Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

Reassurance shields off the starboard bow! The little house on the left lies along an abandoned alignment of the highway. That segment curves and twists next to the creekbed for about a mile.

The abandoned stretch even has its own bridge. This bridge has a phone box at the end of it (blurry, I know), so I know it's still used, at least by QWest, our local phone company.

The abandoned road has turned into a double-track now. It's quite curvy and narrow. I understand why it was replaced.

The abandoned roadway fades into the embankment of the current roadway just to the west of that bridge. The double track trail continues for a while longer, but it's obvious it doesn't follow the alignment of the abandoned roadway.

Mount Princeton framed nicely by a rock cut. This view is even more stunning when it's perfecltly clear and there's snow on the mountain.

We're now dipping down into the Upper Arkansas River Valley. This is a very popular spot for kayaking, whitewater rafting, fishing and the like. There's even a great hot springs resort here. Nothing like sitting in a mountain stream, cold fresh water mixing with hot spring water to just the right temperature...

Steel arch bridge on the highway. Most of these are being replaced throughout the state, so I'm glad I have a pic of this one.

Descending into the valley now. Buena Vista is to the north on 24, out of the shot of this picture. We see Johnson's Village as the cluster of buildings ahead. Many rafting companies have their businesses here.

This is how this region of CDOT does their guide signs for hotels, rafting companies, attractions, just about everything. This is pretty descriptive, but too much for interstate highway implementation.

Approaching the split of 24 and 285. 24 heads north towards Buena Vista and Leadville, while 285 heads south towards Salida, Monte Vista, and Alamosa.

At the split of 24/285. Buena Vista's airport runway is just over the ridge according to Google Maps. I've never seen any airplane activity here, though.

It didn't come out that clear, but each mountian in the Collegiate Range (Princeton, Harvard, Yale...) gets its own LGS. It shows the mountain's name, the elevation, and points in the general direction of the summit of the mountain. Here's the one for Mount Princeton, elevation 14,197 feet.

Fabulous downtown Buena Vista. While here, don't miss Bongo Billy's coffee, Jan's Caramel Apple Pie, and a drive up Cottonwood Pass, when it's open. It's CR 306 until its summit now, but it used to be CO 306. (Thanks, Matt Salek).

That's one big pedestrian sign! It's bigger than anyone it's trying to protect! And when did using the arrows instead of the crosswalk lines on the sign become standard anyway?

Hey! That's an idea! Let's take Independence Pass today! And it's open, too! Works for me; does it work for you?

Deer are a big problem up here, which is why the deer sign got the little flags. Have studies been done about the effectiveness of those things? (The flags, not the signs or the deer.)

Many guardrails along this stretch begin and end in this unsafe way. In order to "warn" drivers, CDOT placed the warning chevrons before each rising guardrail. Wonder how much that actually helps.

Here's Mount Harvard's LGS. This is Colorado's third highest peak with an elevation of 14,420 feet.

About halfway between Buena Vista and Leadville, US 24, the Arkansas River, and a railroad track go through a narrow gorge. This picture doesn't do the height of those cliffs justice.

Here's a rarity: a Bighorn Sheep warning sign. Kinda neat to see though. Both the animals and the sign, that is.

Approaching the turnoff to CO 82 and Independence Pass. One complaint many have about the design on the state highway signs here in Colorado is that they fade prematurely. Here's an example of that.

Looks like we're heading towards Twin Lakes now. The town is named for the Twin Lakes Reservoir(s) it is next too. Colorado and its names, I tell ya...

Now on CO 86. This is also part of the State Scenic Byway called "Top of the Rockies." Don't know why... </sarcasm>

This "reassurance shield" is the only indication we get that we're on a state highway until we're in Aspen, which is just "over a hill" from our present location.

A beautiful shot of one of the lakes. We're heading straight for that valley seen just beyond the ridge of the rightmost mountain.

Instead of getting a usual city limit sign, this is how we're told we've entered Twin Lakes.

In "downtown" Twin Lakes. I love how the left-pointing arrow sign becomes a right-pointing arrow sign just by hanging it different. And this crosswalk is utilized simply for the sign resting at the base of the telephone pole, I bet.

This distance sign is the last one before hitting Aspen. And we won't be hitting Aspen for over an hour. Hope you remember how far everything is, especially if you're stretching the fuel in your car.

I have never seen an End Scenic Byway sign before in this state! I wonder why they ended it here. The byway's name was "Top of the Rockies," right? Well, we're about to be there. So why not call this drive that and end the byway in Aspen? This boggles this roadgeek's mind.

This is how all of the San Isabel forest signs are along this highway. The arrow is added on. Seems to me that if you're going to make a sign like this, the arrows are pretty obvious: one left, one right. Why not make the arrows part of the sign, mass produce the signs, then add on the name of the trail/campground/etc.? Or just make the arrow part of the sign during printing. Weird. (But not as weird as that last explanation...)

There's a sign you don't want to see when you're heading up a mountain pass... hope this isn't too bad.

Ahh. Okay. That's the only damage I've seen on the roadway, and it's pretty minor now. That's a good thing.

So the road's OK up the pass, but the weather isn't. The next few pics were shot under a thunderstorm with a great light show. That's great, considering we're about to enter the clouds. *sigh* Sorry about the quality of the pics for a while. It's tough to drive a mountain pass in the rain, avoid nervous drivers and lightning bolts, and take pitcures.

Just after the 35' warning sign in the previous pic lies these gates. This is where the pass gets closed off during the winter months. Considering the gates are at an elevation of just over 10,000 feet, I'd say CDOT does a good enough job on the parts they do keep open.

Yeah, it may be the middle of August, but this sign is still a necessity. By the way, that's Mount Elbert you're seeing. It's Colorado's highest mountain at 14, 443 feet. Yeah, we're that high up already.

And now we start to switch back up the pass. This is just up the road from the last shot. There's a trailhead just off of the right side of this picture, if you're so inclined. Considering we're still dodging thunderstorms, I'm going to pass.

Now we're really climbing. If you're afraid of heights, I'd recommend closing your eyes now...

...or at least not look out to the left. That road is where we were less than five minutes ago. Hang on!

No shoulders, straight dropoff off one side, straight cliff off the other side, and lanes barely wide enough for passenger cars: this is mountain driving at its finest!

The double-height reflectors on the side are so snowplow drivers know where the edge of the road is. Snow does get that deep quickly up here. Have you ever heard of graupel? It's a soft hailstone, and we're in a storm of those right now... This could slick up the road. Joy.