Jonesin' for a Roadtrip 2
I wake up and the first thing I think of is "I have to get out of the Springs for a while!" Sounds like a roadtrip to me. Grab the camera, fill up the car, and let's get going. On my last trip north, I noticed some great things to get pics of but ran out of daylight. That won't be a problem this time! The pics for this trip start up right where that last trip left off.
Winding our way towards Estes Park
OK. We're through the narrow part of Big Thompson Canyon now. We're still technically in the canyon, but, as with many canyons in Colorado, it's a wide valley-esque style canyon.
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Old concrete bridge railings protected by new guardrail.
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Another case of CDOT advertising a curve just before the curve. At least here you're going to run into the rocks versus going over the edge of a cliff. That is, if you're going fast enough to clear the creek.
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A shot of a slow vehicle pulloff sign. Just like on CO 67, the chances of tourists using this are slim to none. You can kinda see the pulloff in the background.
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Here's a shot of that pullout. This one is quite big compared to many I've seen.
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Rolling right along. We should be in Estes Park in about 30 minutes, if there's no detours along the way.
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There's even a rest stop in a wide part of the canyon. All that's there is a drinking fountain and a bathroom, but really, what more do you need?
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Pullout #2 is coming up. These signs are about 5 years old, so the sign rot here surprises me.
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Wouldn't this mean that there's a historical marker for the next 1500 feet of roadway? The sign actually means to turn in 1500 feet. Oops!
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34 goes in and out of various residential enclaves between the narrow section and Estes Park.
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There's quite a few tourist-oriented things along this stretch, too. Included in this is a place to park that RV.
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Gaining a passing lane now. This was a lot more scenic of a shot in person. My camera is really not happy with the cloud cover here.
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Hmmm. I don't think I'm in the mood to deal with that today. I think we'll go the back way into Estes Park.
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Entering Drake, CO. This is literally a collection of houses, a post office, and a general store. It's a nice spot to get out and stretch your legs if you need to, though.
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OK, we've veered off of US 34 onto a county road that'll lead us through Glen Haven and into Estes Park the back way. This is my preferred way of getting to Estes actually: less traffic.
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Nice graphical sign saying in case of Flash Flood, run like hell! Uphill!
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Remember this sign for a few pics: you'll see why.
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Just twisting and turning around various rock outcroppings.
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Since we're going in and out of national forest land on this road, it's a magnet for all sorts of outdoor activities. It's so nice today that the bicyclists and hikers are out in full force.
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This poor tree probably didn't survive the chance encounter with a SUV.
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So remember that open range sign earlier? Methinks this guy was tired of the "get your damn cows off of the road" lectures. Heh.
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We've been traveling in a wide, grassy valley this entire time on this country road. Now, the curves are starting to tighten up a bit.
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Yeah, the valley is starting to tighten up.
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Ghetto mileage marker.
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Colorado used to use those snazzy graphical falling rock signs. I've only seen one in my travels recently.
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Could this be the rock the previous sign was worried about?
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Good to know for those pesky forest fires.
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I pulled over to stretch my legs and looked back at where we came from. I liked the shot so much I grabbed my camera and clicked...
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...then turned and got this sign. Can someone tell the Larimer County Parks Department that it's "patrolled," not "patroled"? Thanks.
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As you can see, sign recycling isn't just an east coast thing.
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How to know when you have too much money. Don't get what I'm saying? Look at the top of the mountain.
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A Larimer County Road sign. The first I remember seeing since Drake.
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We're not climbing out of the valley here, just going around a rock outcropping.
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What to do when the phone pole is too close to the road. Maybe that tree from before should have taken lessons.
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OK, I understand having the weight restrictions on bridges, but this road leads only to the picnic area on the other side. You mean to tell me that there's a chance of any truck going over this bridge, much less a double-long one?.
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Another shot of this bridge. Please note that the wooden walkways on the side have recently been replaced: the lumber yard asset tag is still stapled to the ends of the boards.
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So I guess someone somewhere thought it would be a good idea to asphalt over the wooden deck of the bridge. I guess it would prevent the wood from rotting out quickly, but wouldn't it be a good idea to maintain said asphalt?
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Picnic area sign. The other side is in pristine condition. Maybe someone should turn the sign around so that the public can, I dunno, read it? :)
- Where to next?
- Page 5
- This trip's Index
- Page 7
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Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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