Southwestern Colorado Vacation
West Elk Scenic Loop
Kebler Pass, Colorado
Bucket List-
On the way to Crested Butte we were stopped by cows, horses and cowboys. They were transferring the moos to pasture on the other side of the road. We waited, as did everyone else except for some dude in a company truck who decided he needed to go go go, so he plowed right through them. I guess he was in a big hurry.
Next was the Gunnison-Taylor Park Loop
Kebler was just so beautiful we thought this scenic byway would be too. HA HA HA HA We could not take our eyes off of the boulders in the road. From Pitkin to Tin Cup was a solid nightmare. Click on photo to view map. See that jeep? It was a clue! Don't attempt this in a car! Argh, live and learn, I guess.
We made the pass (Cumberland) in my Dodge Journey. I wanted to give it an award for not dying on me on top of the mountain. We went 28 miles in 3 hours We were very thankful my tires did not blow on the mini boulders in the road. Top speed was 5 mph with an occasional 6 or 7. Never, ever, ever! again!!! Just thankful to be alive after that drive over.
I'm sure the scenery was fantastic but I didn't see it because I couldn't take my eyes off the road. The other side of the loop was really beautiful though.
Close to Tin Cup after the pass. We saw a couple of beaver dams in these meadow sloughs. So, if you want that adventure, ride a 4x4 up and over, or if not, go up the other side to Tin Cup. That's where all the beautiful scenery is anyway. (My opinion).
Burgers if you please. Pretty good when you are starving.
Million Dollar Highway
Southwest Colorado has some major construction going on. Hwy 50, and 550, and the route to Telluride. Not really any huge holdups, but there were just so many places. On the Million Dollar Highway there were several delays. We saw military repelling of the side of one turn, and three fire trucks coming up the other side. (They were for the fire, which we never saw, but there were wildfires and controlled burns in several places that were on our route.)
Traffic was really slow on the MDH, but considering the sheer drop offs and twisting turns...I felt safer than all the other times we have gone on this route. Slowing down is a good thing on this road, and it gives you time to enjoy the scenery.
and here is more...
sharing with Michelle for Thankful Thursday, Yogi for Skywatch Friday, Eileen for Saturday's Critters
thanks for stopping by, I love to hear from you, so please leave a comment.
28 comments:
Beautiful Fall scenery! Even the bark of the aspens is pretty.
How very, very beautiful. Thank you.
These trees are magnificent!
I love trees, any and all trees! these are every single photo awesome to behold. wow and wow on those tall skinny ever greens... scary about the boulders. what a specatular drive you had other than the boulders. so very sorry your cat has gone over the rainbow bridge. I would have had to go home also... thanks for all the beauty shared today
I love the tree photos at the beginning and end. It was quite the trip.
These photos of the Colorado territory are so pretty. Thanks for sharing a little of your journey with us. Thankfully, you were not in harms way of the fires. Those can be scary. The burger place sounds delicious after a day of driving. Such beautiful scenery here. All the trees are turning golden. My best friend used to live in Colorado, and it's one of the few places I'd love to visit.
Lovely Fall days to you, Terri.
~Sheri
Fall is beautiful. :-)
Such beautiful scenery!!
Love all the cows crossing the road. :)
Hello from a first-time visitor, who wanted to say thanks and hello at the same time, I appreciated your visit and comment to our blog (The Frog & Penguinn) and hope you will visit again. I really enjoyed seeing all the great photos in this post and hope we can get to CO on a future road trip across the USA. The one we did several years ago missed so many states.
If you have no objection, I would like to include this blog on my sidebar so that other bloggers can stop in for visits. I am not able to visit all the listed blogs daily, but try to read recent and older posts on a weekly basis.
Looks like a nice ride for scenery if not speed. Love your photos of the aspens especially. We don't have aspens in Oklahoma.
La naturaleza en su estado puro, muestra su belleza en esos paisajes de otoño.
Wow, that was quite a ride you were on. I do love all the names of the quaint places but going where it should be only 4 wheel drive would be scary to me too.
Those Aspen are glorious. things around here are just beginning to turn but nothing like CO. Of course having another 98+F heat wave doesn't help either..
Sue
OH MY GOSH!!! First, your photos are really magazine quality, and they should win an award. Such beauty that they take your breath away. But what you had to go through to see this all!!! SO scary! I am truly so sorry about your cat. We are cat parents and cat lovers.
Your photos bring back so many memories. You have wonderful photos. My dad and my uncle would sit and dream about the Million Dollar Highway for hours. I too remember it when we were on our honeymoon 39 years ago.The birch photos are so great.
Spectacular scenery in your photos. Those Aspens must have been a sight to behold. I would love to explore Colorado, even more so after seeing your photos. So sorry about your cat.
...aspens sure put on a show in Colorado. I'm glad that you enjoyed it and shared it with me!
So beautiful, thank you for sharing these lovely photographs.
All the best Jan
Colorado is such a beautiful state. You captured it so well and it sounds like you had a great time. Thank you for linking up and have a great weekend.
Stunning trees, love the colours not at all harsh.
The scenery is wonderful.
Oh my goodness! breathtakingly beautiful! I was vacationing in Colorado last year.
So sorry for your loss. The scenery reminds me of New Zealand's South Island, very similar.
Those aspen trees must've been a sight to behold. It seems like you had a great time overall.
Hello,
Wow the Aspens are gorgeous. Colorado is a beautiful state. That sure is a lot of cows crossing the road. Road work seems to be everywhere we go now.
A burger does sound yummy. Sorry for the loss of your kitty. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your day and have a great week ahead. PS, thank you for leaving me a comment.
Hello :=)
Breathtaking scenery and such beautiful photos. I'm so sorry about your cat :=(
All the best.
I’m so sorry about your kitty. So beautiful of a location. Happy Sunday.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com
I'me sorry about your cat too. I know that was sad and hard to enjoy your trip. I would love to visit that area again, it's been years! And I have a Jeep! lol Have a good week. Lots of hugs, Diane
Oh so beautiful -- Colorado is such a stunning state especially in Autumn -- there's nothing like those aspens and your photos are wonderful. And you're right about the roads -- they can be scary (and even though we're from the Pacific Northwest and used to mountains ). Our son, who is semi-retired, drives tour buses in the mountains near Ouray. He was a great guide for us last year when we visited and has some very interesting stories about his trips for the tour company.
I like verticals like that, especially in autumn.
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