Belt Photo Gallery :: Colorado October 2004

October 7th - 10th 2004

Trip John and I took to Colorado in the fall. Read the trip log for more details

Colorado Fall 04

Oct 7-10

Trip Log

Thursday

Left Manhattan KS at 4:30pm CST and arrived in Colorado Springs at 10:30 MST.
Stayed at the Rodeway Inn (got $32.00 room from hotels.com) For the price it wasn't too bad

Friday

Stopped at Seven Falls. Rather high admission cost at eight bucks per person.
Took the Gold Camp Road (skirts Pikes Peak to the south) to Victor. There were several strands of aspen which were just coming off their peek though the region probably looked best a week earlier. This is a really scenic road to take which goes through 2-3 tunnels along the way. Part of the Gold Camp Road is closed since several tunnels have collapsed so for the majority of the time you are detoured onto the Old Stage Road.
Passed through the following towns Victor -> Cripple Creek -> Guffey -> Parkdale -> Salida -> Poncha Springs -> Saguache -> Del Norte -> South Fork
This whole drive is rather arid and not very interesting
Stayed at the Wolf Creek Ski Lodge (31042 West Highway 160).
$64.55 - Probably the nicest place we stayed at
It was 7pm by the time we arrived so didn't see any aspen yet

Saturday

Went up Wolf Creek Pass.
Scenery coming down Wolf Creek Pass from the East was spectacular. The aspens were just about done peeking all the way to Pagosa Springs.
Drove onto Durango. Past Pagosa Springs there is not much to see along the way. Rather arid.
Took 550 up to Silverton. By the time you get to the passes be prepared for some breathtaking views of the 14,000 footers along the way. The aspens in this region were just coming off their peek so the colors were spotty. Probably arriving a week earlier would have been best since the majority of the groves had already lost their leaves. Molas Pass and Red Mountain Pass were both spectacular.
To the south of Silverton is Andrew’s Lake were we stopped. This is a picturesque mountain lake offering sweeping views of several 14,000 mountains. Definitely worth stopping for considering you can drive right up to the lake.
Proceeded to Ridgeway -> Montrose -> Gunnison.
This area was very arid and not worth seeing.
Went back to Salida then to Twin Lakes.
Arrived about 7pm. We were going to stay at Twin Peaks campground but it was already closed for the season
Stayed in Leadville at the Super Eight Motel
Decent accommodations for $60.00

Sunday

Headed for Aspen via Independence Pass
Almost all of the aspens were finished along the way.
The light was rather unspectacular along the way up but the views were incredible
On the west side of the pass there is the Independence Historic Townsite. This is a mining ghost town with at least 20 buildings. Worth a look
About 11 miles southeast of aspen we took the Lincoln Creek Road. This gives access to some great campsites at the Lincoln Gulch Campground (pay site) or go further in for some really great campsites at the Grizzly Res (free). The second campsite is located right next to the creek and offers great forested campsites. This would be a great place to stay.
The road is very rough but we were able to do it in a Toyota Camry (just barely though)
Drove onto what I believe is the access road to Weller Campgrounds. At any rate, this campground was just east of Aspen. There is a large sign on the south side of the road and a small parking lot and building. The drive to the campground is probably 1/2 a mile. Just off the highway is a beaver pond with views back toward Independence Pass. The campground was closed for the season but we were able to walk through it. All of the campsites are located under Aspen trees which were losing their leaves (probably will be bare in just a few days). This area had some great campsites though I'm sure it fills up very quickly.
Drove onto Aspen and had lunch at The Catina. This is a great restaurant with excellent salsa and Fritata Torta made with Portobello Mushrooms. Yummm
Went to Maroon Bells but the aspen leaves were all off the trees already
The Maroon Bells/Mt. Elbert region would be truly spectacular at the peek of color change. I suggest going in the last weekend of September to catch it though you probably should call the White River National Forest (970) 945-3229 ranger station to get a current color report before heading off.
Drove back over Independence pass and stopped at Georgetown
Headed straight back to Manhattan arriving at 2:30am CST on Monday