I’ve mentioned before but it bears repeating, one of the most fun parts of this trip is not having time requirements. We stop along the way to explore unique places, summit peaks, and look for rocks.

Moving along I-70 toward Denver, Colorado, I notice a small blip on my peakbagging screen that is very close to the highway. “DIA” ridge, elevation 5,665 feet with a rise of 20’ feet, rests smack dab in the middle of a road through Adams County. We exit the freeway and make our way to the summit of DIA ridge. Oncoming traffic prevents me from taking a picture, and I am almost embarrassed to list this drive by summit peak until I search the Listofjohn.com website and find that 114 fellow members also claim a summit of the Adams County High Point.

Continuing through Denver, I-70 soon takes us into the Rocky Mountains and the small town of Idaho Springs, where Linda has identified the Phoenix Gold Mine as a fun place to stop and pan for gold. Unfortunately, bad weather is moving into the area, and the temperature is beginning to drop.

I stop briefly on the narrow road while Linda exits the vehicle and the owner of the mine directs me to a location wide enough to turn our truck and trailer around. By the time I find ample parking space down the road, make lunch, and return, there is a constant drizzle and it is becoming frigid.

Making my way back to the mine, I find Linda shivering in the stream bed panning for gold. We eat a quick sandwich and Linda runs back to the truck for more clothing. By the time she returns, it is raining, and I am beginning to worry about the dirt road becoming slippery when wet. Pulling a trailer downhill on an icy road is not appealing to me, so we keep an eye on the storm while Linda continues to work the stream.

Soon it is too cold for my thin jacket, and I head back to the truck, encouraging Linda not to spend too much longer looking for gold. Not long after, I can see Linda walking down the road, in what is now a full rainstorm. Thankfully the drive has enough gravel that we can move down the mountainside without incident. As we continue east along I-70, the rain soon turns to snow and we marvel at the dramatic changes in the temperature zones we have passed through between Oklahoma with unbearable heat and humidity to snow in Colorado.