We began our first day of the road trip with a VERY early morning wake up call to catch our 6AM flight to Denver. After getting settled with our rental car, we were on our way!
Lunch (~1 hour drive)
Before we begin our journey we filled our bellies at Smokin’ Yards BBQ in Idaho Springs, about an hour west of the Denver airport.
Our happy faces when we were stuffing our bellies. The beginning of an epic trip!
Vail, Colorado (~1 hour drive)
This was a crazy weather year for a lot of places in the US, and our trip definitely had some crazy weather. Even though it was Memorial Day weekend (end of May), it started snowing, sleeting, and hailing, all at different times.
By the time we made it to Vail Ski Resort, the sun came out for a bit, and then it started raining/sleeting again. But good thing we were prepared! We saw the weather forecast and packed our light jackets, rain jackets, and snow jackets all for the same trip. I have to say, we experienced all 4 seasons in just a matter of hours. Coming from California, this was kinda crazy!
We stopped in the village area at Vail (free parking in the summer – yay!) and walked around. It’s pretty dead in the summer but the shops were still opened and we went shopping a bit. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t participating when we were there, and it rained/sleeted/snowed on and off when we were there, and we were all pretty wet. Because of the crazy weather, we didn’t stop there for too long and continued on our way to Glenwood Canyon, 2 hours west of Vail.
Hanging Lake, Glenwood Canyon (~2 hours drive)
Lucky for us, by the time we got to Glenwood Canyon, the sky opened up, and it dried up! It was great because to get to Hanging Lake we had to hike about 1 mile up very steep ad rocky terrain (it was no joke, so be prepared!), and we would have been miserable if it rained.
The parking lot was packed when we got there, but we got into a line and only waited 20 minutes before a ranger told us it was our turn for the open spot. I have to say, kudos to those rangers – the parking situation was very civilized, unlike a lot of situations I experienced in other parks where you had to fight for a spot.
So what is Hanging Lake? Hanging Lake is located on the edge of Glenwood Canyon’s cliffs, so it looks like the lake is hanging on top of the cliff (hence the name). After a strenuous hike, we were rewarded with beautiful waterfalls spilling into clear/turquoise water in the lake. It was absolutely gorgeous!
Hanging Lake, Glenwood Canyon
I have to say pictures don’t do it justice, so it’s something you want to experience for yourself!
Dinner, Aspen (~1+ hour drive)
After a good workout climbing up to Hanging Lake, we stopped nearby at Glenwood Canyon Brewing for dinner before heading to Aspen to spend the night at The Inn at Aspen.
Dinner and drinks at Glenwood Canyon Brewing
What a day!
Check out the next article – Road Trip Around Colorado – Day 2