Chris had originally booked the Amtrak for us to take to Glenwood Springs again. However, trying to figure out the logistics of getting there before 8 am on Friday morning and what to do with our car inspired us to cancel the Amtrak booking and just drive.
Turns out that an awesome choice. The Amtrak was delayed for 5 hours before it ever left Union Station in Denver. Whew!
Chris and I left the house around 10 am and made a bit of a detour to stop and see Misha at work before heading up the I-80 corridor.
Though I wasn't terribly enthusiastic, Chris made a detour at Georgetown. Without finding a place to grab a quick lunch, he continue up the mountain to the Silver Dollar Trailhead for a little winter hiking. I wasn't feeling the need to hike.
We did, however, see something that was first for us in our 22 years in Colorado: a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. It was just walking up the middle of the mountain road without too much of a care until it found a place to bound up the side of the mountain.
It was awesome.
We finally reached the parking lot at the trailhead and proceeded to put on our winter snow hiking gear. I stepped out of the car to grab my stuff and promptly slipped and fell! Ouch!
The girl in the car next to us set off with her husky dog, snowshoes and a sled.
Chris and I were ready to go about 15-20 minutes later. Did you know that hiking in the snow is not very easy. We both had strapped our snowshoes to our backpacks. If we needed them, we would have them. I forgot to remove my camera because it was also strapped in, so the pack was even heavier.
Chris had much more energy than I.
After hiking 0.6 miles UP to the trailhead, I was ready to turn around.
The girl and her husky were having fun in the snow and I wished that I could have gotten a picture of her sitting on the sled with the dog pulling her down the hill. They were both enjoying the snow.
Chris and I turned around and made our way back to the Pilot. We set off for Silverthorne where we finally stopped for some lunch around 2 pm.
We arrived in Glenwood around 4 or 4:30 and got settled in at the Hampton Inn (right next to the gondola to the Glenwood Adventure Park) and not too far from either Glenwood Hot Springs and Iron Mountain Hot Springs.
Chris needed to pick up his ski gear for Saturday and then we stopped at a City Market for a few groceries.
Chris had made reservations for us Iron Mountain Hot Springs from 6:30 - 9:30 pm. Since they had a small takeout cafe, we decided to order dinner there so we didn't have to rush to fit everything in.
We soaked for about 2.5 hours. Even though we were shivering getting in to a hot tub at 103°, by the time we stepped out, we were steaming and the cool air felt mostly good.
Last time we visited Iron Mountain, we didn't have a car, so we walked back to our Airbnb about a mile or so. So much nicer to be able to drive.