Leaf Peeping

It can't be that time of year again but it is.  The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler so that means that the leaves are beginning to change. 

This year we went to the Northwestern side of the state to see the gorgeous fall colors.  We started off early on Saturday morning and actually had very little traffic to contend with on I-70 which was nice because there are times that it takes us hours to get up into the mountains.  The day was overcast and we had snow showers off and on on our way up to Steamboat springs.  But that didn't stop us from finding the foliage. 

We made it as far as Kremmling before we had to stop and have lunch.  After eating a quick bowl of soup we headed East towards Granby near Rocky Mountain National Park.  The snow had stopped and the clouds were trying to break up so we were able to see some really beautiful scenery despite the gloomy start to the day.  

After exploring the Granby area we headed west towards Steamboat Springs.  As we were driving up the mountain, the clouds started dropping and we drove in fog and snow for most of the trip.  Needless to say we didn't see much of anything on our drive. When we arrived in Steamboat it was pouring rain and it didn't let up for the rest of the evening.  Fortunately for us, we found a Pub to hang out in, watch a football game (unfortunately not the Horns) eat some yummy food and drink some good beer (for me) and scotch (for Mark).  When I tried to make reservations for the night, there were no hotels available in Steamboat so we stayed the night in Craig, which is only a short 30 miles down the road.

We woke up the next morning to dense fog.  We had already planned on driving to Rifle, CO, then on to Vail and finally ending up in Breckenridge and fortunately the weather app said that those areas had clear skies!  The drive was beautiful and the scenery was SPECTACULAR!  

 

We had driven over Boreas Pass (near Breckenridge) in the summer and had noticed how thick the aspen were on that road so we decided to see what it looked like in the fall.  Unfortunately, everybody else in Colorado decided that they wanted to do that too.  It was wall to wall traffic the whole way and we were about a week late for the peak colors.  It really didn't matter tho- it was still a beautiful day and the perfect way to end another great road trip!