Colorado Springs, CO: The Finale (2754.3 miles)

Blogging for the final time is sublime. I've had fun writing and posting pictures, and I hope that you've enjoyed following along with us on our trip. We've conquered some of the toughest trails in the West, having fun for all 2754.3 miles of our journey. Tomorrow, Jess and Dad begin the trek home with the Jeep, as I fly to Baltimore and Mom lands in Chicago. Again, hope you've enjoyed the ride-we know we have. Thanks for everything, Dad.

We love selfies. 

Wittenberg Gals Catch Up with Road Warriors

News from the Gals!  

The Wittenberg Gals caught up to the Road Warriors on Sunday after spending almost 5 days in Orange County, CA at the USA Water Polo Junior Olympics.  The Lions placed 12th in the Gold Division, and 23 overall out of over 90 teams. Way to Go GIRLS!  Jessie and the team did a great job playing tough teams from all over the United States - these women play rough Water Polo!

Team at OceanView Pool as the Sun Sets Over Orange County CA

After several grueling days with 3 Water Polo games, being at the Broadmoor is such a great place to be to relax and unwind. It is a gem in the mountains located in Colorado Springs!  

Today Jessie and I went on a hike on the Columbine Trail up Cheyenne Mountain.  Jessie went up to the top trail head, and I made it just past the mid-mountain trail head.  It was beautiful and scenic and over 4 miles of tough terrain. 

Tomorrow is spa day, as we continue our couple of days of relaxation at this wonderful piece of Heaven on Earth! 

Colorado Springs, CO: Garden of the Gods (2754.3 miles)

We spent much of today hanging out and relaxing around the Broadmoor. Dad, Jessie and I also took a short trip to the "Garden of the Gods," a small National Landmark area that has massive red rock formations that are completely out of place with the rest of the rocks and mountains in the area. We took a short walk and enjoyed a little time in the sun and in the Jeep.

We ate dinner at the Golden Bee, the Broadmoor's English Pub. Dinner was delicious and enjoyable-it was our first family dinner in almost two weeks! We had fish and chips, Shepherd's pie, and pub chili, and throughly enjoyed each dish. Dessert was also really, really good. We only have good things to say!

Rock Climber Extraordinaire 

Colorado Springs, CO: BLT (2754.7 miles)

We drove from Snowmass Village to Colorado Springs today, which was another extremely scenic drive that left us at the Broadmoor. We actually traveled along the "Top of the Rockies Scenic Highway," the unintentional namesake of the blog, for quite a ways and it was a cool way to drive up and over another mountain pass (albeit on a paved road this time). It is truly amazing to think that the West was settled by people that traveled over many of the same passes we traveled over in the past few days in horse-drawn wagons. We traveled these passes by car, and we had a difficult enough time...hats off to the settlers who did it with so much less.

Now that we're at the Broadmoor, I feel compelled to share my dinner experience with the blogosphere.  We ate at the Golf Club, and I casually ordered a BLT, without reading the menu description in detail. The server asked how I wanted it cooked, and, though I was quite confused (what needs to be cooked to temperature on a BLT?) I said medium. This is what came:

Doesn't look like a BLT right? Actually, though, it was one of the most creative and imaginative dishes I've ever had. Instead of bacon, I was treated to a cutlet of pork tenderloin (right) and pork belly (left). Under the pork belly lies delicious tomato marmalade, which first was sweet but then provided quite a kick at the end. Obviously, seasoned and grilled lettuce capped the dish. When eaten as individual items, each was delicious; when combined, it made for one of the most delicious and unique BLT's I've ever had in my life.

Top of the Rockies 

Narrow Roads!

Snowmass Village, CO: Lincoln Creek Road (2566.7 miles)

Today was our final day of wheeling in Colorado, and, unfortunately, we didn't get to go out with a bang. Since many other more difficult trails had already been reserved, we were stuck with Lincoln Creek Road, an easy trail that took us to an old mining site. Compared to almost all of the trails we've run, Lincoln Creek was a walk (or drive, should I say?) in the park.

The other problem we've encountered with the Jamboree-style trail rides is that the trail becomes a parade route very quickly. The parade stops frequently. The parade takes many pictures. The parade moves extremely slowly. On a trail with obstacles to negotiate, this isn't such a bad way to do it. However, on a gravel road with a few rocks in the way, parade-style traveling isn't exciting. At all.

Because we were in need of a bit of entertainment, Dad and I resorted to doing the most obnoxious things we could think of. We drove over every small rock, as if it was providing the thrill of a lifetime. We narrated the journey in different accents. To ourselves. Because the ride was so uneventful (and because its the last blog about off-roading I'll be doing) I'll share with you Dad's chief manner of amusing himself, which consisted of burping loudly and then attempting to convince me to look into the forest and find the "bear" that had just "growled" at us. Well played, Dad. Well played.

Regardless, we had some fun and got to enjoy another day on the trails. We didn't get many pictures, but we hope the ones we did get suffice.

The parade moves on

Jeeps climb the hills

Parked on the rocks

Valley of Ruby Mine

Snowmass Ski Area 

Snowmass Village, CO: Pearl Pass (2484.4 miles)

Today was our highly anticipated run of Pearl Pass. Now that we're with the Jeep Jamboree, the wheeling we'll do is more safe (having 10 other Jeeps around to help winch you out of a mudhole is much more convenient than walking ten miles over a mountain pass into town to get a tow truck when you're broken down), but is also less of a free-for-all for us. There's a lot of stopping along the trail as well as some traffic jams, but, in all, we still enjoyed our trip over Pearl Pass.

I drove today, and although I didn't drive Black Bear Pass, I will say...Pearl Pass simply doesn't compare. Pearl was more difficult throughout, and had a few obstacles that were tough to handle in our mostly stock Rubicon. However, the "there is a real possibility that I could die" feeling that comes on the Steps of Black Bear (that we videoed) gives that trail a combined fear/excitement factor of 10, compared with Pearl's 7. Of course, that assessment is far from scientific, and is simply my opinion. Nonetheless, Pearl was a difficult trail that required some good tire placement and technical driving because we don't have some of the modifications other Jeeps here have. All of the other Jeeps that drove Pearl today had 35"tires (or bigger, up to 38") and lift kits. Like I said, we rolled on through stock. With bigger tires and a lift, driving this trail becomes much easier, and you can roll over whatever you want without worrying about the underside of your car. For us, things are a bit trickier.

Regardless, Pearl combined good challenges with beautiful scenery. The ground around us changed from Alpine Tundra, with grasses and flowers, to pure shale rock. Everywhere. You'll see the lunar landscape we drove through in the pictures. It was pretty incredible while also challenging at the same time.

Dad and I also got to play some catch on the top of the pass as everyone ate lunch. Brought the baseball mitts 2,400 miles for a reason, right? We had a great time.

Enjoy the GoPro video and pictures below. In the video, you'll see the camera (and car, really) shudder a few times where we came to rest on the skid plates....nothing a little paint and Rust-eze can't fix! Click here to watch if the embedded version doesn't work!

Our Jamboree group

Snow, and lunar rocks.

Alpine Tundra

Pearl Pass

We're getting panoramic.

Up close and personal.

Waterfall on the way down.