A Drive through Glenwood Canyon to Vail, Colorado

In last week's blog post, I showed a drive we took last September from the westernmost part of Colorado on Interstate 70 East, through Grand Junction and Palisade, Colorado--click here-- to read that post. This week, the journey continues as we drive east and pass through Glenwood Canyon to Vail.

Glenwood Canyon is a rugged, scenic 12.5-mile (20 km) canyon in western Colorado in the United States. Its walls climb as high as 1,300 feet (400 m) above the Colorado River. It is the largest such canyon on the Upper Colorado.

 

As my husband drove, I took photos of the scenery.

The canyon's geology is interesting. It was formed relatively recently in the Pleistocene era by the rapid cutting of the Colorado down through layers of sedimentary rock. The upper layers of the canyon are sandstone. Sections of the lower canyon walls are made of Cambrian rock. 

Although there was a rough road along Glenwood Canyon since pioneers days for horses and wagons, the final link of the construction of  I-70 through Glenwood Canyon has been hailed as an engineering marvel!  Construction through Glenwood Canyon began in 1980 and was completed in 1992.  As you can see in the photo above, the highway going west at a narrow portion of the canyon is elevated, while going east continues to traverse along the river. Great care taken to incorporate the interstate improvements into the fragile canyon environment while leaving as much of the flora and fauna intact as possible.

Please click on  the above photo 2x to enlarge it to read the information about Glenwood Canyon's I-70 road construction. 

A few years after we moved to Colorado, my husband and I spent our anniversary in Glenwood Springs. On the way home, I saw this sign for Hanging Lake. I asked my husband if we could stop at this trailhead, as I saw many beautiful photos of the area on social media and wanted to see if we could hike up to Hanging Lake.  

It took us--mostly me--two hours to hike up the steep trail to Hanging Lake and another two hours to go back down, but we did see this magnificent lake and the spectacular waterfall, which was another 200 feet above it!

You can read more about this experience at this link

We passed beautiful scenery...

...and ranches along the drive.

We continued driving east, gaining elevation... 

...and began to see fall foliage.

Soon, we approached Vail, which is at 8,150 feet (2,480 m) above sea level.

Vail is home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado.  The town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numerous events the city hosts annually

The mountains surrounding Vail were ablaze with golden Aspen trees!

In October, these mountains would be full of snow, but in September, they were displaying full fall glory!

Vail Pass was named after Charles Vail, the highway engineer who routed U.S. Highway 6 through the Eagle Valley in 1940. It eventually became Interstate 70. Seibert, a New England native, served in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division during World War II, which trained at Camp Hale, 14 miles south of Vail between Red Cliff and Leadville. 

 I blogged about the 10th Mountain Division and Camp Hale in this post.

Seibert, with other former members of the 10th Mountain Division, returned to Colorado after World War II with the intention of opening a ski resort. During training for ski troopers at Camp Hale, he bivouacked on Vail Mountain and identified it as an ideal ski mountain. By 1969, Vail had developed into the most popular ski resort in the state.

We continued driving east across the Rocky Mountains towards the Denver area, anticipating another two-hour drive to return home. 

We had a wonderful vacation and enjoyed seeing this part of Colorado again during the fall, and it was fun to take you along with us in this reminiscence! 

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