This is the second of the two-part blog of our trip from Colorado. I hope you enjoy reading this one just like you enjoyed reading the first part.š
Day 4.
I am still stoked and I can say that yesterday was the highlight of our trip. After all, the rafting is what drew us to come to Coloradoā¦
We have been making our breakfast in our unit every day, and today we have to really load up. We will hike a long trail today. I have two eggs over easy and the left-over Chinese food we ordered the other night for breakfast so I donāt feel hungry as we climb. Bob had some eggs sunny side up.
Flying the drone on the Meadow Mountain. Behind us is the the snowcapped Colorado rockies.
We left for Minturn after Breakfast and started the long trek at Meadow Mountain Trail. Itās about a 1000ft elevation, with so many switch backs to walk through so that makes the hike a bit long. It is over-looking I-70 highway at the beginning of the hike so it somehow give us the scale of how high we were during the hike. When about almost halfway on the top, it is when we saw the true beauty of the trail. Behind us is a showcase of the snowcapped peak of the Rocky Mountains. Itās such a breath-taking scenery up there! It is a beautiful meadow- the alpine trees, the dilapidated abandoned house in the pasture the rock formations... all I can do is admire.
Bob and I rested on a slab of rock for a while and munched with our granola bars. At one point, because we love Outlander the series so much, we joked about being able to time travel by pressing on the rocks, just like the main character in the series. It was a fun hike; and because of this Bob and I are considering doing hiking on a regular basis. We stayed probably another thirty minutes sitting on the rocks until we finally started descending.
After almost a half day trek, we headed to Vail Main Street to eat lunch. There were very few open places to eat, so we ended up getting light lunch from Swiss Chalet Restaurant; an upscale but itās a penny well spent. I had Bruschetta and French Onion Soup- both were mouthwatering, but I am going to tell you, I never devoured a soup like I did this one which gave me blisters (because it was so hot! Yet so good..) the following day.
After that delightful lunch, we headed back to the hotel and rested. We called it a day; relaxed watched movie and slept.
Day 5.
Day 5 was our last full day in Colorado. We decided to explore another place weāve never been- Steamboat Springs. We spent some time with our usual morning routine for breakfast- cooked some eggs, toasted bread and reheated whatever is left over; after that, we got ready. By 9-930ish we were already on the road. Our drive was slowed down by the traffic in I-70 for about fifteen minutes. As we passed by, another truck was turned upside down and caught on fire. I thought for a while that beauty has its price- while this road is such a splendid to travel to, it also has its downside- this really is an accident-prone road because of its winding, uphill and downhill structures. I am glad that we exited the road sooner than I thought.
Finger Rocks in Yampa.
It wasnāt long enough that as we started navigating Highway 131- I felt this is another exhilarating road to drive. Itās a mini-version of I70- beautiful, but winding and also uphill and downhill. While I admire its landscape, I also noticed that there were no railings o some parts of the road. I told Bob that this reminded me of our drive to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire; he joked if I had started praying my rosary, to which I replied that he should focus driving.š¤£ Briefly on our drive there was an area of the road that seemed to look like a gorge. And while we were both fascinated, I reiterated to be extra careful steering the wheels.
There is a town named Yampa that we passed with an amazing, boulder similar to, once again- Outlander. Somehow, I caught a glimpse of the name-Finger Rock. I googled and found a brief description of what it is- a volcanic plug. I took a picture of it.
Shortly after, we arrived at Steamboat Springs. It is a quaint town but we didnāt really have the chance to explore its Main St. as our main purpose was to see and hike Fish Creek Falls and Trail. We only drove by it.
Fish Creek Falls at long exposure.
As we parked our car and started walking to the falls, we can already hear the sound of the water. It is kind of refreshing when we saw it. It is gorgeous! I set up my camera for long exposure shots and spent some time both taking photos and just admiring. Not always we see Falls. The last I saw one was when I went back in the Philippines in 2019. And the last Bob and I saw one was during our trip to Niagara in 2018; so, this one is a treat. By the side of the falls there is a 5-mile hike in a 2000ft elevation. We decided to do some of it and not finish the entire hike as we were (probably) still sore from yesterdayās hike at Meadow Mountain. After probably an hour trekking, we went back to the car.
We briefly paid a visit to this beautiful, perhaps newly renovated Holy Name Catholic Church in Main St.- say our prayers and thanks, then headed for a lunch at Backdoor Grill. I am proud to say that I had my first Bison Burgerš. After lunch, we dreaded our two hour drive back to our hotel admiring again the beauty of this winding, uphill and downhill highway. When we got back at the hotel, we rested for a few, and decided to eat Hawaiian for our last dinner in Avon. We both have Tuna Poke Bowl. After dinner, we drove around town for one more time. The admiration for Beaver Creek is well beyond descriptions- the money, its beauty, and the landscape. Itās just beautiful. After more than 30 minutes driving around an off-season ski resort, we decided to head back to the hotel and started packing for tomorrow is the ātravel back homeā day.
Day 6.
Bob wanted to leave early so we woke up early. Witnessing so much accidents on the road the past days, we didnāt really want to stress ourselves on the possibility of missing our flight while stuck on a traffic because of road accidents, so we allowed plenty of time on our way back to Denver. After breakfast, we checked out and started our 130-mile scenic journey to the airport. So long Colorado! We will come back sooner.
Bob walking ahead of me on Fish Creek Trail.