Day 2 - Limon to Montrose

Started the day early traveling across the vast plains of eastern Colorado. Made a stop along our route to Colorado Springs at the Paint Mines Interpretive Park outside the town of Calhan. Just happened to discover this while searching for things to do along the way from Limon to Montrose. Definitely worth the stop and a very interesting introduction to what we'll be seeing later in the trip.
This is a county park but the well maintained trails made for a nice hike. There are rich yellows and reds in the exposed clay soils that make the formations beautiful.
We then headed up into the Rockies from Colorado Springs. Had lunch at a pretty little park in Woodland Park, then started the trek through the mountains. Lots of beautiful snow capped mountains and broad valleys dotted with the golden leaves of aspen and cottonwood trees. We crossed the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass, elevation 11,312 feet above sea level. Beautiful and quite serpentine, the road was thankfully not very busy. We then followed along the Gunnison River until we arrived in Montrose.Read more