Glenwood Springs, Colorado
We got up early so that we could head back east through Glenwood Canyon for one more look. There is a nice hiking/biking trail that runs right next to the freeway and sometimes under and over it that we walked on for a bit. Then we turned around and headed back west again to grab breakfast and coffee at Sacred Grounds Coffeehouse and post a blog at mile 6122 around 7am.

Right after breakfast we took a walk around the town of Glenwood Springs. Although it's pretty touristy, it would be a nice place to come back for a visit. Paid our respects to Doc Holliday at an establishment that is now a store called Summit Canyon Mountaineering. Found out at that store that the area is very good for rockclimbing. Sounds like we found a really good reason to come back.

"The Million Dollar Highway"
From there we headed south through the Elk Mountains for some more scenic driving. It was really nice, but when we hit the town of Ouray and the San Juan Mountains, that's when it really got good. Apparently, this stretch of the 550 Highway south of the town is known as the "Million Dollar Highway." It is ranked among the most spectacular scenic byways in the United States. Another gem we stumbled onto. In the picture you can see that the beginning of the drive overlooks the town of Ouray.

The drive surely ranked among the best of our trip. We have to thank John and Jen for suggesting this route. Fortunately, the storm that had been threatening since we got into the mountains held off until we got past the 6-mile "Million Dollar" part. We pretty much got hammered with rain until we got to Durango. We found some shelter in one of the abandoned mining buildings that are scattered all along that route. Funny, we thought it was going to be another beautiful day because the weather was so nice in Glenwood Springs.

The rain and low clouds continued as we passed through the historic mining town of Silverton, letting up somewhat as we reached Durango, Colorado. We stopped at the Lost Dog Bar and Lounge in Durango to blog and have dinner at mile 6363 just before 9pm. This could be our last blog from the road. The plan was to go to the Four Corners Monument the next day where the states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico come together at a single point. After that we planned to drive straight home since we had seen just about everything else west of that point. After dinner, we drove a few miles west and spent the night in the town of Cortez, CO.