As our journey through Southern Colorado was coming to an end, it was time to decide how we were going to get to the airport in Denver. That may not sound like such a big deal, but it turned out to be more difficult than one would expect.
My initial plan was to return to Denver via a road that was not quite as far south as we had come, but would still be in the southern part of the state. However, we learned that the road was closed about 50 miles from where we were staying due to cracks in a bridge. There was a detour around the bridge, but it would add an hour and a half to the time which seemed a bit much. We already expected it to take nearly five hours to drive to Denver.
An alternative would be to go north to I-70 which was a main east/west freeway that would go through to Denver. I had initially thought the southern route would be more scenic, but when it didn’t seem to be much of an option, we decided it would be I-70.
Since we had traveled north the day before, I looked at a map to find an alternate route to I-70. I saw that we could go northeast from a town about halfway to Grand Junction. On the map it looked like a shorter route, but I figured it would be more of a back country road.
The turnoff was from the town of Delta, and we stopped there to get some coffee before continuing on our journey. The beginning of the route was quite green with small farms and a very nice rural feeling. It was a pleasant drive. I did stop to take a photo of an interesting rock church.
Then we began to climb. As we got higher into the mountain we began to see signs of snow around us. Traffic had become practically nonexistent. We seemed to be alone on the road. As we continued on, the road remained clear. A roadside stop offered a great view of the valley below. However the snow along the roadside became more consistent as we climbed higher until everything seemed to be covered with snow. We stopped near what appeared to be a small lake. We could see some water, but mostly it was just white. Apparently the lake was frozen.
Despite the snow around us, the road was generally dry and clear so it wasn’t hard to drive. However, it was windy, and we came to a place which seemed to be an open field. Here the wind was blowing the snow around and onto the roadway so the road was covered in snow in places. That became a bit more concerning. It also began to snow.
Despite the blowing snow, there were only occasional spots where the snow was covering the road. We eventually reached the summit and began to travel down the other side until we left the snow behind. It had been beautiful to be up in the snow but a little nerve racking. As we continued on towards I-70 we encountered some interesting rock formations by the roadway.
We got onto I-70 and expected we would have a pretty easy trip into Denver from there. After driving a bit farther, we stopped at a rest area to get out and stretch our legs. I enjoyed taking photos of the surrounding snow dusted mountains and the nearby area. In the meantime an older woman engaged Silvette in conversation and informed her that I-70 was closed near Vail.
That news was very disturbing. We began to check it out, and sure enough the freeway was closed due to ice and snow and multiple accidents on the freeway. There was no news as to when it would be open. We searched for some alternate routes to get to Denver to no avail. It seemed the May snow had caused almost every pass to be closed.
We eventually decided we would drive a little farther down I-70 and then get a hotel room for the night in the town of Glenwood Springs. From there we would see what we could do. Silvette managed to book us a room online so we arrived in Glenwood Springs and checked into our room.
Then I had plans to make. I called the airlines to see about changing our flight. We were originally to leave at 6:45 am Wednesday morning. I was able to change it to an 8:00 pm flight with the hope that we would be able to get to Denver by then. I then cancelled our hotel in Denver. The news indicated that I-70 had reopened, but some time later it was closed again. We really didn’t want to try to go over the pass with that uncertainty.
With nothing else to do, we decided to explore the town of Glenwood Springs. We discovered that like some of the other towns we had visited, they have a hot springs. In fact they have an outdoor pool area from the natural spring which they claim is the largest around. It was large, and despite it being outside, it was a busy place. Too bad we didn’t have our swim suits.
There is a nice pedestrian bridge that crosses the freeway and the Colorado River into old downtown. It’s kind of interesting as there is a major exit off I-70 that goes south to Aspen. The town has built areas under the ramp to use for restaurant seating among other things. There were a number of interesting buildings in the old town area and quite a few restaurants. We enjoyed exploring Glenwood Springs, and from that standpoint we were glad we had a chance to check it out.
After getting some food, we returned to our hotel to wait until the next day. The forecast was for clearing skies, but cold weather to remain. I was hoping there would be a window when we could get over the pass and make our evening flight.
Wednesday did dawn cold and clear. Reports were encouraging but mixed. The weather was to gradually warm up, but road reports indicated cars driving over the pass needed to have chains or snow tires. Since we were driving a rental, we didn’t have chains, and we were unsure if our tires were snow tires. Since we knew the weather would be warming, we figured our best bet was to wait.
After breakfast we got out and walked around town again. The evening before we had seen gondolas going up a nearby hill. With some research we found out it takes people to a place with a bit of an amusement park as well as some caves to tour and a restaurant. Locals can ride up for free but not so for visitors. The gondola was operating that morning, but we decided not to take the trip.
The town is also the location of a train stop with a nice train depot. Visitors to Glenwood Springs can take the train up from Denver. That would make a nice winter trip without worrying about driving over the snowy pass. With the hot springs and the gondola, it seems Glenwood Springs would be a worthwhile destination.
It was hard to resist the local social media opportunities.
After wandering around we made the decision to leave about noon. We needed to have our car back by 5:00 so we thought that would be a good time frame to make it back even if traffic was slow. So near that time we anxiously began our trip over the pass.
Initially the roads were completely bare and dry with no issues at all. Driving out of Glenwood Springs was actually a beautiful trip. We went through tall canyons, and the Colorado River was flowing to our right. Sadly there was no place to stop and grab a photo. It was too narrow
One of the interesting things about this section of road was that the west bound lane at times was elevated on pedestals. The base of the canyon was apparently too narrow for all the traffic lanes needed so the west bound lanes were elevated allowing it to have a bit more room above the canyon floor. I had never seen that on a freeway before. Silvette managed to get a good photo of that. The road also took us through two tunnels. One was quite long and curved.
We did stop at a rest stop just after the canyons for a short break and some photo ops. Then it was on to Denver. One of the places we thought we would stop was Vail. Vail, Colorado is another iconic place like Telluride that we thought would be a good place to check out if the roads weren’t too bad. We did stop, but it was a very confusing town. We couldn’t find a downtown area. The signs all pointed out villages which required paying for parking. We would have paid for parking if we knew what we were looking at, but all we saw were condos and hotels so we decided to just continue on. Silvette managed one photo.
At this point the snow became deeper on the sides of the roads, but in general the road was still pretty dry. There was water on the road in a few places, but overall it wasn’t a difficult drive. It did snow on us a few times, but it wasn’t sticking. We stopped a few times to enjoy the scenery. When it was snowing, it was not so easy to get clear pictures.
We finally made it out of the snowy areas. It was a relief. We stopped at another rest area in a little town but didn’t take time to explore it as our time was getting short to get our car returned. Traffic was pretty heavy in parts of Denver, but we made it to the car rental place just a few minutes after 5:00. We got to the airport in plenty of time for our 8:00 flight home. It had been an anxious and exhausting day, and we were glad to be home.
Our trip to Colorado had generally been a success. We covered a lot of territory and learned a lot about the state. There is a wide range of landscapes from rugged mountains to high desert red rock formations. We didn’t see all the state, most specifically we didn’t visit Rocky Mountain National Park. That means we will probably have to go back, preferably in the fall.
What are your favorite places in Colorado? What places did we miss in the southern part of the state? Looking forward to hearing what you have to share in the comment box below. In the meantime, to whatever state or country you are going this summer, keep traveling.
Credit: Photo of me taken by Silvette Lee