Leadville, CO (Day 1)
Monday, September 14
What a beautiful morning in Steamboat Lake State Park, Colorado. The air was crisp this morning, but the intense power of the sun let us know temperatures were climbing. We’d had beautiful late summer/early fall weather in Colorado the past few days. 70’s mid-day and 40’s overnight.
We discovered that Colorado State Parks have a Junior Ranger program, so Aden and Tory worked busily after breakfast to complete their packets. We’re a big fan of Junior Ranger programs in state and national parks because they’re a great way for kids (and parents!) to learn about plants and animals, landmarks, geography and the history of an area.
It was so cute seeing Tory mentor Aden while he completed his packet. As far as I’m concerned, seeing them work together on a project is far more valuable than anything they could learn in a school book.
Meanwhile, Andi enjoyed his morning coffee and packed up the RV in preparation for a day of travel and I completed my workout outdoors.
Before we left Steamboat Lake State Park, we stopped by the Visitor’s Center so the kids could claim their Colorado State Park Junior Ranger badges. I’m glad this particular state park still offered the Junior Ranger program because we’ve noticed that most of the ranger talks and educational programming has been canceled this year due to COVID-19.
Several trailheads leave from the Steamboat Lake State Park Visitor’s Center, so we picked a short hike to do as a family before we sat in the RV driving for a few hours today. This trail, called the Tombstone Nature Trail, was a 1.1 mile loop through forests and prairie with an overlook of the lake. About half-way through, we came across historical grave markers of a family who settled the land in the early 1930’s before it was a state park.
We set a family hiking goal on this trip to walk 12 miles per week and ever since we did this, we haven’t heard a complaint from the kids about hiking. They’re working hard to earn $2 each at the end of the week when we meet our family goal.
After walking the Tombstone Nature Trail, we hit the road for our next destination — Leadville, CO. Driving through the Rocky Mountains takes travel days to the next level! It’s not necessarily the distance between two points, but the elevation grades (sometimes as much as 7%) and the twisty roads weaving through the mountains that add tension. I knew the first part of our 2 1/2 hour drive to Leadville would be through flatter grasslands, so I offered to drive the RV for the first part of our journey. Along the way, we stopped for a roadside lunch in Wolcott and at Walmart in Eagle for groceries, before finally making our way over the Tennessee Pass. Luckily, Andi was driving for that part because we definitely climbed in elevation! Leadville is the nation’s 3rd highest city at 10,131 ft. above sea level.
Our first impression of Leadville was that it’s a dumpy, blue-color town. Such a shame because the view of the mountains in the background were absolutely breathtaking! Andi and I were tired of driving by the time we reached town and didn’t feel like doing much. We decided to dry-camp on some dispersed forest land near the city limits. There were only a few other campers there, so we easily found a spot amongst the pine trees. Once we got settled, the four of us went for a family walk down the dirt road and stopped to let the kids play on some run-down playground equipment.
There’s so much history surrounding the town of Leadville, so Andi and I are determined to give the town a proper chance tomorrow after a good night’s sleep. We were interested to learn that Leadville was once the second most populated city in Colorado, after Denver, during its big mining boom. Looking forward to learning more his history and charm tomorrow.
