Day 25 - Denver to Aspen, CO

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

By the time I finally got my car packed and ready to go it was already 12:30pm, later than I wanted to be on the road. Today’s agenda was to drive west into the mountains to check out some ski towns expecting to end the day somewhere between Aspen and Crested Butte. I spent most of the day in the car. It's been difficult staying current with this blog because most of the time spent driving through the mountains I have very little cell signal, let alone an internet connection.

Out of the Denver area I took SR-470 until it connected with I-70W and headed in the direction of Grand Junction. I didn’t realize that there were as many ski resorts on I-70 as there were. I passed signs for Eldora, Winter Park, A-Basin, Loveland, Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge, Vail and Beaver Creek. I didn’t really stop to look around at any of them because they are really all in the middle of nowhere on I-70, and I'm not that interested in a 2-3 hour drive to get to them. However, there were two towns that I passed on I-70 that I might like to do some research on. Dillon and Frisco appeared to be moderate sized towns with the possibility of jobs and they're not too far from the resorts.

The highlight of the time spent on I-70 was my first sighting of snowy peaks; I believe it was near Georgetown. The small amount of snow wasn’t enough to ski on, nor was it even on a ski resort but it was a small sign that we won’t have to wait too much longer. You have to find happiness in the little things.

From I-70W I headed south on SR-82 through Glenwood Springs which looks like a nice little town. I pulled out the Zillow app on my phone to check out some real estate prices. After a few clicks, the results said “move on”. So I did. I drove through Carbondale and Basalt, also nice towns. Shortly after I reached the mountains of Snowmass, Buttermilk, Aspen Highlands and Aspen. Sad to report there was no snow visible anywhere. It’s not too surprising because the weather has been so warm that I still haven’t put on a pair of long pants since I left NJ. This part of Colorado is very scenic; tall mountains, white aspen trunks with bright yellow leaves and dark pines and evergreens in the background. Most of the roads seem to run alongside streams and rivers as fly fisherman wade up to their knees testing their skills. I walked around downtown Aspen for a little while and got a bite to eat. It’s the same as I remembered it, and I remember I liked it a lot!

It was starting to get dark so it was time to think about finding a spot to set up camp. Before I left Denver, I researched some campgrounds beforehand to give me a head start on the process. I followed SR-82 out of Aspen to Difficult Campground, part of the White River National Forest. It was a beautiful drive, nature at its finest. I knew this was going to be a nice place to stay. Upon arriving, I saw these big gates blocking the entrance to the tent sites. Closed for the season. Just my luck. There happened to be a park ranger nearby observing a photo shoot of some kind so I went over and asked if he knew of anywhere I could set up a tent. To the best of his knowledge, everything was closed. He even called into the ranger station but the response still came back with nothing.

I had three choices. 1) Sleep in my car. 2) Continue on to Crested Butte. 3) Call a friend who lives in Basalt, not too far from Aspen.

Option #3 sounded the best so I called an old friend from the summers living at Long Beach Island. I tried calling a few times but only got his answering machine. Crested Butte was a good 3-4 hours away and I didn’t want to start that drive, plus I wanted to see the Maroon Bells Peaks in the morning, which was only a few minutes from Aspen. It was looking like I was going to spend the night in my car so I started driving around to look for a quiet place to pull over that wouldn’t draw too much attention. It wasn’t looking good and then I got a call from my friend Chris in Basalt. I had a place to stay! Within 20 minutes, I was hanging out with Chris, his wife Sibby and dog Haden, enjoying a few Fat Tire Amber Ales and catching up on the past 15 or so years.

Thank god for friends!