Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

Just after joining 24, we see many many things here. Rock cuts in the distance, heavy traffic in the foreground (ugh) and the goalpost-style reassurance marker CDOT uses at times. And when the wind's strong and the signs get turned, you can often see kids kicking footballs through the uprights.

Climbing out of Woodland Park, we get stuck in some hefty channels for the traffic. This used to be a 3 lane road, one downhill and two uphill, but the volume of traffic up here dictated something more. This is what we get. I like the extenstion to the Jersey barrier in the middle of the mainline. That's a one-way uphill frontage road to the right. And this makes a helluva bobsled track when the snow gets blowing.

This stretch is marked as 60mph, but you have to floor it to get to that speed. This is straight uphill. This is also how 24 looks until we get to Divide. And yes, that's a traffic light being installed in the middle of the hill ahead. That's thinking, there. Cars already do 60 sideways down this hill in the winter; hate to see what it's going to be like if they have to figure out a way to stop, too.

Never fails. The one cool snap on this section and I have to bungle it up. The sign on the right sez "Game Crossing Ahead." Yup. It's spelled out for ya. Don't see that often here. And I'm leaving the "What type of game? Monopoly?" jokes alone, thank you very much.

Uhmmm... I think the road sunk. Okay, not really, but the contractor who widened the road must not have read the plans correctly through here. Isn't the jersey barrier supposed to be... I dunno... next to the road, not uphill from it?

Now we're in Divide. 67 veers south just ahead. In fact, that left arrow under the highway shield should be an advance left arrow sign. Turning left at the next intersection will put you at the Teller County Animal Control office. Bunch of stray pets, not stray slot machines.

Now we're at the 24/67 intersection. This is a pretty active intersection. 67 goes left while 24 goes straight. Snazzy two-color sign here too. Lots to do here, there is. And the crest of the hill in the background marks the top of Ute Pass. See? Not every pass in Colorado has to be a narrow winding mountain road. Just all the others besides this one.

Just after Divide. Although with the grain elevator/water tower/whatever the hell that is in the background, we could be out in the plains somewhere. Not at just shy of 9000 feet. Just before the speed limit sign is a portable End: fines doubled for going fast sign. This is normal signage for the end of a construction project here. The orange speck on the horizon is the End Road Work sign. When did the word "construction" get dropped in favor of "road work" anyways?

Heard in every southbound car on this road at this point (except mine):"How long until we can piss away all of our money gambling? 18 miles you say? Cool. Victor, too? Is there gambling there? No. Well, then we won't go there."

Just to be ornery, I took off my seat belt when I drove by this VMS. Damn the man! Bwahahaha. I put it right back on again though because, well, I'm a whimp that didn't want a ticket.

This is quite nice and straight going over rolling hills for about 3 miles. Then it gets all squiggly and stuff again. Again, out in the plains somewhere? Nope. We're at about 9000 feet right now.

Duuude.... a groovy centerline. Far out, man. There's quite a bit of traffic here— optimistic gamblers going south and drunk/pessimistic losers going north—so CDOT thought they'd help out by giving you a heads up that you're about to head-on someone. This happens often on winding mountain roads in Colorado.

That's the north slope of Pikes Peak there. Yes, we're that close to timberline. Nosebleeds, anyone?

Now this, my friends, is a fork in the road. 67 stays left, while an unmarked county road goes right. Shouldn't the 67 marker have an angled left arrow, not a "turn left"-type arrow? This also marks the return of the Dancing Arrow sign. It's pretty curvy almost the entire way into Cripple Creek now.

See? Told you Dancing Arrow would be back. And he brought friends to join him on his sign. The sign sez "Truckers: Curves tighten" BTW. Pretty neat road cut on the left side through here too.

Gotta love those roads where you can see where you're going to be quickly. This happens more often than not on this stretch of 67. Makes it hard to juggle a camera though. Here's another reason why getting out of the car to take pictures is a good idea. But to I do that? Not as much as I probably should.

67 used to go through this one lane tunnel. Then Mr. Tunnel couldn't take it anymore and collapsed in the middle. 67 now goes around walled-off Mr. Tunnel. Yes, the wood façade has always been there.

When Mr. Tunnel collapsed, CDOT had to improvise with the road and have it passable with 6 months. This was their solution. Deep road cut just to the west of the tunnel. This is signed at 25 mph, and it's a good idea to follow that.

Wnat to find a tourist, motor home, or older driver on a mountain road? Just look for that long line of vehicles stuck behind a slower driver. That lead car has at least one of the above characteristics. CDOT thought it nice to help out us faster, impatient drivers by making these pullouts. Too bad the slower traffic rarely uses them.

And here is said pullout. This is one of the nicer pullouts I've found in my travels. Most are just a wider area on the side. Just like a shoulder, but not as wide.

Close up shot of that groovy centerline, man. Also a nice shot of one of the aforementioned slower driver who conveniently misunderstood the slow traffic get outtada way sign a few yards back.

This is a random flat spot on this stretch of the highway. And a well-signed intersection to boot. CR 81 is a nice bypass of the Cripple Creek area. It also hooks up to Gold Camp Road which will take you back to Colorado Springs. Gold Camp is a great drive, but if you're looking for the fastest route, it's better to take 24 from Colorado Springs to 67.

