The people you meet....Parts I, II an III

Before I begin this blog I must make mention of the number of photos that are in it...we actually took over 600 photos over the last 4 days, so it was really hard to narrow it down to these few.  Funnily enough, when we did our trip around Australia in 1999 (pre digital) I think we took about 300 photos in the 9 months we were on the road!!! 
PART 1
The morning we left Vail, Stu went snowboarding at Beaver Creek and shared a chairlift with a lady and they got chatting.  When he said we were driving to Grand Junction, she suggested a drive we could do on the way.....so we exited at the Dotsero exit on the I70, drove for 1 1/2 miles and took a left turn onto CoffeePot Drive, following the signs to Deep Creek Canyon.  Well, what a drive and views...it was a gravel road, gradually climbing up a mountain....and I only grabbed the door handle three times!!

As we kept getting higher and higher these amazing views came into range.....the colours are phenomenal...it's hard to believe that the geography can create such amazing colours....

We were hoping to reach the top of the mountain so we could see Deep Creek Canyon, but unfortunately there was too much snow on the track and the road was closed near the top,

so we made our way back down...coming across only one other vehicle....it's so nice to get away from all the traffic....

We reached the bottom....and hit a T Junction....turn right to head back on the I70, or left to...who knows where....so we went left!  What a great decision...some absolutely stunning country...the road followed sheer cliffs,

a train track...we have seen so many train tracks in Colorado that follow unbelievable country...

and the amazing Colorado River...

The colours were very reminiscent of the Kimberley, but the landscape is on a much larger scale.

We travelled about 20kms in 3 hrs...every turn in the road produced another fabulous outlook.....

So whoever the lady on the chairlift was,  thank you very much for your suggestion.....
PART II

Last year CITEL organised a weekend to Grand Junction, and Stu and I got to stay with Linda Reeves, who has done 2 exchanges to Australia...she was so hospitable to us and we were made to feel really welcome in her home.  So we decided to pay her another visit....

We had a leisurely breakfast with Linda the next morning before embarking on a day's road trip across to Moab (Utah),

then back to Grand Junction.  It's funny as it was around this time last year we were driving back from the Grand Canyon over our Spring Break. A few of the other Australian exchangees had done a similar trip and I remember them telling me about this drive from Moab to Grand Junction that was amazing.  We had no idea it existed and instead had listened to our trusty GPS (Simon) who had sent us home via the I70, so we missed it.  So we got to take it this time..and WOW!!! It reminded us of Monument Valley in Utah.....

Something that always amazes Stu and I, when you are out of the cities in the US, are the views you get from supermarket car parks/public toilets..... and the public toilet below WAS ONE OF THOSE!!! Unbelievable...red desert rock with snow mountains in the background!

We went to a place called Fishers Towers..which had amazing rock formations and spectacular views...

Lunchtime views...

pretty wildflowers....

and drove in to Moab, where Jeep Week was just finishing up...weird, as last time we drove through Moab (Spring Break, 2013) Jeep Week was on....and we were amazed to see this life size jeep on top of a HUGE mountain rock...goodness knows how they got it up there.....

Linda had suggested a drive to get us back to Grand Junction, through mountains, valleys and following the river with (can I say it again) AMAZING gorges.....when you looked out of the car window there were massive walls of spectacular rock, dropping down into the river.....unbelievable!  And these places aren't even National Parks..

When we arrived back at Linda's place we had tea with Linda's friend John and Aussies, Petra and Rich who are on exchange to Fruita from Adelaide, and Rich's sister Maryanne.  It was a great night and good to meet up with the Aussies....and share stories.  So we are glad we got to meet Linda last year and renew the friendship this year...thanks Linda.
PART III
Last year we wanted to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison but ran out of time, so we figured while we were down near Grand Junction (we took in a few sights before we left)

National Monument

Rock formations..National Monument

 we'd go and see it and stay at Gunnison.  We drove through Gunnison last year on our way to Crested Butte for our last weekend with all the Aussies and I loved the area.  Stu had tried to organise a house exchange in Gunnison which didn't eventuate, but we received an email from JoDee and Lou (they are on the home exchange website) who so generously offered us a night's hospitality at their place.  We'd never met them, so found their offer very kind.
So we left Grand Junction and drove straight to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, choosing to go down the bottom first

The bottom of the canyon...

and then a steep, winding, narrow road back up to the top, so we could look down in to the canyon...and it was really, really deep! (Deeper than the Grand Canyon)

You'll probably find the following information very boring, but it is mainly for Stu and I and a reference we can look back on: The Black Canyon is incredibly deep and sheer, with plunging cliffs, soaring buttresses and a thundering river. The following lists will help you understand the physical size of the canyon in comparison to other canyons and man-made structures.

