Home from MESA VERDE!
Sep. 18-22 2013
PART 4
CO 133 has this interesting barrier for periodic road closures.
CO 133 had another of the many construction delays that defined this trip.
CO 133 near Redstone.
CO 133 near Redstone again. Wikipedia calls CO 133 "a scenic drive indeed" and says the road was not completely paved until 1978. That convertible was doing something ridiculous, but I forget what it was.
A view from CO 82 (Grand Avenue) in Glenwood Springs. We're looking at a footbridge that goes over the Colorado River, I-70, and other conduits. Parts of the footbridge look very old, so it was probably converted from CO 82 use.
We loop down to I-70, and up ahead, the freeway goes under CO 82 and the footbridge.
I-70 from Glenwood Springs to Denver is a Roads Scholar's paradise. Among the many interesting features is the rail tunnel you see at right. Between the rail line and I-70 here is the narrow Colorado River, which is just too low to be seen in this photo. The valley is called Glenwood Canyon.
I-70 (which also carries US 6 here) uses this tunnel. The overpass is for Glenwood Canyon Hiking Biking Trail.
This is intelligent. There really is a village here called No Name.
I-70 continues along the Colorado River. A bike path is seen between the river and the road. On the left, westbound I-70 is slightly higher than the eastbound side.
This shows the difference in altitude between the east and west sides of I-70.
The bike path is still visible after all this way.
I-70 west is way up!
I-70 in this area is described as one of the most scenic rural Interstates. It sure beats the Interstates on some previous trips that were cluttered with right-wing billboards.
I-70 in the Colorado River valley continues.
Here you see I-70 curving and going over the Colorado River. It also goes over the ramp at right - which itself is partly over the river. Plus, there's a dam in the background.
Another tunnel on I-70.
Inside the tunnel.
I-70 east almost goes under I-70 west - but not quite.
Another view of the elevated roadway.
Notice there's a tunnel for only the westbound side.
Then the roadway continues its elevated ways.
It looks like the roadway is now back down to ground level. It's also worth noting that - in addition to US 6 - US 24 also ran along this general path. US 24 has since been truncated at Minturn, Colo. It once went at least as far west as Grand Junction.
This sign near Dotsero dubs I-70 as the Gerald R. Ford Memorial Highway. But our long national dream isn't over! There's still many more I-70 items to come before we get to Denver!