Eagle to Winter Park

Woke up on the 20th, had a shower after working out yet another American plumbing system, and headed off up the road for Glenwood Canyon; well i thought I was going that way but went the wrong way instead. Soon was on the Interstate and heading for Glenwood Canyon. The first bit of the drive is boring, until one reaches Dotsero (a railway junction and nothing more), when suddenly the highway splits and starts weaving up and down, dashes through tunnels, over bridges; the scenery is amazing and the highway actually compliments it.

Took the exit at Hanging Lake to see the amazing bridge/tunnel there. The railway line crosses under the road right next to the cliff face, and presumably there wasn't room for a bridge pier before the tunnel, so the bridge over the Colorado River quite literally turns into a tunnel mid span.

The rocks here are amazing too; this really is a highway through a canyon.

After looking around here we continued back towards Gypsum (guess what they make there) and out through the canyon again. Funny thing is, by going in the other direction you see quite a different bit of highway.

Underside of the highways / Driving out of the canyon (east bound), west bound lane is on the left, considerably higher. Not how part of the lane is actually a bridge.

Once we reached Dotsero I took the scenic route and followed the railway through Burns to Bond. Didn't see a single train till Bond, where an empty ballast train was sitting around. Lots of track work happening and lots of filthy UP vehicles were buzzing around. Ballast train soon headed off so I followed it onwards through State Bridge (not nearly as exciting as the name makes it seem), Yarmony, the Gore Canyon and on to Kremmling. The canyon was absolutely amazing; I found a fairly well worn track (hmm) from the road to an awesome vantage point overlooking the railway line through the canyon. Funny how well worn the track was! The sage brush was smelling very sweet in the rain; it had a very lavender smell.

Just out of Bond

Emerging from the tunnel in the canyon, Colorado River lazily snaking away beside it.

Front of the train and rear pushes visible at the same time.

Far end of the canyon / Surveying the mud at Kremmling.

Lots of gravel roads on this trip, poor car ended up very dirty. The mud had actually formed dags around the wheel arches; poor thing! We then drove on alone past Troublesome, Ranch, and through to Byers Canyon. Just as we pulled into Hot Sulphur Springs I heard the unmistakable sound of an American train horn, so back we raced into the Byers Canyon. Took a while to catch up with him but was definitely worth it.

Typical house in Hot Sulphur Springs.

 
Into the Byers Canyon, looks just like a model railway

7 GE locos haul 100-odd coal wagons west towards Troublesome

Let the train escape after a few stops; once he got out of the canyon the speed really wound up, then again with seven locos on the front it's not surprising! So we headed back towards Granby and soon enough ended up in Winter Park. Drove through town looking for a motel; found a nice one at the Olympia Motor Lodge/Motel. Room was massive , came with a king size bed and enough spare space for a home gym! Rate wasn't too bad either; our most expensive so far, but only by a few dollars. Went out for dinner; walked pas the Pizza Hutt and other chains (even the McDonalds looks flash in Winter Park) and settled on the Backcountry Grill. While we were eyeing it up the local sheriff pulled up, said hi and went inside. Figured if it was good enough for the sheriff, it must be good. And boy were we right! It was a lovely little restaurant that did simply superb steak. I had the 8oz filet mignon with bacon & mushroom and it was divine. Ok so it wasn't cheap, but it was very nice. We then shared a slice of rhubarb and strawberry pie, which was also divine. Just as we were finishing we saw a flash outside and saw that the usual afternoon thunderstorm had started; albeit a little later than normal, and with an inch of added hail!

Luckily it stopped just before we left, so we walked back crunching over an inch of fresh hail in the cool evening temps. The car was now covered in both hail and mud; made an interesting look. I should probably mention that Winter Park is a ski resort just an hour from Denver, at around 8500 ft. So not as high as we have been, but still way up there. It's also the start of the Moffat Tunnel which gets the Rio Grande through the Rockies and off towards Denver. It is the pass that won out of the Moffat Route and the Tennessee Pass. So it holds a certain interest to me.

So that was the 20th; lots of mud, rain, hail, and canyons.