Senior Trip: Road Trip Through Colorado – Day 4
The original itinerary had us hiking 6 days straight without getting to the car. This would include summiting Mount Elbert and Mount Massive. After the strenuous climb of Mount Elbert, we figured summiting one fourteener was enough. We got the mountain climbing experience and the accomplishment of summiting the second tallest mountain in the contiguous 48, so we were ready to move on. We decided to make this more of a road trip and see other parts of Colorado (hence the change in title).
Waking up at 8:00 was a pleasant change! We all felt very refreshed after a good long nights sleep. We ate breakfast and packed up the tents. After some arguing on how to best pack the car for a road trip, we were on our way to the Glenwood Hot Springs. On our way we drove through Independence Pass and Aspen, two places with nice scenery.
Me standing on the overlook above Independence Pass.
When we arrived in Glenwood Springs we parked at the Hot Springs resort and had lunch. After suiting up, we were ready to go swimming in a naturally heated pool. When we got to the entrance we found out that it cost $16.75 per person. Three of us still wanted to go and three didn't. An argument ensued. The "no" side argued that $16.75 was way to much to go swimming in a pool. The "yes" side said that vacation experiences can cost money and sometimes costs must be put aside in these tourist attractions. In the end we got back in the car and drove another hour to Grand Junction.
In Grand Junction we found a State Park on the Colorado River. The argument over the Hot Springs disappeared when we decided to take a swim in the Colorado River. We had fun building a dam out of sand and shale on the side of the river where a small spring dumped in. Then we took a ride to find the next closest place downstream, where we would float to from the state park. David didn't want to, so he drove the car to the take out place and the rest of us took a swim down the river. Swimming down the Colorado was extremely thrilling, with the small rapids every now and then that we got to float through.
The next destination was Ridgway State Park in Ridgway, Colorado to spend the night. The campground was full, but the lady at the park office called the sister campground three miles up the road to reserve the last spot for us because, "she couldn't look Dylan into the eyes and tell him she had no more spots." This campground was located high on a hill with a great view overlooking the valley and mountains. After a spaghetti dinner we were off to sleep.
End Day 4.