Colorado Traveling

After leaving Denver on our big trip last month, Amy and I headed across Colorado on Interstate 70.  Our original plan had been to drive north from Denver and cut through the southern portion of Wyoming.  But then I realized that we would miss the Eisenhower tunnel and all of the beautiful mountain scenery that I loved from Colorado.

I'm so glad that we ended up going the way we did as I got to show Amy many sights I recognized as well as seeing new things.  We also got great gas mileage as we came down out of the mountains towards the west.

But before we headed down out of the mountains we had to climb up the mountains from Denver.  I had to shift gears, of course, but it was a breathtakingly beautiful drive into the mountains.  I really love Colorado's mountains, and mountains in general (note, the so-called "mountains" of eastern North America don't really count in my mind--they're far too low, ;-))!  Before the summit we filled up in Georgetown, and I was happy to get ten cents off at Shell.  Kroger owns at least two grocery store chains in Colorado, so they have extended their 10 cents off at Shell deal to that state.

We also pulled off and looked around at one scenic overlook in Summit County.  The first picture above came from that stop.  We were at 9,150 feet when I took that picture, looking at mountains that towered several thousand feet higher.

Amy has seen Colorado before, but not frequently, so I was excited to be able to show her part of this wonderful state.  I'm really looking forward to future trips back out west.

One of the main reasons that I wanted to go across Colorado on I-70 was so that we could go through the Eisenhower Tunnel.  I remember going through it several times as a kid.  Once I remember I was even a pain about it--my parents had decided to take the longer, scenic route over Loveland Pass, but I really wanted to go through the tunnel.  My dad ended up driving through the tunnel twice (once through and then he had to come back) so that I could see it.  It is a very impressive piece of work:

The Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel is located approximately sixty miles west of Denver, Colorado on Interstate 70.  It is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world, located at an elevation of 11,013 feet at the East Portal and 11,158 feet at the West Portal.  The Tunnel traverses through the Continental Divide at an average elevation of 11,112 feet.

The Tunnel was originally designed as a twin bore tunnel.  Construction on the westbound bore (North Tunnel) began March 15, 1968 and was completed five years later on March 8, 1973.  This bore was originally called the Straight Creek Tunnel, and later was officially named the Eisenhower Memorial Bore.  Construction on the second bore began August 18, 1975 and was completed four years later on December 21, 1979.  This eastbound bore was named after Edwin C. Johnson, a past Governor and U.S. Senator who had actively supported an interstate highway system across Colorado. 

You can read more about the tunnel at the Colorado Department of Transportation website, where the above quotes came from.  I never knew before I started researching for this blog post that only the westbound lane was the Eisenhower Bore--but that was the one we went through, so we did indeed go through the Eisenhower Tunnel.

After going through the tunnel we stopped at a rest area before passing Vail.  Even the rest areas have great views in the Rockies, ;-).  Of course I also had to take pictures of the informational signs.

I also got a good picture of the view outside from inside the building.  As you can see, it is a neat rock building.  I'm pretty sure I'd stopped there before as it was somewhat familiar.  I think it is also a place hikers can come to in the winter.

After this short stop we kept going.  The next time I drive through the area I want to stop in some of the mountain towns along the way--but without any advance plans we didn't know where would be a good place to stop, so we just kept driving.  Eventually we came to Glenwood Canyon and more beautiful scenery.  I especially love the highway as it was constructed through the canyon--the engineers did such a great job of blending it into the scenery.  I found a website that tells quite a bit about the history of transportation through the canyon--including the pre-interstate roads:

When Colorado got into state highway road building in the early 20th Century the road through the canyon became part of SH 4. When the US Highway routes were developed in 1926, the route through Glenwood Canyon was proposed to be part of US 46, but that highway was scrapped and it instead was part of US 40S when the routes were implemented in 1927. In 1936 US 40S was renumbered to be part of US 24. Then in 1937 US 6 was lengthened westward from Denver and was comarked with US 24 through Glenwood Canyon. In the 1920s the roadway through the canyon was only graded and graveled, but during the Depression U.S. Representative Edward Taylor obtained $1.5 million for widening and paving of the canyon road. The improvements were opened August 1, 1938. 

US 6-24 through Glenwood Canyon remained pretty much unchanged until the 1960s. In 1960 the federal government approved a proposed extension for I-70 to go west from Denver to Utah. The first divided section of highway was complete in 1965, and went from Glenwood Springs east to No Name. This included the two bores for the No Name Tunnels and bypassed the Horseshoe Curve section of the canyon. East of the canyon (Dotsero) I-70 was built by 1982, but the section from No Name to Dotsero would be the most troublesome to complete.

I hadn't realized that construction wasn't finished until 1992.  I started going to Colorado in 1982 (actually my mother was pregnant with me the first summer she and my dad cooked at Twin Peaks Bible Camp.  I do remember going to Glenwood Hot Springs and driving through the canyon several times.

Here is another tidbit from the website concerning the entire I-70 project in the canyon, which a sign at a canyon rest area labeled the toughest 12 miles of I-70:

Glenwood Canyon is on I-70 in western Colorado, about 150 miles west of Denver and 90 miles east of Grand Junction. The 16 mile-long canyon is on the Colorado River between the towns of Glenwood Springs and Gypsum. A huge engineering challenge was undertaken starting in the 1980s to complete one of the last stretches of Interstate Highway through the canyon. Transportation, environmental, recreational and economic considerations all had to be taking into account before the completed highway opened in 1992. In the end, the canyon ended up with a freeway snaking through its length using bridges, tunnels and retaining walls to create a highway that did not hurt, and even contributed to, the canyon's appearance.

We didn't end up going to the hot springs, though I'm definitely going to take Amy there one of these days on another trip to Colorado.  We did however, stop at one of the canyon rest areas and walk around for a bit.  We even got to see a train pass by across the river from where we were standing.


I think we ended up stopping (or at least reading about on the signs) No Name Rest Area, which just sounded like a fascinating place.

Yes, if I recall correctly, we did stop at No Name just so I could take some pictures of it.  But sadly there were no signs explaining the name--though the rest area did have a very nice building.

After Glenwood we started getting into areas that I really remember.  I spent every summer of my childhood (at least the month of July) in the western part of Colorado, mostly on the slopes of the Grand Mesa.  It was a thrill to recognize the Mesa from a distance.  My favorite picture though was of the Praying Bear.  This rock formation is right by the highway, and I remember seeing it many times--especially as we drove towards Grand Junction.  I don't think I've ever been able to get a good picture of it before--so this was exciting to see it, show it to Amy, and capture a picture!

The next post will be about Colorado National Monument--and then the trip moves into Utah!

~Matt

PS Here is a slideshow of all of the album pictures: