Aspens on Blue Mesa

On the road again Day 7 | Blue Mesa

We left Dee at home to watch football, and headed back up to Blue Mesa. The weather has turned damp and cold, and I'm so glad I packed my down jacket. Today we're going to retrace yesterday's route south to the reservoir, then take a scenic drive that goes along the north rim of the Black Canyon, with overlooks where we can walk out to the edge, hold our breath and look down... way, way down to the river.

We've seen a lot of aspen groves on our trip so far, like brush strokes of green and yellow, orange and red across a canvas of grey rock and evergreen. As the days go by, the colors change and intensify and grow more beautiful.

After leaving the canyon, the road goes for miles through remote ranch land and high meadows, heading north then west. We drove for miles without seeing another car. We came through a couple of small towns, Maher and Crawford and Hotchkiss. There weren't any antique shops or wineries open today. Bummer... we saw a couple of intriguing ones.