Heart of the Rockies

So, more on our trip to Salida. After our 2.5 hour car drive along route 50 (it’s only an hour away but we pulled over several times for pictures) we finally arrived in Salida. A little factoid, Route 50 goes from Maryland to California. Salida is a little town at 7,700 feet above sea level which is about 2000 feet above Canon City. It sits in the Arkansas River Valley and is surrounded by some serious mountains. Now I can understand why people kept telling me that Canon was in “the hills.” To give you a few ideas by linking to other’s pictures…

View of Salida by Flickr user teepoole

Salida's Main Street by Victoriaash Flickr

Mountains just outside of Salida by Ken Lund on Flickr

Webb and I walked up and down Main Street full of little artsy shops, outdoor gear shops, and antique stores etc etc. We went in most of them and then decided to eat lunch at the Boathouse which is at the end of Main Street with a view of the river which runs right alongside the building.

View up river from the boathouse. Just downriver is the F Street bridge.

This is an area where lots of kayakers come to practice and people stand on the F Street Bridge to oggle and enjoy the scenery. The F Street bridge, a two span concrete arch bridge, built, 1907-08 is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Looks VERY familiar doesn’t it?!?!??! I thought it looked just like the Harrods Creek Bridge from a distance…they were actually constructed at almost the same time which I found very interesting.

F Street Bridge from birdgepix.com

We had tacos at the Boathouse which were really tasty. Webb really enjoyed his…

Webb enjoys yummy tacos at the Boathouse

Through the Canyon to Salida

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This is the Upper Arkansas River between Salida and Canon City. We stopped several times to take pictures...can you blame us?

This is Webb beside the river, he likes to wave at the camera...

Yesterday we spent the day in Salida (more on that later). I wanted to share these really awesome pictures of the drive up to Salida. The Arkansas begins in Leadville, goes through Salida, Canon City and ultimately all the way to the Mississippi River and naturally the Gulf of Mexico. Up here it’s all white water and small like a creek.

Ouch!!!