Silt, Colorado

 We escaped Fort Morgan mostly intact. We picked up a few goathead stickers and lost a bit of sweat in the hot weather, but picked up some cheap diesel and ran for the hills. Rockies, that is…

Interstate 70 west became Interstate 70 somewhere north of Denver, and began the long haul up to Loveland Pass. Along the way we saw a significant change in the terrain from the flat plains we had been seeing.

We saw several mines from the highway, active and abandoned.

There was talk of a storm moving in, so Donna kept an eye on the sky and some beautiful clouds.

The highest elevation on interstate 70 is the Eisenhower/Johnson Tunnel system, at an average elevation of 11,113 feet. A remarkable feat of engineering completed in the 1970’s, it still carries some 30,000 vehicles a day. Each lane is 13 feet wide and 13 feet 11 inches high, just over the federal mandated 13 feet 6 inches. The Tunnel Authority has its own fire trucks, tow trucks, and air quality monitoring systems so that traffic issues can be quickly addressed.

Leaving the Continental Divide, and beginning the slow glide downhill, we continued to monitor the sky.

The highway passes the upscale ski resort towns of Aspen, Vail, Copper Mountain and the highways leading to Steamboat Springs and Breckenridge. We didn’t check them out, as beautiful as they are, because we couldn’t afford the parking meter fee.

The promised storm finally arrived, with increasing clouds, wind, and finally rain.

The storm quickly passed, however, leaving awesome skies and wondrous canyon views.

A couple more tunnels and we found ourselves in Glenwood Canyon.

Required to build an Interstate highway through this canyon without disturbing the river led to some amazing feats of engineering. The opposing lanes of traffic weave a complicated pattern, with the eastern direction above the western direction for awhile, then switching. 

 

A few miles out of the extraordinary canyon, we arrived at the Glenwood Canyon KOA, site 32.

A lovely sunset finished out a semi-stressful travel day.

Our first full day started with a trip to Rifle Gap State Park.

The lake level was very low, but the rock formations were interesting.

An unexpected need to have the truck serviced led us to a Chevrolet dealer, who was able to fit us into a busy schedule, and take care of a factory recall as well! Thank you, Mountain Chevrolet in Glenwood Springs! And thank you, Rose, for your excellent customer service.

Our last day in Silt was colorful. We went back into a quiet canyon on highway 82 towards Carbondale, where we bailed off onto 133 and ended up in the historic district of Redstone. On the way into the backcountry we encountered some very beautiful views.

Redstone, population 120, was established in the late 19th century as workers housing for a coal and coke enterprise. That eventually failed, and the housing is now used as residences and small tourist shops. The setting is gorgeous, along the Crystal River, nestled in a high mountain valley.

A small park tucks in along the river near the General Store, and Sasha needed to explore this little gem!

The setting is beautiful.

But we had to check out the general store, which contains just about anything…general, including some unexpected shiny things.

As quaint as the General Store is, the EV charger jolted us back to the present.

The long dormant coke ovens stand silent vigil to a business long gone. Coke is a product of coal being heated in the absence of air, and is heavily used in iron ore smelting operations because it burns so hot. Unfortunately, the byproducts are very toxic both in the air and in water. Great care is taken when it’s used in the US, but not necessarily in foreign countries.

The day finished on a great note when we found out that the On The Hook food truck was in town! This business has a fleet of trucks cruising the country serving line caught Alaskan cod! Call it fish and chips if you want, but it was delicious to us!

Tomorrow…..off again….