Steamboat Springs is in northern Colorado near the Wyoming border and is a winter ski resort destination. It has produced an incredible number of Olympic athletes. There are natural hot springs in the area. Early trappers thought the hot springs made a chugging sound similar to a steamboat, hence the name. From Saratoga, Wyoming it was only about a 1.5 hour drive to Steamboat Springs.
Dolores is located in the southwest corner of Colorado and is at an elevation of about 6,900 feet. Within an hours drive to the east is Telluride and Durango, Colorado. To the west is Utah. Within a 30 minute drive of Dolores is Mesa Verde National Park, Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Hovenweep National Monument. We last visited southwestern Colorado about 2 years ago in the spring. The area is rich in Indian ruins and numerous sites of the Anasazi.
Pagosa Springs is located in Southern Colorado in the San Juan Mountains at about 7,000 feet elevation. Overall, for Colorado, it has a milder climate because it’s just north of New Mexico, has over 300 days per year of sunshine and is located west of the continental divide.
Ouray was established by gold and silver miners around 1875. Gold and silver was extracted from these rugged and colorful mountains. The mountain sides show remnants of the miners tailings and dilapidated buildings. Now the area is all about tourism. Ice climbing, hiking, mountain biking, and miles of Jeep trails in the San Juan Mountains offer stunning views and remoteness. Ouray is about an hour drive south of Montrose.
Fruita was our first stop after leaving Flaming Gorge, Utah to see the Colorado National Monument. The area is desert on the high Colorado Plateau with steep walled canyons of rock and sandstone surrounded by juniper and pinyon forests.
From Colorado Springs we went to the Denver area to visit family and get some work done on our Freightliner chassis. While there, we went to the Rocky Mountain National Park to get up-close to the snow covered peaks, spring-time swollen rivers and wildlife.
