Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Initially, I was going to include our visit to Glenwood Springs in my previous blog post, but I decided that the events which occurred in Glenwood Springs deserve their own post.

First, I have to say that I-70 west from Denver is probably the most beautiful drive I've even done. The Blue Ridge Parkway was gorgeous, but there is nothing that can compare to driving through the Rocky Mountains. We passed through all these cute mountain towns, including Vail and Aspen. It only took us about 3 hours to get to Glenwood Springs where we set up camp at this primitive campsite called Ami's Acres overlooking the Rockies.

Glenwood Springs is known for it's hot springs, and it has the largest natural pool in America. There was a lot to do, including our hike up to Hanging Lake, so we had already stratagized our itinerary and we were planning to spend an hour that evening at these Vapor Caves. THANK goodness they let us look at the caves first. We basically walked into this dungeon that spelled like poo. The combination of the sulphur smell and the heat causing my glasses to fog up caused this overwhelming feeling or claustrophobia and I bolted out of there. Ale went in all the way and said the placed was packed with naked people. So... We went to the hot springs natural pool instead. It was amazing!!! Like, imagine swimming in a giant bathtub that makes you skin baby soft. Heaven. And for those of you who ever visit the pool, don't forget to take 25 cents so you can turn the individual chair bubbles on! We unfortunately missed out on that...

So after a lovely soak, we headed back to camp to make s'mores and drink some Colorado brewed beer. As we were driving along the (dead end) road to our campsite we came upon a GIANT 18-wheeler truck that, while trying to turn around on this tiny street, had managed to get the whole front of the truck stuck in the ditch between the road and the highway. The entire body of the truck was blocking the road. And of course, he pulled this fancy move RIGHT in front of the entrance to our campsite. This would happen to us... But we were smart. We perched ourselves a few blocks down the road in a deserted and totally sketchy parking lot to wait and see when the truck would drive by so we knew he had left. Only 3 hours later, around 12:00, they must have somehow magically lifted this truck out of the ditch, and he was gone. Like no one's night was ruined or anything. Nuts!!

The next morning, we started the 3 mile round trip hike up to Hanging Lake. The lake is nestled up in the mountains and the water is full of minerals that give it a turquoise like color. This was an incredible and very rewarding hike, I totally recommend it. And if you go, make sure you hike the extra 5 minutes up to Spouting Rock.

I am definitely going back to Glenwood Springs. Check out more of the pictures here!

Camping in Glenwood Springs, Colorado

Hike to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Springs