American Rockies 2019

   There was no need to get up too early or rush to pack the luggage for loading on to the bus this morning.  We walked next door to the DazBog coffee shop for muffins and coffee. Then we wandered further circling to the next shopping mall and finding the trail along Cherry Creek to get back to the hotel.    Steps 4,069    Our shuttle to the airport was scheduled for 8:55 a.m., but was 10 minutes late. There was still plenty of time since our flight’s departure was 1:10 p.m.  The plane left the gate a few minutes early for the two hour and 35 minute flight to Vancouver.  Our luggage was tagged all the way home so we did not need to worry about it in Vancouver.  Customs went smoothly and we took a bus from Customs to the domestic Air Canada terminal and did not need to go through security. We had more than five hours to wait for the flight home.               Steps  15,672

   After breakfast in the hotel, we went for an hour walk, about 5 kilometers, mostly on Academy Blvd.  It was warmer than yesterday morning at 9°C and cloudy. The tops of the mountains were covered by clouds.  Bus departure was 8:35 a.m.        Steps 8,283    On the road, we could not see the top of Cheyenne Mountain, to see all the communication towers for the NORAD headquarters buried in the mountain.  Our first stop of the day was the 55-meter high Broadmore Seven Falls, which has been privately owned since 1884.  It is located in South Cheyenne Canyon in a natural box canyon. In 1918, a luxury hotel was built which has the only five-star restaurant in Colorado.  At the gate, most of the group selected to take the open-air shuttle for the mile-long uphill ride to the base of the falls.  We and another couple were the only ones to choose to walk the gradual incline to the falls, beside the gurgling brook. Once we were at the base, the shuttles were just starting back down to the

   A chilly morning  today in  Gunnison, just 2°C.  Luckily, we had a complimentary breakfast in the hotel and did not need to go out until the 8 a.m. departure of the bus. Today’s journey was about 290 kilometers.  We were back on Highway 50 going east. The first stop was at the Monarch Pass, elevation 3,448 meters (11,312 feet), at the Continental Divide.  It might be the highest place on the tour where we have stopped.  Matt, our tour director, took a group picture with the Collegiate Mountains in the background, on the east side of the Continental Divide.  There was a well-stocked gift store adjacent to the parking lot.       We descended the eastern side of the Continental Divide winding through the forest of pine and autumn coloured aspens covering the mountainsides.  Near Salida, we turned onto Highway 285 and the Arkansas River Valley was soon in view.  The Arkansas River is a tributary to the Mississippi River.  We passed some logging trucks carrying at least ten-meter lon