MONDAY, 6 NOVEMBER 2023

(Grand Junction, CO – Glenwood Springs, CO)

Time to leave Grand Junction (again), but before we do…

There was the usual coffee and then hotel breakfast, and then the packing of everything back into the car. After this, we decided we would spend the morning back at the Colorado National Monument, doing a couple of gentle trails, and mostly admiring the views.

After going through the entrance station, we stopped first at a viewpoint called Distant View (self explanatory…).

Our next destination was Otto’s Trail, which is a short half mile walk out along a ridge, providing views into Wedding Canyon, and of Independence Monument. We could see people below, at the turn around point that we reached, next to the Monument, when we walked up Monument Canyon on day 6. Also at the end of the walk was Pipe Organ, another pinnacle of rock.

We then parked at the visitor centre and walked the short nature trail. It had marker numbers but, unfortunately, no descriptions (perhaps we should have got these from the centre…). So, I did what any self respecting explorer does, I made it up as I went along…

1. Dead pine…

2. Juniper berries

3. Dead broom snakeweed …(yellow when living, I think)

4. Indian rice grass

5. Mormon tea (ephedra)

6. Sloping rock layers

7. Some type of desert yucca (soap tree?)

8. Single leaf ash tree

9. Entrada sandstone

10. Really old twisted juniper

11. Er…habitat for birds! (aka a tree)

12. Prickly pear cactus

13. Water pockets in the rock

14. More broom snakeweed

15. Sandy bank providing habitat for small things…

16. Erosion, the whole place is created by erosion…

After this tour of wisdom, and spending a while sat on a handy bench at the end, admiring the view down Wedding Canyon, we reluctantly returned to the car and left the canyons behind.

Our next stop was Denny’s for lunch, especially as we’d only had a light breakfast. Then it was an hour and a quarter drive along I-70 to reach Glenwood Springs. We haven’t driven all that many interstates, but I still reckon this one must be up there in terms of being the most scenic.

We checked in to the Best Western Antlers hotel just after 4pm. It is an older hotel, although refurbished, with a mountain lodge feel, also reminiscent of Grand Canyon lodges. We relaxed and then walked the half mile into downtown to search for dinner. Our hunt (courtesy of Andrew looking for Google recommendations) concluded at the Rocky Mountain Pizza Co, with Andrew declaring it possibly the best pizza he’d ever had…

The walk took us past the hot springs pool, with sulphur vapour wafting through the air. Unfortunately it will be closed tomorrow for cleaning, but we have another plan…

And that’s it got today. Tomorrow we head to the mountains.