Labor day weekend - the beginning. Part 1

That morning we found ourselves on the road... What a wonderful feeling - driving 70 miles per hour toward new discoveries and adventures... And the first adventure wasn't long in coming... Although we left behind beautiful sunny weather downhill, it started raining right after Idaho Springs... And it poured down hard, dramatically changing the landscape and making the drive along the winding I-70 less enjoyable than it should have been... But... we've lived in Colorado for quite some time, and this change didn't surprise us at all, except perhaps slowing us down a little... though not much ;)

 

But the rain also gave us this stunning view of the clouds and surroundings, making the mountains even more beautiful... So we didn't complain, we even enjoyed it.

Soon we entered the Eisenhower Tunnel, crossed the mountains, and within minutes found ourselves on the other side of the Continental Divide... 

And on the other side of the mountains, the weather was a little better. There was no rain (probably because it had moved east and left the area a few minutes before we arrived). Well... we had plans, and we were just enjoying the ride forward, without looking back. Soon we were ready to turn around and see what this road might bring...

We planned to make our first stop in Leadville, but decided to explore a new route. Instead of taking Highway 91, we drove to Vail and then turned onto Highway 24. This was our first time on this road, and we had no idea what to expect... Just a few minutes later, we entered the small town of Minturn, where we decided to stop and stroll. And the first thing we saw was a beautiful apple tree heavy with fruit :)

We walked down the street, admiring the colorful houses.

Isn't it just beautiful?

We turned onto a side road and stopped, surprised by two small buildings that looked very (and I mean very) unusual. We wondered what they were and went to take a look...

Eagle River flowed just a few feet away, and these small structures turned out to be restrooms. Just cute restrooms :)

Well.. this is what the wall looks like from inside... What a fantasy, don't you agree?

And this is the view from the outside. Whoever designed it, did a really good job!

The town is named for Robert Bowne Minturn, Jr., who was vice president of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad that founded the town. Minturn's oldest families settled at the confluence of Gore Creek and the Eagle River in the late 1800s. Some created homesteads and farmed the land, while others mined silver in the mountains high above town. With the arrival of the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad in 1887, Minturn quickly developed into a booming crossroads for transportation and industry. By the turn of the century, a growing population of mining and railroad workers and their families raised the demand for business and services in town. In response, Minturn was incorporated on November 15, 1904.

The town currently has a population of about a thousand year-round residents. And on this Saturday, it seemed like most of them were out on the streets. It was market day, and people were crowded around the numerous stalls, browsing and buying local produce and handicrafts. We joined the crowd and couldn't resist buying souvenirs and gifts :)

Our next destination was the Red Cliff Bridge (which is actually why we chose this route instead of the shorter one we usually took). The bridge has its own history, and it's one of Colorado's most iconic bridges.

The bridge was designed by King Burghardt, an engineer at the Colorado Department of Highways, and built by contractor P.M. Kenney in 1940, using steel components fabricated by the Minnesota-Moline Power Implement Company. Construction was difficult, with workers hanging over a 200 ft (61 m) drop while working in temperatures that sometimes dipped below 0 °F (−18 °C). Burghardt wrote in his journal, "In the morning, each gang was lifted to its scaffold on a platform hung from the high line. They took their lunches with them and spent the entire day in the air with the winter wind continually blowing up the canyon."

We first looked at the bridge from afar, and then drove around it to see it up close. But first, we decided to stroll the streets (well... along THE street) of Red Cliff...

And there we found another (smaller) bridge, very similar to its big brother. Well.. it was a pleasant find :)

Then we returned to the Red Cliff bridge (also called the Green Bridge or originally called the "Silver Bridge" by locals for its original silver color before being re-painted green as it remains today) and admired it up close...

Soon we were ready to continue on toward Leadville... But I think we will talk about that next time :)

Click here to check out what we found next on our way - .Buena Vista and hummingbird

Photos taken on August 30, 2025.