Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

Starting into Glenwood Canyon. The interstate was pretty straight going into this curve, so the curve gets advertised heavily.

Entering the western edge of Glenwood Canyon. The Colorado River is directly off the right side of the highway for the majority of the canyon, and a railroad line is to the right of that. Amtrack still runs a passenger train through this canyon. The California Zephyr is supposed to be the way to see the canyon, short of bicycling it on the trail.

The railroad line still uses the hand-cut tunnels, as seen on the right.

Approaching the No Name tunnels. There's some lighting repair/replacement work going on. This is why there's a lane blocked off.

Inside the No Name tunnel. As you can see, only the left side is lit. The repair is all happening on the right for now.

So where did the name of the tunnels come from? This exit, positioned just after the tunnels. The Blazer parked on the side is one of the workmen's.

No Name is the actual name for a small enclave of homes and ranches here. There's also a rest area available.

The wide area is about to fade into a narrow, cliff-filled canyon. The speed limit in the canyon is 50 mph, and trucks are required to use the right lane except for passing. Sure, the sign says no passing, but they all do it.

Around the curve in the distance is where the canyon narrows. A hiking trail lies between the EB lanes and the river.

Starting to narrow up now.

Rest areas are prevalent in the canyon, more so for hiking and rafting then actual rest.

The westbound lanes alternate between bridges and resting on reinforced walls through the canyon. The eastbound lanes are on the original alignment of the old US 6/24 for the most part.

The next exit in the canyon.

The sign has seen better days here. The lane is closed for expansion joint replacement on the bridge.

The EB and WB lanes get pretty close to each other over the Grizzly Creek interchange.

The Grizzly Creek merge. This merge is important because the next two exits don't provide a way to get back on the highway headed east. You must head west and turn around at this interchange. This is heavily signed at the base of the WB offramp.

Snaking through the canyon.

The Colorado River is popular with rafters through here. I passed three different groups on this trip.

This is the exit for the Shoshone power plant. This exit also has a raft launch area. And, as the sign says, your only choice is to head west when returning to I-70.

The WB lanes actually go over the power plant.

Curving through the canyon. You can barely see the river: there's much less water now since the power plant pipes water from a dammed area ahead around this segment of the river.

Hanging Lake is a goregous lake that's a long, arduous hike from the rest area. But it's worth the hike when you get there. I haven't made it there yet.

The variable speed limit signs is one indication we're getting close to the Hanging Lake tunnels.

Here's the Hanging Lake exit. Any wonder why you can't access EB 70 from the exit?

On the Hanging Lake exit now. That bright line under the bridges is the dam on the river. The water is piped from there to the power plant then released back into the riverbed.

This was originally the alignment of US 6/24. Now its the access road to the rest area.

Heading back out of the rest area now. (It was extremely crowded today: no good spot to stop for pics!) That's part of the pumping station up on the hillside.

How I-70 enters the tunnels. The ladder is their emergency exit plan for any incidents in the tunnels. Just kidding!

Here's probably the best shot of the canyon I got. This is headed eastbound from the Grizzly Creek exit. (Remember, I had to double back to that exit because I exited at Hanging Lake). Just goregous. I've even included the full sized shot from my camera if you need it.

Back at the Hanging Lake exit now. The new asphalt is the only indication that this is where the Thanksgiving 2004 rockslide occurred. That rockslide obliterated this part of the interstate and led to significant detours.

I think I can explain the interesting gore point sign here. Originally, the highway did not curve to the right here. It followed the river and didn't tunnel through the canyon walls. When the new highway was opened, the contractors installed this sign to help regular drivers of the canyon change their driving habits. That's just my thought.

About to enter the Hanging Lake tunnels.

Inside the first part of the tunnel. The lighting quickly dims down to lower levels in the distance. This tunnel is curved so you can't see the exit from the entrance.

Just outside the tunnel we go over the tracks, trail and river again. We're also greeted with a spectacular view.

The westbound lanes get quite high up the canyon walls for the next few miles.

Meanwhile, the eastbound lanes pass under a canopy of leaves in multiple spots.

Stunning view.

The westbound lanes head through a tunnel ahead...

...while the eastbound lanes go around the outcropping.

Another tree-lined section if the eastbound lanes.

The foilage gets so dense at times you can't see the westbound lanes.

Bair Ranch is an actual ranch located in the canyon. It's also a rest area.

Bair Ranch (to the right) sits in a wide area of the canyon. But we're not fully out of the canyon yet.

The canyon narrows again after Bair Ranch.

The canyon is wide enough now for all four lanes of highway to be next to each other.

We see a still, wide spot in the river here.

We know we're out of Glenwood Canyon when the snazzy right side barrier ends.

The speed limit is back up to 75 mph and its clear sailing all the way to Minturn.