October is an amazing month to hit the road in search of fall colors. This year we flew to Colorado and teamed up with Native Campervans to hit the road in one of their decked out Ram Promasters charmingly nicknamed Peter. Over the course of the next 5 days we followed a 581 mile loop through some of the most gorgeous territory in the continental US. Here are a handful of the sights we saw along the way.
Day 1 we picked up the van in Denver at Native Campervans industrial chic warehouse and made our way down to Aspen stopping in at Periodic Brew Co in Leadville for lunch and a beer. Then we spent the next day exploring Maroon Bells and Castle Creek Road before heading down the gorgeous dirt road pass to Crested Butte. Although the van wasn’t huge, Peter was plenty long enough to provide leg and head room for a 6’2 individual like myself. The fall evenings in Colorado can be quite cold but we managed to stay warm enough under the down comforter provided and we also managed to avoid scuffles with the local bears although we did have a close face to face encounter with one after leaving a restaurant in Aspen. He was enjoying the spoils in the dumpster as we came around the corner.
Arriving in Crested Butte on a Sunday we were welcomed to a lovely little farmers market where we had some of the best bbq I can recall in recent memory. That evening we camped at “Oh Be Joyful” Campground along a nice little creek.
After spending some time exploring the sights around Crested Butte and taking in a movie at the towns cozy little alcohol serving theater we made an adjustment to our route and followed the Cottonwood Pass through to Buena Vista which was a great piece of advice we received from a local. From there we cut up the 9 through Breckenridge and stopped for a glass of wine before calling it a night at a pull off on the side of the road because all the campgrounds in the area were closed for the season.
The next morning we killed some time by cruising through the Guanella Pass 381 before heading back to Denver where we hit up Post Oak BBQ (AHHMAZING) before dropping off the van and grabbing an Uber to the airport. Enjoy the pics!
