The last couple of days I've been in Vail to help my friend Charlotte shoot a wedding, and her parents came along for the ride. There are two ways to get from Colorado Springs to Vail: you can either drive north on I-25 to south Denver and then west on E-470 to I-70 and up Vail Pass, or you can take the scenic route, which means driving west on Highway 24, taking you through some cute little towns with names like Florissant, Hartsel, Fairplay and Alma (and for you South Park fans, that part of Colorado is South Park), then through Breckenridge, Frisco and up Vail Pass. You also have to go over three mountain passes: Ute Pass (which is just outside of Colorado Springs), Wilkerson Pass and Hoosier Pass.
We took the scenic route! Ute Pass is no biggie, I drive it all the time. Wilkerson Pass is pretty wimpy too (as you can see from the photo, the summit is only 9,507 feet), but Hoosier Pass is a little more challenging and it's even worse when there's weather! And as you can imagine, in Colorado, in December, at 10,000+ feet, there's going to be weather. It was a little scary -- strong winds blowing snow, creating white-out conditions in spots -- but Charlotte's dad thankfully took the wheel and drove us safely up and over Hoosier Pass. Thanks Bill!
I took this photo at the summit of Wilkerson Pass, which was snowy but passable. I love how the fire danger indicator, in sub-freezing temps and inches of snow, says "moderate". Hmmm, a little bit of an understatement there, don't you think?
2 comments:
My Fort Collins family arrived here in San Diego for the holidays yesterday. What a wonderful time of year to visit. It's a beautiful day, 42F this morning. They think it is heaven. :-)
I haven't been over Wilkerson in the snow. I wonder what the little chipmunks are doing right about now? Freezing their tails off, I'm sure.
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