Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

You've seen this pic before on my Jonesin' 2 Trip, but since the sun's not there to mess with the camera this time, I can get a good shot of the intersection.

West of Estes Park on Bus US 34 now, even though it's not marked that way.

Crossing over a 40-year-old bridge.

Rejoining US 34.

Only Grand Lake is not within Rocky Mountain National Park territory.

The clouds are really starting to lower.

Advance warning about if the road's open. Trail Ridge Road is usually closed from late October to Memorial Day, depending on the snowfall. The road closed for the season about a week after these pics were taken.

At the guard house. See what lengths I go for you? This trip cost an additional $25! You're welcome! :)

Approaching Hidden Valley inside RMNP.

After about a five minute stint where no pictures came out at all because I was a bonehead who had the zoom set too far forward (DUH!), I got a good picture of the signage at the END! of US 36.

Looking down the BEGIN!ning of US 36. From here, it's 1414 miles to its other end in Uhrichsville, Ohio.

Right after the intersection with US 36, US 34 takes on the Trail Ridge Road Scenic Byway designation.

We're still skirting the north side of Hidden Valley here. It's time to exit by curving around to the south.

And then curve some more.

When we're not clinging to the side of the valley, we're driving through some thick pine groves.

Random no left turn sign.

Good thing for that No Left turn sign for two reasons: first, this parking lot is right on a blind corner. You're not going to see the opposing traffic. And if you do shoot across the opposing lanes and misjudge the width of this area, it's a long way down. This is the Many Parks Curve lookout point.

Still climbing. At least we can actually see the mountains now.

Quick check of the downhill cars: no snow. That's a good thing.

Loving the reflections on the pavement.

An ominous Big Red Sign.

Climbing fast and furious now. I'm not sure what the yellow stripe across our lane is for.

So we don't run over any tourons ahead, we hafta slow down.

Oh, boy. We're really up there. This is the Rainbow Parks Curve. This is by far my favorite shot. If your monitor is bigger, here's a 1280x960 version of this pic. That's Hidden Valley down there, by the way.

Looking ahead to our next stage of the road.

So how high are we? Let's check our trusty altimiter. Hmmm. Looks like we've still got over 2000 feet to go.

Really? I would have never guessed. There's only sleet hitting the windshield, for Pete's sake. (Who's Pete, anyways?)

Hitting timberline. I love the sticks on the side of the road. Put there so that plows can find the road after the winter, I guess.

We're just at timberline, and the trees here show it.

Another BRS. This one's advertising that it's not a good idea to go play in the snow when there's nothing below the snow for about 3000 feet.

A quick glance out our left side. Can't tell where glaciers carved these mountains, can ya?

Still climbing. My ears have popped about three times.

Another turnoff is upon us. Along with some maintenance operaions apparaently.

Here's Big Bertha, ready for all the snow chomping needs as they arrive.

A flat part on our way to 12,000 feet.

Another glance over our left shoulder.

With no sunlight, this looks like a foregin place to me.

A shot of where we're going to be.

High enough to be joined by some snowbanks now. It's still raining on us, for the most part.

More big hill pr0n.

Looks like we're about to travel through a nice rock cut.

A closed-off trail.

Closer to that gap now.