To start at the beginning of our trip, start here.

Here are just a few images as we left Snowmass Village and headed to Grand Lake, Colorado. We had wanted to take this scenic bypass on the way to our getaway, but due to the traffic, we decided to wait until on the way back. We took Scenic Byway 82, and I apologize for the lousy cell pics taken through the dirty windshield. My husband said that if he stopped anymore, we’d never get to our destination!

The road lead us to Independence Pass, elevation 12,095′,which is the highest paved mountain pass, and is usually open only six months a year.

Look how ridiculously narrow this road gets. There are vehicle size restrictions on this road:

Independence Pass and the highest paved road that is a pass.

We then drove through the town of Leadville. I loved seeing many of theplaces that I’ve only read about.

As we continue, my husband saw a road leading up a steep hill that had tire tracks. Of course he pulls over to see if we can off-road there. We pulled over at Clinton Gulch Reservoir, which isnear Leadville. The road was blocked off, but I did get a shot of the pretty lake. This link leads you to hiking information, although there is fishing also. Because it’s a six mile loop hike, I chose not to hike here.

We finally reached Grand Lake, Colorado and drove around for a few minutes. I stopped at the Chamber of Commerce to ask about hiking in the area. The woman there gave me a great map, and I decided on Monarch Lake. The next few images are from the drive through theArapaho National Forest to get to the lake.

My next post ison my hike around the lake.