The Not Quite Glitch-Free Return Trip

   Everything had been packed in the van the night before so we were ready to go promptly at 6:00am. KL got behind the wheel and we set off for the far western Colorado burg of Grand Junction, getting on a relatively traffic free I-70 WB within minutes.

   Familiar with  portents of doom? Some people are, some people are not. KL and I were oblivious to any such notion as we noticed an accident in the eastbound lanes of I-70 soon after we hit cruising speed. We both saw the emergency vehicles that had surrounded the wreck, closing off all but one lane of EB I-70, and we both muttered "poor bastiches" or some such equivalent as we saw the huge backup of stalled traffic in the freeway lanes opposite the ones we were practically flying on - a traffic jam we would later learn was caused by a Semi hauling a load of Palisade Peaches to Denver that had flipped on it's side, no injuries (except to the peaches that littered that side of I-70).

   Any whatzit, we moved east at a relatively steady clip for a few hours until we reached our first stop, which should have been easy-breezy lemon-squeezy, except it was not - seems the wrong item was ordered and the delivery was refused, so KL and I had to put it back in the van and get back on the road to the next stop, a mere 134 miles further west.                         

                                          Western Colorado, not all ski-slopey like the central Rockies

   Back on WB I-70 we headed for our next stop in Grand Junction. This stop was a relatively simple drop and would allow us a quick turnaround. All went as planned when we arrived at our destination and we were back on I-70 heading east about ten minutes after we arrived.

   The traffic was negligible and we made great time, but it looked as if we would be down to less than a gallon of fuel if we drove directly to our last stop, so we opted to get off EB I-70 at mile marker 147 at Eagle, in order to refuel at the Costco there and grab a couple of $1.50 hotdog and a coke deals. 

   We couldn't have been in Eagle for more than twenty minutes, tops, before we headed back to the EB I-70 onramp...which was being blocked by a Sheriff's patrol car with a Deputy standing in front of it directing traffic away from the onramp and back into Eagle.

                   Both the west bound and east bound lanes closed on I-70. That line of Semi's would grow to be miles long.

   We ended up in the parking lot of the local City Market, using our phones to scour the Internet for information regarding the closure. We talked to a few of the other people stuck in the parking lot with us and gleaned bits and pieces of information that could or could not be true. Trucks from the local utility company headed east along a frontage road on the north side of Eagle, and several emergency vehicles zipped past the roadblock in the eastbound lanes and headed toward a slight plume of smoke (seen in the above photograph in the far left quarter).

   A little more than an hour passed without any information of value being posted on the few local news websites. A very short paragraph on the Colorado Dept of Transportation's website stated there had been an accident on Co. Hwy 6 (which parallels I-70 in the area) that had sparked a fire that had grown to 6, maybe 7 acres, and both I-70 and Co Hwy 6 were closed in both directions from Edwards to Eagle in order to allow firefighters to put out the fire.

   A 30 mile closure of the only two means of driving east or west without having to take a very long detour either north or south.

   After another hour of sitting around and hoping the accident would be cleared and the fire would be put out and we would be allowed to continue on our way, it dawned on us that we were going to have to resort to either the north or south detour if we wanted to be home before midnight (or even later).

   So we headed back toward Glenwood Springs in order to get on Co. Hwy 82 and head south so that we could get on I-24 northbound which would get us to Co. Hwy 91 northbound, which would allow us to rejoin eastbound I-70 at mile marker 195, just past the Cooper Mt Ski Resort.

   Short paragraph, long drive. Taking southbound 82 meant going over Independence Pass...

                         Portable Stoplight Regulates East & West Bound Traffic In Narrow Spots Of Independence Pass

               Independence Pass is just wide enough in some places to allows cars of average width to proceed single file

   Reaching 12,095 feet (approx. 3668 meters) Colorado State Highway 82 over Independence Pass is the second highest paved crossing of the continental divide in the United States . While the photos above show guardrails in place, that is not the case in several very dicey areas.

                                          Driving over Independence Pass - note the lack of Guardrails                                                

   Driving above the treeline and looking out the passenger window gives one the feeling of flying in a jetliner. You look down into sprawling valleys far below, and there doesn't seem to be much around to save you from falling... 

                                     Eventually, we got over the pass and down to earth as we know  like it.

    Co. Hwy 82 winds 70 miles from Aspen to Twin Lakes, with the pass being between the two winter gates (approx. 19 miles from Aspen, about the same to Twin Lakes). It's a beautiful and exciting drive, especially if you're into 6% grades and switchbacks with hairpin turns and very few guardrails to obstruct the view.

   Did I mention the lack of guardrails in some areas?

   The detour stretched our drive back to Denver from two hours at most to four and a half hours. No doubt it was a lot more scenic, but it also made for a very long day, especially for KL who drove the entire trip - almost 13 hours in the saddle!