Greatest Depth:

Warner Point Chasm View Gunnison Point

2,722 feet (829 m) 1,820 feet (555 m) 1,840 feet (561 m)

Narrowest Width:

At the rim (Chasm View) At the river (The Narrows)

1,100 feet (335 m) 40 feet (12 m)

Total Lenth of Black Canyon:

Total Length Length in National Park

48 miles (77 km) 14 miles (22.5 km)

The River:

Average descent over the entire length of canyon: 43 feet/mile (8 m/km) Greatest decent: Occurs in the park at Chasm View - 240 feet/mile (45 m/km)

COMPARISONS TO OTHER CANYONS

Hells Canyon, Idaho and Oregon This is the deepest canyon in North America. At He Devil Peak on the Idaho side, the canyon is 8,043 feet (2,452 meters) deep.

Grand Canyon, Arizona The deepest part of Grand Canyon is about 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) deep. The average depth is 1 mile or 5,280 feet (1,609 meters).

The Royal Gorge, Colorado At the suspension bridge this canyon is 1,053 feet (321 meters) deep.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,Wyoming At Artist Point Overlook the canyon is 1,200 feet (366 meters) deep.

New River Gorge, West Virginia The deepest canyon in the eastern United States is 1,400 feet (427 meters).

Canyons of the Nahanni, Northwest Territories, Canada This canyon is in the Canadian northwest and is 3,300 feet (1,006 meters) deep.

Barranca Del Cobre, Chihuahua, Mexico Copper Canyon, in north central Mexico is 6,165 feet (1,879 meters) deep. Vikos Gorge, Epirus, Greece One of the deepest canyons in Europe, it reaches a depth of 3,280 feet (1,000 meters).

PAINTED WALL COMPARED TO MAN-MADE STRUCTURES
The Painted Wall is the highest cliff in Colorado. From river to rim it stands 2250 feet (685 meters).

1. Great Pyramids, Cairo, Egypt None of the pyramids are large by today's standards, but for their time they are astounding. The tallest one is 449 feet (137 meters). 2. Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. 555 feet (169.2 meters) tall. 3. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France 1,063 feet (324 meters) tall. 4. Empire State Building, New York, New York Built in the Great Depression (1930s) it stands 1,250 feet (381 meters) tall.
5. Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), Chicago, Illinois The highest building in the U.S. stands 1,450 feet (442 meters) tall. 6. Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo, Japan The tallest observation tower in the world will stand at 2,080 feet (634 meters). 7. Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Opened in January 2010, this is the tallest building in the world at 2,717 feet (828 meters). Soooo...the Painted Wall was pretty impressive.... as was the drive from there to Gunnison.... Gunnison We arrived at JoDee and Lou's place around 6.30pm and truly got the warmest welcome, but not before driving across their private bridge to get there... . ..and OH MY GOD...what an amazing setting to live in....    We had this entire house to ourselves....  and JoDee and Lou's cabin was right next door...it really was the most tranquil and beautiful setting...   woodpecker An amazing wood sculpture, where the tree is still in the ground, reflecting all that is important to Lou and Jodee of where they live. and I didn't want to leave.

 JoDee gave me a pair of handmade earrings and these beautiful rocks that she paints, that mean so much to me.........

and we both want to thank Lou and JoDee for a really memorable time at their place and for their wonderful hospitality and great stories...and maybe one day we'll see them in WA!! Thanks guys xx

 After another leisurely morning we headed back to Winter Park, but not of course without stopping to see more amazing Colorado scenery.  One thing you do see a lot of in the US are large letters on the sides of mountains.   We THINK they are the first initial of the local college football team (but we may be wrong) and they are huge....here is one near Gunnison

We took a detour to Twin Lakes...and WOW, so glad we did....

 The road from Twin Lakes can take you to Aspen, via Independence Pass....we had been to the other side of this Pass when we were in Aspen and it was closed due to the snow and it was still shut. There were a few warning signs if you did take the Pass...

and the local policeman just sat in silence...but he was a bit of a deterrent! It was an old police car parked on the side of the road, with a dummy in it, but it was effective!!

We saw a small lake that looked like it had been dammed and sure enough, there was a huge beaver dam and beaver lodge....we spent a couple of hours there and it was fantastic as we got to see three beavers keeping themselves busy, swimming back and forth across the lake.  They can be quite reclusive so we were pretty happy to see them.

A beaver lodge with a view

Beaver lodge and dam

 It is pretty exhilarating seeing wildlife in their natural environment, especially wildlife that we don't get at home, so we felt pretty lucky.
Our last stop was Loveland Pass...we have done this road a few times as well, but it is such a beautiful Pass.....up to the Continental Divide ....but always really cold...and as we weren't dressed appropriately it was a very quick stop to check out the view....

So the places we saw over the last few days were made even more special by the people we met. Thankyou to all those who offered us their homes to stay in and for making our visit to this part of the world again so memorable.