June 2012 Glenwood Canyon Trail

This one is a little outside of Denver. I went to Glenwood Springs and brought my bike to do some riding. The first ride I took was the Rio Grande Trail which you'll see in my next post. The second ride would be a little more strenuous due to the fact that I was going to climb up to Hanging Lake and I had broken my toe just a few days earlier.

Big toe undamaged, second & third toe black & blue bruised, third toe broken and still swollen five days later. Pinkie toe ok. The whole right side of my foot is swollen.

That's why I rode the Rio Grande Trail first. I knew if I couldn't make it there were several bus stops along the way. It turns out that once my feet are in the toe clips my feet are fine. It's like a splint for my toes. It's only when I'm off the bike walking when I experience pain.

So today I ride Glenwood Canyon. Broken toe and all.

 I had to ride about a mile before I could get close to the Colorado river. As soon as I could I went to check it out.

 Some of the cliffs along this canyon are 1200 feet high. It's amazing to see up close.

There was a nice shelter here.

 I noticed some homeless person stashed his pack up in the roof. His bedroll was on the other side. It's bad to be homeless but to sleep here in Glenwood Canyon would be a desirable thing, at least in nice weather.

 Oh my, I know the story behind this road. This is a part of the original road through Glenwood Canyon. The elaborate I-70 Freeway was only completed here in 1992. In 1987 me and some friends were driving from Denver to Telluride. I remember going through the tunnel at the summit but eventually along the Colorado River in the middle of the night, we had to wait for a pilot car to lead us down the muddy one lane road which led here and then went into Glenwood Springs. Now it's part of the bike path.

 This was on a sign at a rest stop up ahead. That's what we followed, a pilot car.

You have to ride for just a bit on that original road. Up the hill to meet the bike path.

 At the top you'll pass Glenwood Canyon Resort featuring cabins and zip lines and rafting too.

 OK, so here's the trail, first you go back downhill.

 Down to the Colorado River.

 You can see the highway on the left and the river on the right.

 Some really nice sights along here.

 On the other side of the river is the Union Pacific line.

 Entering the White River National Forest.

 Grizzly Creek Rest Area. Bathrooms, water, salty snacks. Hey, why don't they sell cliff bars and power bars in those machines? I did refill my water bottle.

The Graceful freeway spans offered shade along the way.

Some rapids in the distance. Huge bird upper left corner.

OK next time I'm going rafting. There were hundreds of people rafting and it looks fun.

Trail beneath the fluid freeway.

OK, in 1909 this hydroelectric plant was built for one purpose: To power the Denver Trolley System. They generated power all the way over here to transmit by wire to Denver to run the street cars. Now days it's fifteen megawatts are fed into the Xcel energy grid.

More rapids on the Colorado river.

I would not attempt these rapids.

Natural river and modern highway.

Tunnels on I-70

Freeway tunnel above, non descript train tunnel below left of green bush.

Then I reached the Hanging Lake Trail. It was closed for a while but is back open again. It's a 1.2 mile hike with 1,000 vertical gain.

I started off thinking this can't be too hard. It's not that far.

This is bridge #2 there were seven bridges.

The trail was mostly steep.

Almost to the top, looking back to where I started.

And now some pictures of the hanging lake:

There were fish in Hanging Lake.

Water coming down from hanging lake.

By the time I made it back down my foot was throbbing. I'd gone about 15 miles but instead of riding the rest of the trail I turned around and headed back to Glenwood Springs. I'll have to try this one again after my foot heals.

I took these pictures at the Grizzly Creek rest stop on ythe way back.

So what I did see of the Glenwood Canyon trail was awesome and I'm definately coming back for more. Hooray for Glenwood Springs!