Crystal River KOA Camping ... Day 4

With plans to do at least part of the West Elk Loop Scenic and Historic Byway today, we wanted to get out early since the drive is some 205 miles long. We didn't quite manage the 8:30a departure ... though 9:00a is not bad, I guess.

In the end, we did more than 205 miles, even though we bypassed most of the loop … unintentionally. The added miles were due to the detour we took to check-out a town named Marble. It was one of the best parts of our day, so well worth the extra miles.

As we began the drive on CO-133, we stopped in Redstone even though we went there yesterday. I was hoping to get a glimpse — if not a photo — of Cleveholm Manor … aka Redstone Castle. No can do on that. There was a big sign at the gate indicating entry to the driveway was only for those with reservations. We obeyed the instructions.

Back on CO-133, we had not driven far when we came upon a sign for the Hays Creek Falls. Figuring it would be a good opportunity to stretch our legs, we parked the car roadside and headed up the dirt path. We didn’t walk far. The waterfall — a small one at that — was right there. After clambering over a couple of rocks to cross the outflow for a photo op, we returned to the car to continue driving.

I had downloaded a tourist map of sorts that showed the towns along our route. Alas, it was on the laptop. And the laptop was back in the Cruiser. So, we programmed the town of Marble into the GPS as we remembered it being mentioned in the description of the byway. Turns out that getting to the town required an in-out detour ... about 5 miles each way.

Marble is home to the quarry that supplied the stone used to build the Lincoln Memorial in DC and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. It’s a cute town set in a heavily forested area. We stopped at a gallery to check out some marble carvings in the yard, visited the site of the old marble mill, and drove around Beaver Lake with beautiful reflections of the tree-clad mountains.

On the town map was a site marked Crystal Mill. It looked interesting and scenic, but the 6-mile one-way drive required a 4x4 drive vehicle. At first, the road looked like it would be OK for our high-clearance CR-V, but soon it became apparent that we'd be in trouble if we continued. So we regretfully had to take a pass on checking it out.

The highlight of this detour was Island Lake, which we came upon by happenstance. I think this body of water falls more into the pond category, but I won’t quibble. The flat calm surface provided a perfect mirror for the surrounding scenery. We were so entranced that Mui even brought out the tripod for his Samsung phone so we could take a “couple’s shot.”

Once we backtracked to CO-133, we began the climb up to McClure Pass. At only 8,755 feet, the pass is not all that high really, but the scenery along the way is beautiful. With all the aspen groves along the way, it would be a lovely drive in the fall … but crowded, I bet.

As we approached the Paonia Reservoir, signs indicated two routes for the byway … one of which went in the direction of Crested Butte and Gunnison. Since we hope to do a separate trip to Gunnison and the Black Canyon, we took the other fork in the road. That in and of itself was not a mistake. Turning north instead of South from Hotchkiss was the error we made. Note to self ... remember to put downloaded maps and directions on the iPad!

There were two good things that came out of our mistake IMHO. For one thing, we know what part of Colorado not to return to since there is absolutely nothing that appealed to us along part of our route … not the scenery, not the small towns. That said, we thank Cedaredge for providing picnic shelters that afforded much-needed shade on this hot day.

Secondly, we ended up driving the Grand Mesa Scenic Byway to get back to I-70 in order to return to Carbondale. The byway is a lovely drive, with considerable elevation gain, so the scenery amongst the fir trees and aspen groves was very much to our liking … as was the cooler, comfortable temps.

A stop at Cobbett Lake in the Grand Mesa National Forest gave us the highlight of our afternoon. Too bad the lake was closer to the tail end of our drive as it would have been a delightful place to have a picnic lunch. Nonetheless, we enjoyed stretching our legs and checking out the reflections on the water.

Once on I-70E, we made good time … flying along with what little traffic there was. That came as a surprise since the worker-bees should have been heading home. Tomorrow’s a workday after all. We were just lucky I guess. Until, that is, we got within a mile or so of the Glenwood Springs exit. Whoa Nelly! There was a long back up of vehicles ... from an accident I presume. I’m just glad we didn’t have far to go before we were able to leave the traffic mess behind.

Topping off the CR-V’s tank in Glenwood Springs, we were back at our site by 5:00p. It’s now a little after 8:00p. We ate our dinner al fresco, and I’ve stayed out on the patio to write this entry. Unfortunately, the air has chilled considerably, so it’s time to collect my stuff and head indoors. Maybe we’ll watch another one of the movies I downloaded from Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Tomorrow we head home.Read more