October 12

We adventured again to the Continental Divide, heading south from Glenwood Springs through Aspen and then up from 7,900 ft to 12,000 ft. At the Continental Divide, there was a hike that took you across the crest of three peaks. At 12,000 ft, we decided this was not a good idea for us, since we were tired from the 200 ft walk to the viewing area but we were able to photograph a person who was working his way across the peaks. The drive started with lots of Aspens, many of which had already lost their leaves, part way up there was mostly pine trees with some Aspens which still have their leaves, moving swiftly to only pine trees and finally to tundra. The climb to the top was quite quick going most of the way in two switchbacks. It's no wonder this road will soon be closed for the winter.

Aspen was a cute little town, with a lot of expensive shops. A number of the shops were closed for either Columbus day or for the season. We found a sports bar and pizza pub to watch the Jays game. We weren't able to see the first 3 innings on TV as they were broadcasting the Royals/Astros game. Kevin is taking some credit for the win as he was wearing his Donaldson shirt.

October 13

After it warmed up a little, we headed out to cycle through Glenwood Canyon. It was a beautiful 10 mile ride along the Colorado River which in places had some quite significant rapids. At one point we saw a white water rafting group go by us and later we saw a couple of girls going through the smaller rapids on stand-up paddleboards. We had an opportunity to use the GoPro for some live action footage of the ride and the river. While it wasn't a long ride for us and there was not much elevation gain, both Kevin and I were tired after the ride. We are attributing this to the higher altitudes and not our lack of fitness.

How better to rejuvenate our bodies after a day of cycling than to spend the evening in a Hot Spring. We went to the Iron Mountain Hot Springs, a new resort in the area. There were at least 14 hot tubs ranging in size and temperatures of 100-107 F. It was very nice to soak in the tub and watch the stars come out. We enjoyed a number of different tubs and had some great conversations.