Monday, August 22, 2005
Thin Air
posted by Jonathan at 11:14 PM
Current Location: Fruita, CO, N 39 09.103', W 108 44.194', elev. 4504 ft.
On sunday, Keith and I went to the Rockies game at Coors Field, the highest elevation field in MLB. The Rockies are an awful team, and I recognized few players on their roster, but I rooted for them, since I always root for the home team when I am visiting a stadium, unless that stadium happens to be in the Bronx. Keith rooted for the Cubs partially to be contrary, partially because I think he actually likes the Cubs, who ended up losing the crazy game by a score of 9-7. There were 4 home runs by each team in the thin air of Denver. Photos here.
After the game, we set out for Gunnison, CO to pick up Keith's luggage, heading south west on US 285 from Denver, then due west on US 50. The entire journey took about 3 hours. When we got to the airport, we found a parking lot full of cars, and a tiny terminal completely empty of humans. Everything was locked up and no luggage was to be found. Oh well, it was evening on Sunday after all. From there, we drove about 30 minutes north on Colorado 135, arriving in the mountain town of Crested Butte, where Keith's sister lives. I got a tour of the town and his sister's amazing apartment, before we all went out to dinner at a nifty gourmet pizza restaurant that happened to be a drug parlor in a former life. At the end of the meal, the waitress handed us all fortune cookies, and I happened to get the most bizarre fortune I have ever received in my life; one that didn't make sense in any context I could conjure. I'm not going to write it out here, but if you look hard enough, you just may happen to find it elsewhere on this website.
I went to sleep in a loft in Keith's sister's apartment, and for some reason, I had one of the best nights of sleep yet on the whole trip. Perhaps it was the mountain air, or the warm coziness of the loft, or maybe it was just good to see people I know, but I slept incredibly well. I woke up in the morning and toured Crested Butte a bit with Keith and his dad. We went up to the ski resort and then back to the town, and I took a few photos. I then walked around the town a bit going into a few stores looking for souvenirs while Keith made the half hour drive back to the airport for his luggage. I met him and his dad there, only to find out they still did not have any luck with the luggage, as there was still no one manning the airport. I hope Keith eventually got his luggage. After a quick lunch in the town of Gunnison, I said my goodbyes and thanks and I was off again. So far I've loved everything about Colorado, no complaints. The views are terrific, the air is great, and the people make you feel at home.
I continued west on US 50 for about an hour, eventually reaching Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This park wins the award for longest unnecessary name. I did all of the park in under three hours, since it is relatively small. The park road is only about 20 miles one way, with 12 canyon overlook points (1 of which was closed), and a windy road down to the river. I stopped several times to take some photos of the very amazing canyon. From what I read, I learned that the canyon walls are 2700 feet at their highest, and that the canyon is often taller than it is wide, an unusual occurrence. The canyon is very photogenic, and many spots have a lot of marbling in the walls where the water just cut through indiscriminately.
You can view the rest of the photos here. After the canyon, I continued west on US 50 until I got to Grand Junction, CO, where I met up with I-70 again and headed west a short distance to Fruita, CO, where I stopped for the night. Tomorrow I'm headed back to Utah, but I'll be in Colorado again.
On sunday, Keith and I went to the Rockies game at Coors Field, the highest elevation field in MLB. The Rockies are an awful team, and I recognized few players on their roster, but I rooted for them, since I always root for the home team when I am visiting a stadium, unless that stadium happens to be in the Bronx. Keith rooted for the Cubs partially to be contrary, partially because I think he actually likes the Cubs, who ended up losing the crazy game by a score of 9-7. There were 4 home runs by each team in the thin air of Denver. Photos here.
After the game, we set out for Gunnison, CO to pick up Keith's luggage, heading south west on US 285 from Denver, then due west on US 50. The entire journey took about 3 hours. When we got to the airport, we found a parking lot full of cars, and a tiny terminal completely empty of humans. Everything was locked up and no luggage was to be found. Oh well, it was evening on Sunday after all. From there, we drove about 30 minutes north on Colorado 135, arriving in the mountain town of Crested Butte, where Keith's sister lives. I got a tour of the town and his sister's amazing apartment, before we all went out to dinner at a nifty gourmet pizza restaurant that happened to be a drug parlor in a former life. At the end of the meal, the waitress handed us all fortune cookies, and I happened to get the most bizarre fortune I have ever received in my life; one that didn't make sense in any context I could conjure. I'm not going to write it out here, but if you look hard enough, you just may happen to find it elsewhere on this website.
I went to sleep in a loft in Keith's sister's apartment, and for some reason, I had one of the best nights of sleep yet on the whole trip. Perhaps it was the mountain air, or the warm coziness of the loft, or maybe it was just good to see people I know, but I slept incredibly well. I woke up in the morning and toured Crested Butte a bit with Keith and his dad. We went up to the ski resort and then back to the town, and I took a few photos. I then walked around the town a bit going into a few stores looking for souvenirs while Keith made the half hour drive back to the airport for his luggage. I met him and his dad there, only to find out they still did not have any luck with the luggage, as there was still no one manning the airport. I hope Keith eventually got his luggage. After a quick lunch in the town of Gunnison, I said my goodbyes and thanks and I was off again. So far I've loved everything about Colorado, no complaints. The views are terrific, the air is great, and the people make you feel at home.
I continued west on US 50 for about an hour, eventually reaching Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This park wins the award for longest unnecessary name. I did all of the park in under three hours, since it is relatively small. The park road is only about 20 miles one way, with 12 canyon overlook points (1 of which was closed), and a windy road down to the river. I stopped several times to take some photos of the very amazing canyon. From what I read, I learned that the canyon walls are 2700 feet at their highest, and that the canyon is often taller than it is wide, an unusual occurrence. The canyon is very photogenic, and many spots have a lot of marbling in the walls where the water just cut through indiscriminately.
You can view the rest of the photos here. After the canyon, I continued west on US 50 until I got to Grand Junction, CO, where I met up with I-70 again and headed west a short distance to Fruita, CO, where I stopped for the night. Tomorrow I'm headed back to Utah, but I'll be in Colorado again.