Back to the curves, we see a few abandoned mines and a Sign of Fugliness™. Aren't the letters supposed to be centered on the sign? And pull out is all one word an every other sign. The way this is worded brings up all trype of dirty images. Eewwwww... And this pullout? See that curve ahead? And the wide shoulder? That's it.

Hey look! Gambling! Not quite the skyline of Vegas, but I like this view too. No, the guardrail isn't really old and rusty. CDOT does that on purpose so they blend in a little better. And really surprise you when you hit them. "I didn't even see that guardrail!"

Time for some really big switchbacks to take you down to Cripple Creek. CDOT could have actually broken this sign into two seperate signs for the switchbacks because there's enough distance between them, but then we wouldn't get this cool sign. That "mountain" in the background is actually tailings from the Cripple Creek and Victor gold mine still in operation. We'll see more of this in a bit.

After the switchbacks. That white thingie (a delivery truck) is also on 67. He's about half way between this shot and the previous shot. See? Wide switchbacks here. Most of the time switchbacks around here are quite narrow with 10 mph curves.

And now into Cripple Creek, elevation 9494 feet. Coolest thing about this shot? The left taillight on that Olds still was working. And he signaled when he turned to the left. That's a rarity around here.

In downtown Cripple Creek, the North and South lanes split into quite an interesting configuration. I've never seen this anywhere before. And lookie at the old school No U Turn sign. Don't see that much anymore.

At the middle of this lane split there's a crosswalk. So the pedestrians aren't falling 20 feet down in the median, there's a staircase. Not handicapped accessable here, and I forgot to check to see if there were ramps on the curbs. That would be funny.

There's no indication that 67 turns left here, but it does. If you go straight you can get to CR 1. It'll take you back to US 24. And another Sign of Fugliness™! It's not that clear, but there's a 6 above the arrow on the Victor sign. That's just lazy.

After Cripple Creek, we meet up with the Scenic Byway called the Gold Belt Tour. This stays with us until the final terminus of 67. You'll also notice that this stretch of 67 is much less maintained than the earlier part. The traffic counts drop dramatically now that we're past the southern Front Range's gambling mecca.

If this stretch was before Cripple Creek, this would have guardrails, rumble strips, signs saying the road was curving, and everything else. Here, you get the curve. Enjoy!

That's the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Guage Railroad Tourist Trap you see here. I used to think that it was really cool until I rode it. You only go about 3 miles back into the mountains before the train backs up to Cripple Creek. Fun to ride, too short a trip.

Amongst the old mines lies one active mine, the Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mining Company. It's done quite a bit of mining here, as you can see with the remains in the background. No, that's not a flat, bald mountain.

Now how cool is this? A HUGE wooden retaining wall. How HUGE is it? That pine tree directly in front of the wall is six feet high. That's HUGE!

Of course, you have to maintain HUGE wooden retaining walls or this happens. Wish I would have been here to see this happen. I would have been laughing maniacally.

In 2002, the Cripple Creek and Victor Mining Company bought the ROW of 67 for expansion of their mines. They helped pay for the new alignment of 67 further west of its initial alignment. Here's the old road, going straight into a mountain of mined rock. Good thing that's fenced off. That would really do a number to your car if you drove into it.

Going around the used rock, I spy, with my little eye, another Sign of Fugliness™. They pop up a lot around here, don't they? This is also the last reassurance shield of 67 on this stretch.

CDOT had to do quite a number of cuts in the hills to make this new stretch of road. This is no Glenwood Canyon here, folks. It's pure cut-to-make-the-damn-road kind of thing.

Approaching the tallest bridge in the state highway system now. You can tell it's taller than the rest because of its fancy 4-bar railing instead of the usual 2-bar railing. Not sure what the little house thingie is for, but I almost hit it when I pulled over to get the next picture.

Here's a shot showing how tall this is. Each section of pillar is about 10 feet high, so you can do the math. I'm too tired. Wanna see a larger picture? You know you do.

After the Bridge of Heights, we have to go up a 7% Grade (Ask me how I knew the grade percentage!) to get back to the original alignment. Guess they couldn't find any uphill truck diamond signs. Of course, they post the grade warning about halfway up the hill. That's thinking.

So I took this snap by hanging the camera out the car window and shooting behind me while driving. The first one had a great shot of the road, this one came out well. I don't recommend this trick, though. You can see the trick of gouging the road through the hills here very well. Plus a shot of the Bridge of Heights.

See that grey line right behind the trees in the foreground? That's the original 67. There used to be an old guardrail up there too, but it's not there anymore. Also note the cool wood retaining wall. This one is definitely not as HUGE as the first one we saw.

And we're back on the original alignment. 67 used to jump up to that original level about as quickly as it's seen here now. Pretty fun surprise if you weren't expecting it.

Rounding a small curve after the last shot puts you right at this sign. The sign under the Victor sign says "Reduce Speed Ahead: Speed Checked By Radar." Pretty sneaky way to catch speeders: don't make the sign easy to see. Curse you, Victor cops!

Beautiful downtown Victor, where the police and the visitor center are one in the same. In fact, the only way to get in the visitor center is to get a ticket. I haven't been there yet. *knock on wood* See that blue speck way up on the pole in the background? That's the Scenic Byway sign telling you to turn left. That's about the end of this stretch of 67 too. Nope, not marked.

One block after you turn left at the previous sign, you're presented with this. I'm actually on the road here. There's a right turn ramp. This downtown is growing up so fast! *sniff*