The 32-mile Independence Pass is an essential American experience for its majesty, jaw-dropping scenery and “Let’s pull over and take another 100 selfies.” It’s open now through October, and closed to traffic in winter.

Part of Colorado State Highway 82, Independence Pass is 12,095 feet above sea level and the highest paved pass in North America. Depending on your driving habits, it takes anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes to twist around groves of sublimely beautiful aspen trees and the Roaring Fork River.

It’s narrow, it’s steep enough to make you queasy and it’s twisty as corkscrew pasta, with few guardrails. It’s safe, however, if you take it easy and use common sense. There’s camping for a fee at most places, but it’s offered free along Lincoln Creek Road. Numerous hiking opportunities abound, naturally. But you can also pull off, walk a short distance and picnic near streams, or sit and contemplate and forget the madding crowd. Take your trash, please.

The drive from Denver’s around 142 miles and should take approximately three hours depending on traffic and your driving habits. You can either pop out on the Aspen side and spend the night there, or, if you haven’t had your fill, just turn around and do the pass again.

Helpful things to know

*Oversize and overweight vehicles are prohibited at all times due to the narrowness of the roads in different sections. Don’t try to do it in your RV, in other words.

*Cell phone service is more or less non-existent on Independence Pass, so be sure to download any map you consult so it can be seen off-line. That said, first-timers can just follow the road and you’ll get to the other side from either direction. You just won’t be able to determine “Are we there yet?” until you’re there.

*The best times to drive as far as road conditions and ideal hiking are June, July and August. Because of the mountainous terrain, you’re more than likely to come across snow as late as the latter part of May. Check road conditions beforehand. And drive a snow-worthy vehicle – leave your MX5 or Volkswagen Beetle at home. The pass is full of hairpin turns you’ll want to do when the weather is mild.

*You can visit as late as October but by that time, the fall colors will be finished and it’ll be like watching “The Wizard Of Oz” in black and white. It’s still fun but you won’t get the full, majestic, soul-stirring experience. The last week of September is usually a good bet to experience the explosion of rich color the pass is known for.

*Bring a jacket no matter what time of year you go. Colorado is known for its bipolar weather. It can be 70 degrees and sunny at noon and 40 degrees at 4 PM.

Of course it came down to the puck on Matt Duchene’s stick.

It figures because of his history in this building and this state.

It figures, too, because he had his fingerprints all over Game 6.

Double overtime. Running on fumes. A week that turned the Avalanche’s season upside down.

It’s been a long time since Duchene played for Colorado at this point (although, fans still boo him at Ball Arena). It’ll be a long time before he forgets this one. He just has to remember exactly what happened, first.

“I don’t even know. I think I ended up on my knees,” said Duchene, who did indeed drop to the ice, make a big heart shape with his arms and then punched through it before getting mobbed by his teammates. “I have no idea, to be honest with you. It’s just elation, right? Hard-fought series. They’re a hell of a team, obviously.

“They were really good the last two games and they pushed us.”

The 33-year-old was the No. 3 overall pick by Colorado in the 2009 draft, then played the first nine years of his career for the Avalanche before he asked to be traded and was eventually dealt for four players and three draft picks in November 2017.

Two times before he slammed home the game-winner from point blank range 91-plus minutes into the night, Duchene nearly helped the Stars to victory.

In the first overtime, he won a faceoff and posted up in front of the net, tussling with Cale Makar. Mason Marchment ripped a shot cleanly past Alexander Georgiev, but Duchene was called for interfering with Georgiev and the call withstood a long review.

“I haven’t seen the replay, really, of the no goal,” Duchene said. “I’ll leave it at that. I think you just stay with it. It can be a little tough to reset after you think it’s over and you hope it’s over. It’s a gut punch a little bit, but that’s what we do.”

Early in the second overtime, Duchene got a walk-in chance on Georgiev but couldn’t find the back of the net as the goaltender splayed out to make a stop.

Then, finally, he put Dallas into the Western Conference Final. He’s rarely been part of a run like this during his 15 seasons.

That’s nine years in Colorado, one-plus in Ottawa, a stretch run in Columbus and four in Nashville before signing with the Stars in the offseason.

“At 33, I think there’s a certain level of appreciation that you have that you wouldn’t have had as a young player,” Duchene said. “… I probably let it stress me out more than it’s been fun at times just because you want it so bad, but I’m starting to relax a little bit more and it’s getting to be a lot of fun as we go on here.”

Now the Stars are into the final four and the veteran center will be a key part of the puzzle as they try to find eight more wins.

“Really happy for ‘Dutchy’. He’s ridden the confidence roller coaster here in the second half (of the season),” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Some high highs and some low lows. It was probably about as low as he could be after Game 5. That’s why our group is special. I thought they rallied around him and he was maybe our best player tonight.”

Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.

COLORADO SRPINGS, Colo. — The film’s director stresses, “We can do something about it.” A Colorado-produced documentary takes a hard, in-depth look at the fentanyl crisis in our state.

WATCH: A check back in on Fentanyl data in Southern Colorado

With the financial backing of Weld County rancher Steve Wells, Mountain Time Media spent the past 18 months creating Devastated: Colorado’s Fentanyl Disaster.

News5 spoke with the documentary’s director, Steffan Tubbs. Below are excerpts from that interview:

“Putting this film together, the one thing that I had to do as a filmmaker was to give justice to the families, the family members that you know decided to talk with a complete stranger and talk about their most devastating moments of their lives. And the one thing that has never been lost on me and I think will stick with me the rest of my life is these families in Colorado wanted to share their stories in hopes that other Colorado families would never ever have to experience the grief that they’ve gone through.”

“When you have children, they are your most precious asset. And my two sons are in their early 20s. And we focus on young teenagers that are never going to see their 21st birthday. And I think just as a concern Coloradan most certainly as a concerned father. So as a parent, I would just urge you, you don’t even have to like the film, but have the discussion. And the one thing that I will always have with me from these parents is yeah, it may be a tough conversation to have. But you’d rather have the tough conversation than plan a funeral.”

“We’ve got to crack down. And I will say… one of the leading prosecutors in the state of Colorado against the fentanyl epidemic, not thinking that the drug cartels are victims here, or drug dealers are victims, and that is Colorado’s fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen… He understands it in the Colorado Springs area. The Fourth Judicial District, you all understand most of the prosecution’s dealing with fentanyl and fentanyl-related deaths or death resulting cases as they call it. It’s happening in Colorado Springs, we need to take that model, and we need to have it go coast to coast. This is not going away. The problem is only getting worse. And we can either all stand by and watch and go to another funeral in Colorado. Or we can do something about it.”

The film premieres in Colorado Springs May 18. The premiere is sold out, but anyone interested in watching the film can watch it onlinefor free.
____

____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.