Day 6 - Delta, Colorado

Wow! What a windy day! Heading west from Pueblo it was like being in a sandstorm - complete with tumbleweed blowing across the road; like something out of a Wild West movie.

First port of call today was the Royal Gorge cafe for an excellent breakfast, then a little train ride to get this great view of the Gorge itself, and the bridge built across it. The river at the bottom is the Arkansas River, and the road west (US-50) follows its course for many miles, in fact most of my journey today. The river is running pretty high just now, as the snow continues to melt, and there were lots of whitewater rafters scaring themselves silly!

I was treated to a very scenic drive indeed, winding through the canyon formed by the river, then up over Monarch Pass (11,312 ft), and back down the western slopes of the Rockies, where you can see clear over to Utah. The mountains are covered with sagebrush, spruce, and juniper, interspersed with aspen trees, which are at varying stages depending on the elevation - on the lower slopes they are a wonderful bright light green, but higher up they are still leafless.

At the bottom of the mountain (but still at over 7,000 ft), the road runs alongside 3 beautiful lakes, the largest of which is Blue Mesa Lake - all covered in ripples today because of the wind. There are some cute towns too - Gunnison, Sapinero, Cimarron, and Montrose, before the attractive city of Delta itself, my destination for tonight.