Day 11
After a hair-raising Day #10 that saw us summiting four 14ers, we needed a little break. So, for Day #11 our primary goal was to travel from Frisco to Leadville and make a few stops along the way.
First, like pretty much every day, we needed some coffee. Day #10 was a LONG day and left us a little exhausted. We sort of slept-walked to the 9th coffeeshop of our project—Rocky Mountain Coffee Roaster in Frisco. This place makes a great Americano (which we desperately needed) and has an amazing selection of bagels and breakfast sandwiches.
The coffee helped open our eyes a little more and get us ready for our 10th scenic drive—Highway 91 between Copper and Leadville. This drive has beautiful mountains, pine forests, flowing water, and glimpses of the area’s mining past and present.
Along the way, we stopped at our 10th water feature—Clinton Gulch Dam Reservoir. Back in 2012, Kendrick stopped here with his parents on his first ever visit to Leadville. This scenic area offers fishing opportunities, great views, and a few miles of hiking trails.
Shortly after arriving in Leadville it was time to re-caffeinate. We made our way to City on a Hill—the 10th coffeeshop of our project. This place has been a staple in Leadville as long as we can remember. They serve up great coffee drinks and have an extensive selection of pastries, breakfast burritos, sandwiches, soups, and salads. Out front is a memorial bench dedicated to the one-and-only Bill Dooper, ultrarunning’s Super Fan. This man never ran an ultra in his life, yet became the sport’s #1 fan who knew everything about everyone and was loved by everyone. Kendrick fondly remembers sitting in the coffeeshop during his truck-dwelling days and having some great conversations with Bill.
After waking up (again) we headed to the 12th brewery of our project—Periodic Brewing in Leadville. Our first stop as we arrived in town was the grocery store. Coincidentally, our store receipt had a “Buy One Get One” coupon for the brewery on the back! Seemed like destiny to us!
Finally, it was time to head out to one of our favorite boondocking spots in Colorado just outside of Leadville. We noticed that flowers were in bloom all around, but one flower seemed to really stand out. The Aspen Fleabane was our 9th featured Colorado wildflower.
Later that evening, we decided to wrap up our rest day and fuel up for another hiking day that would include two more 14ers by cooking one of our favorite campfire meals—grilled pork tenderloin and brussels sprouts with bacon!
So, here’s to 3 more days exploring Colorful Colorado…
14er 10/14: NONE Distillery 12/14: NONE Brewery 12/14: Periodic Brewing Coffeeshop 9/14: Rocky Mountain Coffee Roasters Coffeeshop 10/14: City on a Hill Wildflowers 9/14: Aspen Fleabane Water Feature 10/14: Clinton Gulch Dam Reservoir Scenic Drive 10/14: Highway 91 from Copper to Leadville