Our first month on the road had been a whirlwind and we decided to sit still for a few days and get some planning done on where else to go in the US. We’d created a ‘dream’ route through the States which was amibitious in the 3 months we were given on our visas, so it was time to make some hard decisions. We found a town called Leadville to have a base for a few days while we mapped it out. It was a really small town which is host to some ultra running races in the summer but ultimately didn’t have too much else going on so we could focus on what we needed to do. Both feeling pretty exhausted from driving so much and trying to fit in as much each day, we made the choice to miss out Oregon, Washington and some of the other Northern states (including going to Yellowstone). It was going to allow us time to rest and really explore places rather than bombing it through to tick it off the list approach.
We hit up a couple of ski towns on our way to Utah, first being Vail. This looked like a super cute town, although very pricey. The ski lifts weren’t running yet and we couldn’t find a mountain bike hire shop so decided to push on. James had wanted to make a trip across the Continental Divide and had found a route called Independence Pass so we made our way up to the top of the climb, which had simply stunning vistas. I was holding on to my seat belt just a little bit tighter as we edged closer to the side of the roads but wow, what a treat up the top. We got out of the truck and were greeted by a familiar Scottish accent. A lovely couple who had flown in to visit family in Colorado were so excited to see a UK number plate. We got to talking and were given details of their family down in Baja, Mexico who would be happy to help us when we get down that way. James particularly enjoyed the Scotsman joking about if he took a pee up here, would it flow into the Pacific or Atlantic (Continental Divide Bants)
The baton for picking a campsite for that evening, was handed over to James after I’d made a slight booking error in the Rockies (the less said about it the better). James however came up trumps when he found a cider orchard to take refuge in. We set up the tent amongst the apple trees and got stuck into some cider sampling for the evening, leaving both of us a little worse for wear the next day. The site had huge swings and even a stage for live music which James took upon himself to give a performance on (thankfully everyone had left by that point)
Sore heads in tact with a little caffeine to help us on the way, we ticked off Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. Maybe it was our hangovers, maybe it wasn’t, but we both agreed that this was the dullest national park we’d been to, so quickly made it down to Ouray, another little ski town with some hot springs. The hot springs were walking distance from our camp and we sat in them with the most gorgeous mountain backdrop for what seemed like hours. A little Thai takeaway that evening for a treat and we were beginning to feel more rested.
Morning soon came, and we headed down Millionaire Road to Silverton, what was an old mining town (hence millionaire) and had ourselves some Texan bbq (yes in Colorado) before James was tempted into entering a competition to win an overland trailer (he didn’t win). It was an odd little town that had a tourist train that dumps hundreds of Americans in every lunch time so we swiftly made our way out and on to Telluride.
Telluride was awesome. Simple. It had the incredible buzz of an adventure village whereby everyone is either about to set off or are coming back from an adventure. There are free Gondolas that take you in and out of town and the town itself has lots of mountain bike shops, a bike park, ski slopes intertwined with microbreweries, coffee shops, bookshops and generally good people! We were sad that the campsites were closed as the hotels here were not in a price range however it did lead us to the most amazing free camp spot up the road. It took us 4 miles of off roading up a mountain to get to it, but Alta Lakes, was incredible. Another gorgeous glacial lake with literally 2 other vehicles and whilst chilly in the morning (minus 5 degrees), we were enchanted by the scenery!
