at 12,095' at the Continental Divide and is the second highest paved pass in Colorado (the highest is Cottonwood Pass at 12,116'). 

Twin Lakes

Thunder clouds started forming so we turned around before we reached Aspen and stopped in Twin Lakes for lunch.

Twin Lakes is an old mining town located right on the glacial-formed lakes at the base of Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain in Colorado and the second highest in the US (highest is Denali in Alaska) at 14,433'.

We then rode CO24 to Leadville, at 10,119' the highest incorporated town in the US. Founded during the gold rush, then mined for silver, in the late 1800's it was home to 30,000 people. The skies were overcast and it rained off and on, so we only stopped for ice cream then rode back to Salida.

We love riding on twisting, climbing mountain roads that often have a sheer drop-off with no guardrails, and had a wonderful time on today's high elevation trip in the Rocky Mountains close to home.