Day 28-August 2, 2017-To Gunnison, CO
Drove 165 miles in 4-3/4 miles
Sunny and 87 til we got to the top of Monarch Pass where it was 43 sleeting. Then back to 80 at Gunnison
When we started this trip one thing we were sure we weren’t going to do again was drive over the Rocky Mountains. So much for that idea! We drove the entire trip today on Route 50, the same road we took to get to Sharon’s office in Canon City. She was working from home today so didn’t wave to us as we drove by. I thought today would be a boring driving day but this was one of the most beautiful drives we’ve had. We’ve done this road before but forgot how gorgeous it is. Once we got through Canon City we started climbing mountains and paralleling the Arkansas River for most of the trip. The river is muddy and brown at the lower elevations but rafters and fishermen don’t care, they were out in force today. We got stopped for repaving construction for about 15 minutes and watched rafters come down the river in one of the calmer places. The rapids are up a bit. More fishermen up here where the river is clearer. Harry saw a big horn sheep on the side of the road (I missed it). We got our first glimpse of snow on a faraway mountain crevice. Around one of the crazy S curves a car came at us with part of his car on our side of the road. Talk about holding your breath for a split second! I got it on video, too. We passed through Cotopaxi then Salida, where we stayed in a campground a few years ago. We pulled over and had lunch on the side of the road there then continued to Poncha Springs where we veered right and started to climb the mountain to Monarch Pass and the Continental Divide at 11,135’. The Arkansas River continues the other way and now we have the Monarch River on our left. We had a headwind all the way and the temperature went from 87 at the bottom to 43 at the top where the rain had turned to ice and it felt and looked like winter. The smell of pine trees up at the top is wonderful. This area of the country has some of the best scenery anywhere and I don’t think I would ever get tired of seeing it. Slowly back down the mountain to our campground in Gunnison, home to Western Colorado State University. Bigger town than I thought and a nice campground, 55 and older. We got in early and are only staying overnight so we didn’t unhook and had a nice relaxing afternoon sitting outside. Pretty campground surrounded by aspen trees and cottonwood trees. They said three weeks ago it looked like it was snowing because of the cottonwood trees. Very friendly people, most are her for a season and have come here for many years. They had a happy hour which, of course, we had to attend. Everybody brought a dish to share, everything from soup to nuts and then dessert. After everybody filled a plate (and I do mean “filled”) they had a speaker, Professor Duane Vandenbusche, who has been a history professor at the University for over 50 years. He gave a great talk about the history of the Gunnison Valley. He had some funny stories and made you interested in a subject you didn’t think you’d be interested in. Some wind, thunderand rain storms blew through all night and cooled it down considerably.