Wildlife sightings today include a snake on the hard shoulder - not sure if it was dead or merely sunbathing, but it was a good 5 feet long and as thick as my arm! I think it might have been a coachwhip snake. Also saw four magnificent eagles wheeling high above the road between Lookout Mountain (where Buffalo Bill's grave is) and Idaho Springs.
All along the road near Georgetown are waterfalls cascading down the northern rockface - fortunately they drain behind the road, not across it! The road goes through the Eisenhower Tunnel at over 11,000 feet, and crosses the Continental Divide - but there are still plenty more mountains to go, through and past Vail, a major skiing area.
All good things must come to an end, and eventually the mountains give way to the Grand Mesa of western Colorado, but not before traversing the majestic Glenwood Canyon, twisting and turning as the mighty Colorado river has carved its way through the rock over eons. The river is running very high at the moment swollen with all the spring snowmelt.
At Glenwood Springs, a very strong smell of sulphur was apparent - the Rockies are mineral-rich indeed! Fortunately I found a little rest area near the river which was odour-free, so I could enjoy my cup of coffee sitting at a picnic table outside in the 85degF heat!
And this is a very quick snap of the rock formations on the way into Grand Junction - a charming town with a southwestern flavour.
2 comments:
I was hoping you'd stop at the Stanley Hotel where Stanley Kubrick filmed "The Shining". Ah well, maybe next time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stanley_Hotel
Yeah, I did think about it (and go and look at it while I was in the Estes Park area) - but at $200 a night, it's a little out of my price range! When I win the lottery ...
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