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Start: Grand Lake, ColoradoFinish: Grand Junction, Colorado
Distance: 304 miles Total to date: 2502 miles
Campground: KOA Campground, Grand Junction Colorado; $60 for a small cabin. Resort campground with RV, tenting, small cabins, pool, laundromat. Friendly and informative staff. Cabins have electricity, bunk bed, double bed, fridge, air conditioner
Gas: Vail, Colorado 3.330 gal @ $3.299/gal $11.00
After our moose encounters, we had some breakfast, de-iced our bikes and gear and packed up. Before we left, I saw a group of horseback riders heading out from the stables. It looked like a lot of fun, something we should have done if the weather had co-operated with us yesterday.
As we headed out, I took a few photos of the meadow that was full of fog. You could not see the mountains or much landscape as the fog was so thick. I was lucky to take pictures of Grandby Lake yesterday because when we rode through Grandby, you could not even see the lake. The hills were also covered in a dense fog. We knew the rest of the day would be iffy weather wise as it also looked like rain coming in.
We rode to the end of Hwy 34 and took Hwy 40 South. We went thru a few interesting ranching towns and then we went thru some small skiing villages. We started going up a huge mountain pass that wound up Bear Mountain and Baker Mountain. A lot of the road was under construction and there were no places to stop to take photos. Many of the mountains in the area were above the tree line and you could see many places where there were avalanches as the mountain sides seemed to have slid down.
Once through the mountain pass, we took Interstate 70 West. This road was crazy busy and very fast. It's the Labour Day long weekend so there were a lot of vacationers rushing to get a jump on the holiday. The pace of the traffic was a bit unnerving, especially when we had to go down some huge hills.
We went through the Eisenhower Tunnel. The tunnel carries Interstate 70 under the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. It's at an elevation of 11,158 ft above sea level and is one of the highest vehicle tunnels in the world. After we exited the tunnel, we had a 6 mile downhill run. Later, we had another 3 mile downhill run. Large trucks had to creep down the inclines so that they would not lose control while the vacationers were going down as fast as they could.
Later, we went through Glenwood Canyon. This was the most spectacular canyon I have ever seen. The interstate winds through on Glenwood Canyon on raised highways. It is a rugged scenic 12.5 mile canyon on the Colorado River and has red rocky walls that climb as high as 1,300 ft above the Colorado River. Much of the route was under construction and it was impossible to take photos. All I can say, is that it was magnificent.
Once through the canyon. we entered the skiing country. We went thru Dillon, Copper Mountain and Vail Colorado. We tried to stop for gas in Vail, but the way the town is laid out, it does not seem to cater to car travelers. We only found one gas station. We later stopped for lunch in another ski town further down Interstate 70, but seemed to get lost in all of the round-abouts. It was confusing to find a place to eat. We would not recommend riding thru these ski towns.
After we got out of the ski hills, the terrain changed to large brown hills covered in sage bushes. We were now getting into a more desert landscape.
As we went down the road, we could see very black clouds on the horizon. We put on our rain gear expecting a downpour at any time. We got to about 10 miles from Grand Junction when the heavens opened up. We were going thru another canyon along the Colorado River when the winds became very strong and the rain just poured. We were forced to get off an exit and take shelter under an underpass as it was too dangerous to ride.
Once it calmed down a bit, we came up to the Book Cliffs, a series of desert mountains and cliffs just north of Grand Junction. Mt. Garfield is a large mountain that sits on the corner of the Book Cliffs, along the Interstate. We stopped to take some photos of the cliffs then down Hwy 50 to our campsite at the KOA.
It was getting a bit late so we could not explore Grand Junction.
Tomorrow, we plan on taking a ride thru the Colorado National Monument that is on the out skirts of Grand Junction and later we will head to Moab to see Arches National Park.
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