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--still.
Okay boys and girls, time for a couple of treats! Keep your eye on the road and whatnot.
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Standing on the bridge we saw on the bottom of the previous page now and looking up the canyon. Colorado at its finest (winter version).
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About a mile back on the road, this person traveling the opposite direction flashed her brights at me as I drove by. My first thought was "deer ahead" and I really didn't pay attention (deer are quite common here). I was slightly wrong.
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You can tell the age of male bighorn sheep by how big the horns are. The pack elder is right in the middle in this shot.
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I'm not sure what exactly they're eating on the road. I saw nothing but asphalt, paint, and the occasional pebble.
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Even though these guys were concentrating on the road, they were always watching us human folks. I was definitely not alone taking pictures.
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That thing on the right side of the picture is an open car door from the person who was in front of me. When she excitedly jumped out of the car, the sheep quickly moved away. Now that they realize she was just being a dumbass and poses no danger to them, they started moving back to that side of the road...
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...except this one. It booked it to higher ground and stayed watching us the entire time I was here.
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The head honcho of the pack was kind enough to pose for me. Here's the full sized (2848x2136) shot of him. (This is also what I'm currently using as the header pic for the site!)
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One last shot before we get going. Doesn't this look like the closer one is about to butt my car? That would be an interesting call to the insurance company. I think it would end with me saying "Hello? Hello? Hey! They hung up on me!"
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Entering our next town. You don't suppose they want you to do the speed limit here, do you?
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And what is that speed limit, you ask? Well, Bob, the correct answer is listed on this sign whose sheer size would intimidate some interstate-grade LGS's.
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Betcha can't tell why the speed limit is so low! (Hint: it's not because the street curves a lot.)
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Glen Haven is smack in the middle of national forest land, so there's signs to trails throughout the area.
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Just outside Glen Haven, CR 43 starts to climb.
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And continues to climb. I'd wager we're on about a 12% grade here. My car actually downshifted to hold 40 mph.
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Switchbacks dead ahead, captain!
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This is the smallest national forest sign I've ever seen.
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15? Wow. This is a good switchback.
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Yeah, these are tight. That's the road you see in the upper left.
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Entering the first curve.
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Looking at the second curve. I pity the person who didn't pay attention to the 15mph sign.
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Looking back at the switchbacks from the side of the road. This is the best vantage point I could find.
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Wow! Déjà vu!
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And here we go again.
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Looking up the switchback.
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One more hairpin curve to go.
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We're still climbing!
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We've finally crested the climb, so I jump out and take a snap of it. What we just experienced is what is called the Devils Gulch. CR 43 descends just under 1000 feet in just over a mile.
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Also at the top of the grade is a call box. I bet this gets a lot of use in the winter. There's also a cameo by none other than the r-dub-mobile.
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The inside of the call box. How many of us actually have looked inside one of these things?
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Now that we're clear of the Gulch, it's clear sailing all the way into Estes Park. That's Longs Peak in the background, BTW.
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Estes lives in a bowl just to the east of Rocky Mountain National Park. One of my greatest experiences in life was standing in Estes during elk mating season. The bugles from the male elks echoed off of the walls of the valley: it was surreal yet incredibly cool.
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Brand new lean-to split rail fence.
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Some interesting rock formations.
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This will be the first official stop we experience since Drake.
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At the corner of MacGregor (CR 43) and Wonderview, which is...
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...US 34. We've turned left and are headed back into town.
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The Stanley Hotel. One of Colorado's most famous haunted hotels. It even was featured prominently in a certain movie.
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In 1997, The Shining was remade. The new version stayed even truer to the book. A little story here. At the time of the remake, I was living in Greeley and dating a girl that happened to go up to Estes about a week after the filming wrapped up. The crews left the burnt out "Overlook Hotel" sign on the grounds of the Stanley. I still have the picture of her standing in front of that sign. I'd post it, but I don't think she'd appreciate that.
- Where to next?
- Page 6
- This trip's Index
- Page 8
Section Links
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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