Day 07 – Denver, CO to Idaho Springs to Grand Junction, CO – 267 miles

Big mountains, big fun. This morning we drove up to Idaho Springs, which is probably one of the coolest mountain towns you will ever find. There is more outdoor activity then you can shake a stick at and no shortage of summer ski bums. In Idaho Springs we did some white water rafting on class 3 and 4 rapids. To say the least it was a lot of fun. I was able to take point in the boat and enjoy the joys of mini ice cold tidal waves slamming the front of the boat. The boats go down the river in convoys for safety reasons. We lucked out getting a good crew, being the only boat without someone to fall off. My only regret was that we had to get out when it finished. I’m looking forward to doing some more rafting next spring season after the winter thaw on the advanced class 5s. After rafting we grabbed lunch on the main strip in Idaho Springs. From there I started driving on I-70W the rest of the way through the Rockies. I quickly found out my car packed to the brim doesn’t like 4k hill climbs at high altitudes… on the other hand going down the other side evened things out. With the thin air at high altitudes the engine runs hotter and can be a little nerve wrecking. Once we passed Vail the mountains started to get smaller and the rocks started to turn red. One notable mountain was a deep purple plateau as we started to get closer to Utah. Anyway I didn’t get many pictures while I was driving, but I got some of a canyon we had to drive through when traffic slowed to a halt for construction.