The Rockies - Las Vegas

We're so glad we hired a car for our tour of the mountains. Having the freedom to go where we want to and stop at any time to enjoy the scenery has been invaluable. Many of the roads are quite precarious as they wind their way through valleys and over ridges but they are all so well maintained that they are a joy to drive. We woke up early in Leadville to the same spectacular view in a whole different light. The mountains surround you on all sides taking up all of your peripheral vision and the way the light plays off the slopes ensures you never get the same view twice. The owner of our hostel "Wild Bill" has lived in the town for several years and assures us he has never grown tired of the scenery. We set off early to ensure we got the most out of the day as there are less hours of daylight this high in the mountains. As we headed south we saw frozen lakes on either side, as twisting mountain passes made way to vast plains with peaks on all sides. One particular road followed the range of the Collegiate Peaks which are some of the tallest mountains in Colorado and are all named after Ivy League universities. After turning off the main highway and heading further into the mountains we came to the ski resort of Crested Butte which is across the valley from the more affluent Aspen. Mount Crested Butte is one of the more striking peaks in the Rockies with a sheer cliff face on one side which curls up into an impressive horn at the summit. We arrived there at sunset and it was amazing to watch the view change as the sun disappeared behind it in what seemed like a few minutes. The hostel there had recently put it's rates up in line with the opening of the ski season so we decided to find alternative accomadation by retracing our steps.
After driving for another hour in the fading light we found the town of Pitkin which has a population of under 100 people and is nestled in the heart of Gunnison National Forest. It was a surreal experience approaching the town in darkness and unaware of exactly where we were headed or what we might find. As we passed the huge Indian Head Rock an owl flew over head and later as we entered the forest we had to brake to avoid a racoon. As we approached the hostel all was pitch black except for the light from the window where a tall, long-haired and bearded man wearing a baseball cap and vest stared at us intently. At first we were both a little nervous at the sight of our landlord, but when he apologised for not having built a fire, having assumed we wouldn't turn up, we felt immediately at home. The hostel was in practically the most remote location you can imagine but it was great to have a room to ourselves and our own fire to tend to. There was only one store in Pitkin which opened very rarely so we had to drive to the nearest town of Ohio City to find something to eat. Ohio City is just as small as Pitkin but has a combination general store, bar and restaurant which were all we needed that night.As we were leaving they urged us to drive carefully because one of the bar staff had written off her car just the other week when she crashed head on into an elk. Needless to say we heeded their advice and proceeded with caution back to our warm fire. When we woke the next morning we came down to find our landlord mending a large metal cage trap he had set to catch vermin around the grounds of the hostel. He informed us that something, presumably a lynx, had gotten into the trap and proceeded to rip the thing apart in it's efforts to escape. This fact hammered home just how far off the beaten trail we had come and made us even more glad to have the car at our disposal. That day we made our way back to Leadville stopping for a few hours at Twin Lakes to take in the view and more photos/sketches. It was completely silent there so much so that the only audible sound was the very occasional plane that would pass thousands of metres overhead.
The next day we made our way back to Denver and after a spot of frantic cleaning returned the car with an hour to spare. We spent the rest of the day in the city before boarding our last long haul overnight bus to Las Vegas. We experienced a bit of culture shock on our arrival in the city the next day. Firstly because we had passed into another time zone and secondly because of the obvious vast difference between the mountains and the Strip. We spent our few days there watching the new James Bond film and Tenacious D movie which are both well worth seeing. We got uncomfortably full at the buffet dinners and wandered back and forth between practically every casino on the strip losing the occasional dollar on the slot machines. The Venetian was perhaps the most striking of the themed casino's with it's scale model of downtown venice complete with gondolas and a canal that stretches back into the heart of the shopping area inside.
We are now in Ocean Beach, San Diego which is a haven for beach bums and surfers alike. Everything is so stereotypical that it feels like we have suddenly been beamed down onto planet California. However, the weather is great and it feels satisfying to have made it all the way across the US. We look forward to spending a relaxing couple of weeks making our way north to San Francisco.