My morning started by heading south and I could really feel the elevation change as my car struggled a little bit and the temperature on a sunny August day dropped to 39 degrees. That was just on the 34-mile stretch from Silverthorne to Leadville, Colorado, on Highway 91.
From Leadville, I continued south on Highway 24 and then Highway 285 through central Colorado. Mountain peaks and blue skies with puffy white clouds were constantly part of the view. Every once in a while you would spot a little bit of last winter’s snow still clinging to some of the higher mountains.
The last time I saw the Rio Grande, it was at the southern tip of Texas along the Texas border nearly a thousand miles away. It’s almost impossible to believe it could be the same river. Here in Del Norte, Colorado, the water runs cold from the melting mountain snow that feeds it.
Heading west from Del Norte to Durango provides more steep grades and winding turns along Highway 160. I enjoyed the views but I was sure glad I wasn’t driving a semi. And I crossed the Great Divide again, this time at Wolf Creek Pass.
