Dale & Debbie #62 - RVing in Colorado, Part 1

Our Colorado Adventures Begin

 Part 1: From Limon to Silverton — Curvy Roads and Colorful Canyons

After leaving Kansas, we were excited to arrive in Colorado!

Our first overnight stop in CO was the small town of Limon.  

I wouldn’t want to fall into this common cocklebur while hiking to and from the Paint Mines!

The Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel carries I-70 under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains at an average elevation of 11,112’.  It’s the highest vehicular tunnel in the U.S.

Glenwood Canyon is a 12.5 mile gorge carved out by the Colorado River.

This may be the steepest runaway truck ramp we’ve seen!

 

We spent our second night at a Loves in Parachute, CO. This one has five sites, although we forgot to take a picture.  It was nice being surrounded by mountains.

We arrived in Montrose the following day. Lisa spent nine days with us splitting our time  between Montrose and Silverton. So, the remaining photos cover a large region.

Colorado National Monument

Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP

Dale and Lisa had a good time fishing for trout in the Gunnison River.

Overlooking Telluride in the distance

Downtown Telluride is just 12 blocks long and 8 blocks wide.

There was a herd of elk in this meadow. As people stopped to watch them, the bull  rounded up the cows and calves to move them further away.

 A short hike leads you to the impressive Box Canyon Falls located in Ouray.

Canyon Creek twists and turns as it plummets 285’ through a narrow canyon. It spills thousands of gallons of water every minute over the falls.

Steps lead down to the creek where it rushes out of the canyon.

Below: Looking up at the bridge high above the canyon floor.

Then we hiked up, crossed the bridge, and continued through the manmade tunnel, which is part of the trail.

The view overlooking the town of Ouray is stunning.  

More waterfalls in Ouray

The Million Dollar Highway is a bit curvy!

Overlooking Silverton

Fun fact: most of Silverton’s streets are still dirt.

We drove up to Ophir Pass where Dale and Lisa hiked up to Crystal Lake. I didn’t want to take the chance of slipping and falling on the scree since my back still hadn’t healed from my fall on Whiteface Mountain last summer. So I opted to wait at the jeep. :(

 

Looking down on the jeep.

Until next time,
Debbie and Dale