Steamboat Springs is our first stop of the day, we walk the downtown area and take a glimpse of the ski slopes, at least the part we can see since it's overcast. Then we press on and reach the west entrance to RMNP, just to find out that because of the snow, the road is closed 10 miles in - which means we can't get to Milner pass and we lose out on 30 miles of scenery. Oh well, we pick up maps and brochures at the Visitor Center and decide to at least explore the first 10 miles. It's an alpine forest of pine trees and huge mountain peaks, we actually cannot see them because the clouds are low, but they all average 13,000ft. We see a very large herd of elks right along the road, and we stop to take pictures and to watch them graze. They don't seem to mind our presence, some in fact start crossing the street right in front of us. There must have been 30 or 40 of them, just a few bulls with lots of cows.
Every trail we pick is at least 5 or 6 miles long, and requires a minimum of 5 hours. It's 2:00pm and it's already dark, the weather is turning quickly and we have to pass up the chance to hike to where the Colorado river is born. Because it starts really here, at the Continental Divide, which inside the park is at over 9,000ft. By the time we exit the park, it starts to snow and it quickly turns into a blizzard. Our only way out is to drive through Winter Park and the Berthoud Pass down to Denver. We are the only RV on the road, commercial vehicles must stop to chain up - all the other cars venturing up the pass are SUVs. Oh what a scary drive! While Petr is driving, I go online to check the traffic conditions and the weather forecast. It doesn't look good. Anywhere I look, snow snow and more snow, temperatures in the high 20s at night and weather alerts. Independence pass to Aspen is closed, as are other passes. After much debating, we decide to skip Boulder, Denver and Estes Park (which would have given us another 10 miles inside the RMNP on the east side) and drive south, away from the mountains.
As I write this, we have been stuck on I-70 direction Vail for about 2 hours, with no chance to go anywhere. Apparently a truck skid and ended up in the middle of the highway, occupying all the lanes including the emergency one. Come to think of it, we are the lucky ones, we could even spend the night here, inside the RV. I am thinking that if I pull down the window and start offering warm coffee and pancakes I might actually make pretty decent money and turn an ordeal into something profitable. Hopefully we will get to Avon at some point tonight. I'll let you know tomorrow.
Entering Colorado!
It doesn't look promising at all.
Steamboat Springs downtown.
Here (red awning) I had coffee and Wi-Fi.
A view of the valley in the Routt National Forest.
Not sure whether it's abandoned or inhabited. Just like many others spread out everywhere.
Crossing a canyon in the Araphaoe National Recreation Area.
Grand Lake past Granby, CO.
Welcome to RMNP!
An elk crossing the street.
This bull was very noisy!
The herd grazing on the roadside.
As soon as we exit the park, the snow gets thicker and thicker by the minute.
Average speed: 10 mph.
The traffic as it is getting backed-up.
Turning an ordeal into something useful: cooking up a meal in the middle lane of the highway.