birthday 3-1 trip
Another year has passed in the life of r-dub. Guess it's time to celebrate with another road trip. I've got a hankerin' for some pass hopping. Let's see where these roads will take me this time, shall we?
The re-hash page.
We'll start by heading west from Downtown Colorado Springs. I've covered US 24 west in my first-ever roadtrip documented on this site, but I feel that my new camera can help spruce up some of those shots. So this page has quite a few images you've already seen on the site. If you're impatient and just want the new stoof, hop on over to it!
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Let's start at the intersection of Nevada Ave (Bus I-25) and Colorado Avenue (former Bus US-24). Crews are just about done with a new parking garage.
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Now heading west on Colorado Avenue through downtown Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak is looking nice today!
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Coming up on I-25 through the COSMIX Project. The thing that entertains me here is the "Alternate Route" flashers. There's no direct connection to the interstate here, and the cross street is a small two lane road. What's the point of this light here (besides that Colorado Springs's Traffic Management Center is just to the right of this pic).
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Hmmm. Anyone else besides me see a problem here?
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Slalom! Wheee!
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Owner-sanctioned graffiti. These guys are good, and they get to remake their art every month or so.
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Entering Old Colorado City. Once the territorial capital of Colorado, it has now been reduced to a tourist trap with a bunch of kitschy shops. And some good restaurants. And a chocolate factory. Ok, maybe it's not all that bad.
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Old Colorado City even themes their street signs. Western font, anyone?
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New fire stations just across the side street from the old fire station. What I wouldn't give to be able to retrofit and live in an old firehouse.
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Coming up on 31st. Street. What makes this important is that this is the current eastern END! of Business 24. Why it ends here is a good question.
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Mmmmmmm. Chicago Style Hot Dogs. Nothing better.
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Narrow bridge due to the alignment of the road. This impact attenuator spends most of its time busted up.
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Welcome to Manitou Springs!
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Business 24 dips under 24 right before hitting Manitou proper.
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We could head east here, but what's the point?
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Losing a lane for traffic mitigation purposes.
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The stripe up the side of the mountain is for the former Manitou Incline. It closed down in the early 90's and has been used as a hiking trail ever since.
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Oohhh, snazzy waste of taxpayer money here.
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Downtown Manitou Springs
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The round building to the right houses one of several natural springs in the Manitou Springs city limits. You used to be able to fill up containers under many of them, but that's been limited to a few easily accessable springs now.
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Approaching Ruxton Ave. To the left is the base station for the Pikes Peak Cog Railroad, the Barr Trail, and other shops in the Manitou Springs area. Please keep your hands, arms, and head inside the tour bus at all times.
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On the west side of Manitou we are offered a choice. West follows an old route up to the current 24 while choosing to head east takes us into the valley a little more then steeply switches back up to 24.
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Since it's way too early to give up on this trip, we're heading west.
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Old rock cut and old "guardrail."
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This bridge was a serious mistake for CDOT/CDH. It covers up Rainbow Falls, a beautiful waterfall. Don't know why exactly CDOT thought it best to put the road over a waterfall, but what do I know? I'm just a roadgeek.
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Just after the Rainbow Falls bridge we encounter 24. As promised on the ground-level signs a few pics back, west is the only way to go. See, there seems to be something blocking our movement to the east here...
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Our road literally gets cut into the rock and under 24.
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After squeezing through a nearrow cut, we get spit out onto westbound 24. Here's the official west END! of Bus US 24.
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Here's where you may see some duplication from an earlier trip. But, as you can see, the picts came out a lot better this time. Here's some rockfall mitigation efforts.
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When there's not enough room to put up a cement wall with mesh, just string the mesh over the rock itself!
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Rolling right along up Ute Pass. The eastbound lanes are on the south bank of Fountain Creek.
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Famous Bust, Colorado. Population: 2.
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Testing, testing, 1...2...3. Is this road on?
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Looking ahead. 24 lies in a wide valley from Cascade to Woodland Park.
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BUSTED!
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A rare REVERSE BUSTED!
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The light ahead had just changed at this snap. I was still prepared, though, thanks to those blinky lights!
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Beautiful downtown Woodland Park.
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You can go stright or right with your trailer. I don't recommend doing both simultaneously, though.
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Looking at the north slope of Pikes Peak. If you look closely just to the right of the tree in the middle, you can see the path of the Pikes Peak Highway.
- Where to next?
- This trip's Index
- Page 2
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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