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 clear skies couldn't last, of course
Coming into Gunnison, my phone rings. Apparently, The Skirt has arranged a surprise party for me and is wondering how far out I am. Time to kick it into overdrive! Here's hoping the weather holds. It's about that time of day for the clouds to come in.
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The old alignment of 50 still has a truss bridge ...
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... or two. These are open to traffic still.
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Side view of the truss bridge from the replacement bridge.
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Hey look! A town!
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The obligatory 4th of July flag picture. Too bad the flag's all funked up.
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What this sign is so valiantly trying to tell the parking lot is that we're about to approach SH 135. You remember that route, right? We were on it about 3 hours ago.
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At the southern END! of SH 135. I like how the street sign shows control cities.
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Downtown Gunnison in all its glory. Also a shot of the first few feet of 135.
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Just outside Gunnison we come across a mini-work zone.
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What is it with big machinery backing into my lane?
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Coming up on another state highway END! This time, it's SH 114's turn.
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114 is very discriminatory as to what can travel on it.
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Looking down the first 1/2 mile or so of SH 114. 114's southern end in in the San Luis Valley, about 62 miles away.
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Distance sign telling me that it won't be that long before I'm home.
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Nice rock cut.
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Throughout this stretch, there's these little cuts. I'm assuming that somewhere along the line, the original alignment on these hills was smoothed out a bit.
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Not a BUSTED! moment as far as I could tell.
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Yup. The clouds are forming and the afternoon showers are starting. Right on time!
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More cuts.
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Doyleville is another one of those "Don't blink or you'll miss it" towns.
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Interesting little cutoff to meet up with SH 114 again. It's still discriminatory against hazards, tho.
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Old sign sighting!
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Caution: elks can attack without warning.
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A quick spot where there's a passing lane for both sides. We're going through some hilly terrain.
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How fast is S9 anyways?
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Can't use these trees as a rest stop!
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We're starting to get close to our next mountain pass crossing.
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Looks like we're really going into some weather soon, too.
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Is this like a David and Goliath thing?
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Getting under the clouds now.
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If you see a chain-up area in Colorado, you know you're about to go uphill. A lot.
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Advertising construction that wasn't happening. Check out the brave ground squirrel playing chicken, too!
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CDOT placed a shed right at the point where they can close off the road if need be.
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A legit mathematically deficient mileage sign. Cañon City is on US 50 while Fairplay is on US 285, which intersects 50 ahead.
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So what's all the road closing, chain-up stations, and tall roadside marker hubub all about? Monarch Pass, that's what.
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Right after that last sign, we go up. Fast.
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This is steep enough to warrant the passing lane, trust me.
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What's a mountain pass without switchbacks?
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Sucks to be the pickup driver!
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A little bit of minor cleanup work ahead. I don't think this was the construction that VMS was talking about earlier.
- Where to next?
- Page 9
- This trip's Index
- Page 11
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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