The town of Grand Lake is named after the largest natural lake in Colorado, Grand Lake. The lake is fed by the Grand River, except it’s not called the Grand River anymore, they renamed it the Colorado River. I guess they could have followed it downstream, renaming everything else too, but decided not to. Grand Lake, Grand County, Grand Junction, Grand Mesa, Grand Canyon. From Grand Lake to Creede, a 300 mile mountain day. From Northern Colorado, right down the middle, to Southern Colorado. From the headwaters of the Colorado, past the headwaters of the Arkansas, to the headwaters of the Rio Grande. A river Day. Only one high mountain pass, Fremont, 11,200, right before Leadville. Pretty much all downhill from there, except for Poncha Pass into the San Luis Valley, but that’s not even 10,000 feet high. Creede. What a place. It looks like a movie set. Not just the town, everything.
