This trip started with us going northbound on Hwy 24. This view shows the Arkansas River, the train tracks on the east side of the river and the highway on the west side.
Then we turned west on CO Hwy 82.
Heading up the road we could see part of the road we had just traveled.
Independence Pass is the highest paved pass in CO. It passes by Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in CO. This road was just opened for the season right before Memorial Day.
The restrooms were still locked up.
We followed a path in the snow up to a higher area but quickly went back to the parking lot because of the cold blowing wind.
On the way back down we heard some other visitors commenting about skiers. Yeap, some adventurous souls had climbed to the top of the peak to the north of us and were skiing down. They're just a speck in this photo.
They were much more visible as they neared the road.
Past the peak, not all the road signs were cleared of snow.
On the west side of the pass we found this large bank of snow propped up by the rock behind it. Nolan's posing so you can see how high it is.
From that spot we could see how the road goes down the mountain and turns to follow the slope of the next one. On the way back from Aspen, we noticed that someone had parked right at the turn and climbed the peak to the north. I'm sure they were going to ski down.
The road continued to follow the mountains as far as we could see.
Looking back we could see the road we had just traveled.
As we traveled toward Aspen, we traveled out of the snow zone. As you can see, some of the road became quite narrow and we were lucky we didn't meet any big vehicles on it. Any vehicle over 35' is prohibited from traveling this highway but even a dually pickup is wide for areas like this.
There were a couple places where the aspens grew alongside the road.
There were lots of nice houses and old, historic homes in Aspen but Nolan liked this one along the river east of Aspen.
We dodged bikers in quite a few places. You had to be careful going around the curves.
One of the many causualties of snow removal.
Back through one of the one-lane areas.
We stopped in one area and walked over a bridge to view the river.
One of many areas that had seen avalanches. There was an area just to the right of this where we could see ski tracks. More adventurous people had climbed up to ski down.
The river went over some falls here.
This is a horrible photo of an historic site sign along the road but I have to put it on here since I climbed into the snow to get the photo.
Some of the historic buildings of Independence.
We're back to the final climb up to the pass.
The guard rails all along the road were in bad shape.
Back down the east slope.
I had to laugh at some of the shapes the snow had melted into. Nolan said this was a face looking up at the sky.
Another area where the snow had collapsed.
You could tell where the snow had avalanched and taken out trees. They stuck out of the snowbanks alongside the road.
The restrooms were still locked up.
We followed a path in the snow up to a higher area but quickly went back to the parking lot because of the cold blowing wind.
On the way back down we heard some other visitors commenting about skiers. Yeap, some adventurous souls had climbed to the top of the peak to the north of us and were skiing down. They're just a speck in this photo.
They were much more visible as they neared the road.
Past the peak, not all the road signs were cleared of snow.
On the west side of the pass we found this large bank of snow propped up by the rock behind it. Nolan's posing so you can see how high it is.
From that spot we could see how the road goes down the mountain and turns to follow the slope of the next one. On the way back from Aspen, we noticed that someone had parked right at the turn and climbed the peak to the north. I'm sure they were going to ski down.
The road continued to follow the mountains as far as we could see.
Looking back we could see the road we had just traveled.
As we traveled toward Aspen, we traveled out of the snow zone. As you can see, some of the road became quite narrow and we were lucky we didn't meet any big vehicles on it. Any vehicle over 35' is prohibited from traveling this highway but even a dually pickup is wide for areas like this.
There were a couple places where the aspens grew alongside the road.
There were lots of nice houses and old, historic homes in Aspen but Nolan liked this one along the river east of Aspen.
We dodged bikers in quite a few places. You had to be careful going around the curves.
One of the many causualties of snow removal.
Back through one of the one-lane areas.
We stopped in one area and walked over a bridge to view the river.
One of many areas that had seen avalanches. There was an area just to the right of this where we could see ski tracks. More adventurous people had climbed up to ski down.
The river went over some falls here.
This is a horrible photo of an historic site sign along the road but I have to put it on here since I climbed into the snow to get the photo.
Some of the historic buildings of Independence.
We're back to the final climb up to the pass.
The guard rails all along the road were in bad shape.
Back down the east slope.
I had to laugh at some of the shapes the snow had melted into. Nolan said this was a face looking up at the sky.
Another area where the snow had collapsed.
You could tell where the snow had avalanched and taken out trees. They stuck out of the snowbanks alongside the road.
1 comment:
Beautiful photos!!!! My family and I will be visiting Colorado the end of September and are very much looking forward to it. The one lane areas of the pass look so scary!!!
Lisa
Green Bay, WI
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