From Aspen to Leadville

Heading out of Aspen and upwards to the Independence Pass, the road becomes exciting and beautiful in equal measure. For much of the ascent, the road is extremely narrow, and passes through steep, narrow canyons in the rock. Occasionally the road has a precipitous drop on one side and I would be nervous towing a long trailer on this route. At nearly 3,700m the road is likely to be hard work in ski season, and given how narrow and winding the road is, I expect that most of Aspen’s winter visitors come from the lower Roaring Fork Valley side, through Glenwood Springs and Carbondale.

There are a number of trailheads along the way up to the summit of the pass, but there was torrential rain during much of the drive, and a mountain pass at 3,700m is no place to go for walk in a thunderstorm. Thankfully the rain eased as we reached a good viewpoint, and we got fantastic views over the surrounding mountain ranges.

We had intended to camp for the night at Elbert Reservoir, near to Twin Lakes on the east side of Independence Park, in the shadow of the 4,400m high Mt Elbert, but the heavy rain would have made it difficult to get out and enjoy the surroundings. Instead we headed north on Highway 24, and drove into the historic mining town of Leadville, America’s highest incorporated town at 3,100m. The town retains a lot of charm, and the old buildings and surrounding peaks reminded me of Silverton. The town was full of interesting characters whilst we were there, in town for the exciting sounding ‘antique glass bottle convention’ that was being held over the weekend. We spent a couple of days in Leadville, visiting the antique shops, and watching Brazil get humiliated by Holland in the World Cup playoffs at the historic Silver Dollar Saloon.

When we left Leadville, we drove back the way that we had come on Highway 24. Around Buena Vista, Nathrop and the Chalk Creek, there are a cluster of hot springs, most of which are on private land. There are a few developed resorts, and we chose the large Mt. Princeton site. The setup is similar to the pubic springs that we visited in Ouray, with a number of pools at various temperatures, and we spent the day at the site, bathing in the pools and watching the World Cup Final in the packed bar.

Mt. Princeton Hot Springs has no provision for RV parking, and so when we left in the evening, we drove east on County Road 162 into the San Isabel National Forest looking for somewhere to park. Unlike most national forests that we had visited, there were ‘No Camping’ signs at almost every turnoff, and many of the dirt roads lead onto private property. Fortunately we got speaking to the friendly host at one of the paid-for campsites on the road, and he directed us to a nearby area of the forest where dispersed camping is encouraged. We drove eight miles east and south to the Browns Creek area of the San Isabel Forest, off of Country Road 272, and easily found a beautiful, secluded riverside campsite to spend the night, surrounded by the +14,000 foot peaks of Antero, Princeton, Tabegauche and Shavano.

In the morning, we drove back the Highway 24, and headed east, in the direction of Colorado Springs.