The fact that the first night you are sleeping at the Denver airport - what - a mile high or so (5,000 feet plus) is a good intro.

Hydrate coniuously (in other words - dring a lot of water) - and if one of you has a problem - get to a lower altitude.

Simple really. And if you know DH has problems over 8,000 feet - don't stay up there that long.

Can't remember the base of Beaver Creek offhand - but it might be pushing 8,000 feet.

Here's a webpage on altitude sickness and also - the various altitudes. Beaver Creek looks like it's about 7,400?

Estes Park - depends on where you stay?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g28927-c3597/Colorado:United-States:Altitude.Sickness.html

I assume you will be taking highway 285 out of Denver into the mountains. (That's what I would suggest, anyway) It is about a 4 hour, quite scenic, drive to Gunnison--about a six hour drive if you add in the sand dunes. Anyway there are two full-service supermarkets in the vicinity of Conifer, CO which is about 15 miles from the west side of Denver. There is a Safeway and a King Soopers (a local Kroger chain)--either is located right off highway 285. (go to either www.safeway.com www.kingsoopers.com to get exact locations) You should be able to get anything you want/need at either of them.

Another place to consider when you are in Gunnison, and if exploring the Black Canyon doesn't take you entire day, is the little town of Crested Butte--about 40 miles north of Gunnision. http://www.crestedbutte-co.gov/

When traveling from Beaver Creek to Estes Park, I suggest you take the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway http://www.myscenicdrives.com/drives/colorado/peak-to-peak-scenic-byway.

The day you explore Black Canyon I would sleep in Montrose instead of backtracking to Gunnison. If you end up with extra time you could include a visit to Ouray on that day.

Black Canyon is great...but not really a whole day kind of park. There aren't a lot of trails or wildlife so mostly you'd just drive to different viewpoints, hike to the rim to look over and that's about it. You've basically allocated 2 days to get there and explore and one is plenty.

If you don't meander and find yourself there early enough on day 2, head into the park and check it out. I would think you could skip the 2nd night in Gunnison and just drive to Fruita or Grand Junction instead.

For wildlife, RMNP is great but I don't think you'd be able to add an extra day based on the timing of the arts festival. That's unfortunate.

I would highly recommend you enter RMNP via Grand Lake instead of Estes Park. That is the western entrance and much closer to Beaver Creek. That way you can see the west side of the park on your way to Estes Park and drive up and over Trail Ridge Road. The elevation might be tough but you can make it over in under 2 hours if you're not stopping alot - I would think after a week you would be somewhat acclimated and your husband should be ok. Most people drive Trail Ridge Road anyway, so to me it makes more sense to drive that route to get to Estes rather than make a special trip a different day.

You can drive the scenic route that martym suggested on your back to the Denver airport.

if it were me and your going to Grand Junction I would head on to Moab and Archs NP .. only about an hour n half down the interstate

I was just thinking back to the trips we've taken. We did fine at the Tetons, Cascades and Yellowstone so I think we'll be okey-dokey at the sleeping elevations of around 8000 ft.

It sounds like we can sneak in the Sand Dunes, get to Gunnison late afternoon, give ourselves a full day at the Black Canyon and head out early the next day for Grand Junction. I will look into all the scenic drives. Then leave Beaver Creek early so we have almost three days at RMNP.

I am a little sticker shocked by the car rental prices out of Denver. We won't be able to afford an SUV this time. I hope a sedan can handle any gravel roads we drive (will there be any? We usually find a few in the NPs we've visited).. It's $1000 for a car, $1700 for an SUV. Any tips for a better deal?

Thank you.

You don't need an SUV. Check rental prices from downtown.

You certainly don''t need a SUV at all. When are you going? If it is close, then it may be what it is. I know people recommend going into town to rent--you've got to get there and schlep all your stuff too--which for you means golf clubs too, i guess!!
Look on Hotwire and see what comes up==you'll see the surcharges for the airport which in Denver are not small change. But if you rent off site, you've got to return it also, with all that schlepping.

No golf clubs. We ship them UPS. It's easier and the same price as checking them. The golf clubhouse will store them at no cost (they even clean them at most places).

How would we get into town without a car? It may cost more to grab a cab both ways than to just rent the car at the airport. I have a couple of coupons in my inbox. I will see if they help. Two months out, it shouldn't be so much.

Bid on Priceline. Looks like you are going in August. If you go to betterbidding.com to research recent successful bids you will see someone got a midsize car in mid August at $25 a day. I would book the best deal that you can cancel right now and then bid priceline. Good luck!

I see you're going to Colorado National Monument. We were there last September and loved it. I'd never heard of it until just a few days before we left the Tetons headed for Ouray. The red rocks and formations in CNM are quite different from most of what we saw in Colorado. Much more like the scenery in Utah.

You mentioned wildlife. In CNM we saw a beautiful group of big horn sheep. Unlike other sightings we'd had elsewhere, these were close enough to see details, not "that light-colored dot on the hillside over there" experience. A ranger told us where they had been hanging out for several nights and we went back to that area just before dusk, which she said would be our best chance at a sighting. When you stop at the visitor center on your way into the park, ask about the sheep and maybe you'll be as lucky as we were.

If you happened to be in Fruita around mealtime and like Asian, eat at Dragon's Treasure. Don't be put-off by it's location. The lunch we had there was excellent.

Some beautiful scenery where you're going. Have a great trip and hope you find a decent price on a car rental.

Take the SkyRide bus into downtown if you can find a good price on a downtown rental. I've always been able to rent downtown and return at the airport in Denver, usually 30-40% cheaper than renting from the airport.

SkyRide is about $10 one-way to downtown for a 50 minute ride. Cab fare is about $50-60.

I am looking forward to CNM! I found an old corporate account card for car rental and saved a couple hundred dollars. Thanks for the bus info.

I decided we don't need a kitchen every night. We need a fridge, but I don't have to cook if I have enough fresh food to eat. Tuna, bagged salads, veggies and fruit will be fine. Breakfast is always a problem for me because I hate all the low carb options. I might bring my own waffle mix to use on the waffle makers in so many hotels these days.

Really need to make some reservations soon!! Thank you!!

FOX rent-a-car has GREAT deals. Check on-line...and no money required for reservation. You get to pick your car from the lot, and they are much more reasonable on prices.

I priced out a one week rental in July (I'm planning a trip to RMNP then).

Budget: pick-up/drop-off at the airport is $691 for the week.
Budget: Pick-up downtown at their Broadway location/drop-off at the airport is $316 for the week.

For that kind of savings I don't mind carrying all my camping gear on the SkyRide bus for $11, then carry it the 3-4 blocks from where the bus drops me off to the downtown rental location. I don't think most people really understand how significant the savings can be and how simple it is to rent from downtown. It'll take me about an extra 45 minutes to do this but to save about $350 it's totally worth it.