We stayed in Twin Lakes last August hiking to the historic Inter-Laken resort. Although summer is beautiful, visiting Twin Lakes in autumn is not to be missed! The colorful aspen on the mountainsides, the golden willows and grasses along the lake, the snowfall on the mountaintops–what a view!
The high, rugged Sangre de Christo Mountains are the backdrop for Great Sand Dune National Park, 30-square miles of sand dunes reaching over 740 feet. They are the tallest dunes in North American with an amazingly diverse habitat. It is an ongoing story of wind, water, and sand. There are no designated trails on the dunes, you can walk anywhere you want–I dare you! Come along to visit the grand peaks of sand and granite!
It’s that time of year again! Welcome to the glorious aspen and ground cover colors at Cottonwood Lake. It is a small lake three miles off State Highway 306, best known as home to Cottonwood Pass. We will visit there soon for amazing beauty at 12,126 ft elevation. Now, we are about 9,600 ft high along the shore of Cottonwood Lake!
Grand Mesa, the largest flat-top mountain in the world, stands over 11,000 feet and covers 500 square miles (320,000 acres). It is 6,000 feet above Grand Valley, where we stayed in Grand Junction to explore Colorado National Monument. So here we go, taking Grand Mesa Scenic Byway, CO-65, on a 50-mile, 5,100 foot elevation-gain journey south to the Uncompahgre Valley. Like that word? OK, I’ll help: oon – come – PAH – gray. Ute Native American word meanings include “warm flowing water,” “where water makes rock red,” and “red soil”. It was the area’s waters that inspired the name, but Uncompahgre is also the name of a 1.5 million acre plateau, a 75 mile-long river, and the 6th highest mountain in Colorado at 14,321 feet. Sounds like an exploration for another day but now? Onward to exploring Grand Mesa!
