Final Day

The final day of our 17-day Canyon Country trip started with the best Crested Butte breakfasts. McGill’s is located downtown on Elk Avenue.

I selected one slice of French toast and sausage patties. McGill’s French toast is dipped in cinnamon sugar before going on the grill. The sweet, crisp crust is perfect. The thick cut pieces makes the one slice serving all I could handle.

Eric ordered the breakfast tacos served with hash browns. The tacos looked terrific and I noticed they disappeared even more quickly than my French toast.

We headed to Denver via Cottonwood Pass, while we’re use to the 14-miles of gravel road on the west side of the pass we didn’t know that miles of the road east of Harmel’s Resort  is under major construction this summer. Delays were not an issue since this was Sunday but the rough, dusty, slow surface would make us consider the longer Monarch Pass route this summer.

Cloudy skies and a few sprinkles accompanied us all the way to Buena Vista. We decided to make a side trip to St. Elmo 20 miles southwest of Buena Vista. On the National Register of Historic Places St. Elmo is known as one of Colorado’s best preserved ghost towns. Founded in 1880, the town grew to 2000 residents – mostly gold and silver miners.

Winding Down

Travel can be hard work with the busy agendas we try to keep. After a couple of weeks we will both admit to wearing down, moving slower and accomplishing less each day. We have explored:

• 6 National Parks

• 7 National Monuments

• 1 National Recreation Area

• 1 Tribal Park

• 1 State Park

In addition to numerous trails, backroads, museums, restaurants and trading posts.

Today’s itinerary included two National Monuments. Our first stop was Hovenweep NM on the Utah/Colorado border, the site of six pre-historic villages perched on canyon rims or balanced on massive boulders. I’ve always been fascinated with the intricate masonry.

We also visited Canyons of the Ancients National Monument which encompasses a large area in the southwestern corner of Colorado. Located within the monument are literally thousands of archeological sites. Most have not been excavated and appear only as rubble heaps. The most accessible of the sites is Lowry Pueblo housing 8 kivas (circular ceremonial rooms), 40 rooms and a Great Kiva.

The Anasazi Heritage Center, 10 miles north of Cortez, is the best place to start a Canyons of the Ancients visit. The AHC contains interactive exhibits, artifacts from excavations, galleries for temporary exhibits, a theatre showing two introductory films, and a gift shop. We found detailed information on sites to visit within the monument including a one-mile interpretive trail to Escalante Pueblo.

Across Colorado

Well supplied with bottled water, sunscreen, cameras and maps we head west for a couple of weeks exploring Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Six national parks and at least as many National Monuments  and State Parks are on the itinerary. We’re expecting lots of outdoor time and photography amid the ingredible natural landscapes found on the Colorado Plateau.

Following I-70 we past through towns worthy of attention and exploration on another day: Idaho Springs, Georgetown, Silver Plume, Frisco, Vail, Eagle, No Name (yes, that’s the official name), Glenwood Springs, New Castle, Silt, Rifle, Palisade. Off ramps and side roads call us to follow to other destinations: Evergreen, Empire, Guanilla Pass, Leadville, Steamboat Springs, Aspen, Grand Mesa. Visiting each of these sites would make an excellent summer adventure. We could choose to tour the Argo Mine, hike up Herman’s Gulch or to Hanging Lake, boat on Lake Dillon, backpack in the Gore-Eagle Widerness Area, raft the Eagle River, flyfish on the Colorado, soak at Glenwood Hot Springs or go underground at Glenwood Caverns. Loveland, Cooper Mountain and Vail ski areas are morphing from snow covered to green slopes for mountain biking. Active summertime in the Rockies is almost here.

Under cloudy skies we stick to the road with only a lunch stop in Parachute at VJs Outlaw Ribbs. VJ is Vance Johnson, a popular Denver Bronco wide receiver between 1985-1995. The shredded smoked pork sandwich satisfies the travelers hunger.

Reaching Grand Junction by mid-afternoon we make our first stop my favorite shoe store in the entire state, and the oldest one – Benjes. The family owned store celebrated 100 years in 2011. There’s nothing old or dated about the footwear Bruce Benje selects for his shop. Today I select sturdy Keen trail sandals expecting to put them to good use in Utah.