The road between Aspen and Colorado Springs is as much of an attraction as the towns are themselves. We decided to take Independence Pass to get between the two cities. About 10 miles out of Aspen Conrad had a stop that he wanted to make at a place called The Grotto. It was a day use area just off the road and had a very small parking lot but it was empty when we arrived so we had no problems.
The first little part of the hike was to a waterfall that they call Cascades. We took a short trail to see if from the bottom. We would see if from the top along the other part of the trail. It was peaceful and quiet and we didn’t see anyone else on the trails but we did see some clothing by the waterfall that looked like someone was camping in the area and had laid some things out to dry
Cascades at the Grottos
Cascades at the Grottos
We doubled back and then took a short loop trail that went by a large flat rock with smaller rocks sitting on top called the Erratics, then on to the Ice Caves which you could climb down into but it was not an easy climb in and was slippery so Conrad went in for a short way but then climbed back out. Finally along the trail was the top of the Cascades.
The Erratics
Ice Caves
Ice Caves
Ice Cakes
Cascades from the top
Cascades from the top
View from the parking lot at the Grottos
Once we left the Grottos we travelled through the mountains on Independence Pass. We stopped occasionally including at the very top at the Continental Divide to grab some photos. At one point as we were stopped taking pictures a line of corvettes passed by where we were, they were driving fast along the curvy road and several had go pro cameras and were filming out the windows and tops of the cars. When we reached the parking lot at the Continental Divide they were in the parking lot as well.
Views along Independence Pass
Views along Independence Pass
Views along Independence Pass
Views along Independence Pass (12,095 feet)
Views along Independence Pass
Views along Independence Pass
Views along Independence Pass
Views along Independence Pass
Views along Independence Pass
Reservoir at the bottom of Independence Pass looking back you can see the road in the background.
Once we left Independence Pass we still had a long way to go into Colorado Springs, much of it along many many miles of flat 2 lane road running through miles and miles of ranches. After having all of the mountain scenery along the way this part of the trip was less interesting.
We arrived at our hotel in Colorado Springs – a Best Western, probably the least fancy of the hotels that we stayed at and we were concerned when we arrived and the parking lot was totally empty. We checked into our room, which was fine. We decided to go over to check a public park nearby called Garden of the Gods before dinner. We stopped at the visitors center of the park and got our bearings. We were planning to visit the next day but wanted to see what we were going to find. We took a quick drive through the park and then headed back to the hotel. When we arrived the parking lot was totally full of antique cars and Corvettes. There were loads of older people in the lobby that also belonged to the cars. We say them a few times during our visit, the men driving the cars and the women visiting the local attractions in a bus. None of them wore masks at any time despite being very crowded whenever they were all together.
We decided to have dinner at the Outback Steakhouse nearby which was good and then we headed to bed because we had a big day planned tomorrow.