Adventurous Leila

Welcome back, we made it to the Rocky Mountain state of Colorado! We had several overnight spots before settling into a really nice spot in the Rocky Mountains. Our first spot was in Logan County in the high desert of Colorado. We found a spot right on a small lake that we hoped to stay at for a bit but the water had blue green algae and since it was so hot and we couldn’t get in the water we only stayed the one night. The second over night spot was in Georgetown, Colorado where we finally had a break in the heat. When we arrived the sun was just setting and it seemed like a nice spot, however when we woke up the next morning we were surrounded by vehicles as it turned out it was a popular trail head and we were there on a weekend… whoopsie. There was a crisp in the air and a few trees had started to turn so we decided to make our first pumpkin spice lattes of the season. We took a nice stroll by the river where we picked wild raspberries and gooseberries before packing up to get back on the road. 

Finally we made it to Somerset, Colorado where we planned to boondock at the top of McClure Pass but unfortunately all the spots were taken. Luckily there was a National Forest campground a few minutes down the road that we stayed at while waiting for boondocking spots to open. We checked daily and after two days a spot big enough for us opened. We moved up there and stayed for 12 days. Our spot was really nice, it had an amazing view of the mountains but tucked in far enough from the road that we couldn’t see or hear it. Each day we would wake up to more and more colors and we could hear the Aspen trees as they blew in the wind. Just down the road were the Penny Hot Springs where we spent most of our evenings. 

Our first time going to the hot springs we met this really nice elderly man named David. He showed us around and told us about the lobster pot and what pools had the best temperatures and depths. He called himself the Penny Hot Springs inspector, he said he comes down and makes sure everyone is having fun. After chatting with him all evening he told us he also is a nomad and has been staying at the hotspings for 20+ days so far. He asked if we would be back the following day as he wanted to pick up an apple pie to share, so of course we said we would be. The next evening we showed up and there he was waiting with a delicious apple pie. I don’t know many people who have experienced eating apple pie in a natural hot spring with the river flowing along side you watching the sunset, but I have and I highly recommend you make it happen. Once the sun set we watched the stars come out one by one and eventually even had a stunning view of the Milky Way. I’d say it was one of those nights you remember forever. 

Landon and I had our online spanish class so we headed into town to a cute little cafe called the Painted Pig. We drank Chai lattes while doing our classes, after class we checked out the shop they had in a renovated airstream. Since it was first Friday we decided to make a day of it and hangout in town. We walked the streets, checked out all the stores and watched live music before heading home. We had another town day where we stopped by the local library to print out some homework. They had lots of activities and fun things so we ended up hanging out there for a few hours. Afterwards we headed to a really cool skate/bike park. Some of the jumps were taller than my dad. Me, Landon and dad rode around for awhile but once it got hot I stopped and read my book. Landon had a blast and rode his bike and scooter around for hours. That evening they had live music in the park so we picked up a pizza. To our surprise when we arrived at the park we seen our friend David from the hot springs. We offered him some pizza and spent the evening listening to bluegrass music. 

A local told us about this old abandoned mill in the mountains so we decided to check it out. We didn’t know it was going to be a whole experience as it was not a hike but an off road adventure. The road leading to the mill was a one way rocky dirt road climbing through the cliff side of the mountain. At one point we even seen an old truck that had drove off the cliff years ago. When we made it to the mill I was shocked to see the crystal clear water under the mill. From the mill we wanted to keep going and see if we could hike to Devils Bowl, a place locals cliff jump. The road got even more intense and eventually we decided to turn around as it was not safe to keep going in our jeep. Had we had the CanAm with us we totally would have loved going but since the Jeep is our daily driver we didn’t want to risk it. After the fun off roading excursion we stopped in Marble for some famous barbecue. It was delicious and they even had live music.

We really enjoyed our time in Colorado and remembered how much we love that state and their small town community. The hot springs were truly a treasure and a place of love. We met many locals there that after 12 days they were like friends, it was sad to leave them. It’s definitely high on our list of places to return to.