Day 8 - Colorado Springs, CO to Green River, UT

Knowing we were going to have one of our longer days, we were out of the hotel at 7:12. After a short stop for breakfast and Starbucks we were headed West on Highway 24. Forty-eight miles down the road we stopped at a Forest Service site, from which could be seen more than a dozen mountains over 14,000 feet. Over a distance of more than fifty miles, a wall of peaks more than 12,000 feet stretched before us to the West. During our eight years in Colorado, we had the opportunity to venture into many of these mountains and we can both attest to the care necessary when hiking and camping above 12,000 feet.

Near Buena Vista we headed South on Highway 285, with the Collegiate Range to the right and Arkansas River on the left. The Collegiate Range includes Mt. Harvard (14,421), Mt. Princeton (14,204) and Mt. Yale (14,202) plus six more over 14,000 feet. Colorado is a really big on altitude. Down a little lower the Arkansas offers some great fishing, especially around a big rock sitting near the bank. While I was fishing nearby, Barb fell off this rock into the river not once but twice, taking her book and my camera with her both times. She recovered, camera didn’t.

Arriving in Poncha Springs we turned West on Highway 50 for about five miles and then turned into Heart of the Rockies RV Park. There we spent a half hour with the same Redmond neighbors we had met earlier on day four.

Continuing west we quickly climbed up to Monarch Pass, which tops out at 11,312 feet and is the home to a large ski area. Just before noon we stopped in Gunnison for a quick lunch and then followed the Gunnison River to the Blue Mesa and Morrow Point Reservoirs. Near Montrose, Colorado we dropped below 6,000 feet and were pretty much out of the mountains. The little known fact for today is that the town of Montrose is named after Sir Walter Scott’s novel ">A Legend of Montrose. For me, the town’s claim to fame is that it’s where Ross Reels are made.

A few miles north of Montrose we encountered the town of Olathe, Colorado, which with a population hovering around 1,500 may be more of a wide spot in the road than a town. However small it may be, Olathe is big on corn. Olathe sweet corn that is and it grows everywhere. Each summer the town hosts the Olathe Sweet Corn Festival, which has pulled in such performing stars as Three Dog Night, Styx, LeAnne Rimes, Travis Tritt and Clint Black. Pretty impressive.

As we neared Grand Junction, Colorado a quick call to our motel for the night confirmed we had a microwave in the room. Knowing that, we stopped at Olive Garden for some take that would be dinner later on.

Now on Interstate 70, it was a quick drive to Green River, Utah and our motel. Sure enough, there was a microwave in the room and as planned the soup, cheese ravioli and spaghetti were great. My task now is to find a way through Salt Lake City for tomorrow’s drive without going through Salt Lake City. Its miles of traffic that I just don’t like. I’ll let you know tomorrow how I did. 419 miles today.