Lauren
Sahuarita, AZ (or on the road!)
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Joined: 05/31/2001
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THAT is also good advice; keep your options open.
Lauren -
Lifelong Best Friend / 47 Year DW, Barbara
2nd Best Friend, "Aussie" Terrier, Sadie
2006 Mobile Suites 32TK3
2006.5 Chev 3500 3LT XCab 4x4 Dmax Allie
www.laurenbarbara.com
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johnrbd
Hanford CA
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Joined: 09/12/2005
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Good idea about multiple routes. I use TL Navigator on laptop and check weather and make route adjustments as needed. We're retired, so we don't have to be in any particular place ata given time. Just thinking about a 30-day, or so, trip from CA to see Zion/Bryce/Arches and some CO scenery and loop back down to 40 and home, more or less.
Thanks for all the great info, esp length limitations and snow possibilities.
When we went thru CO on 70, 7 yrs ago, we had 17 days to get to Wooster OH, Porum, OK and back home. Scenery went back pretty fast, except after Dillon and Eisenhower Tunnel. Want to enjoy some of that this trip.
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cm
Dillon, CO USA
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Joined: 08/01/2002
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"Trailer Life Navigator doesn't want to route me onto 24 off I-70 but onto Shrine Pass Rd, further east. Is 24 that bad from Minturn to Red Cliff?"
Highway 24 goes south from I-70 through Minturn, a little west of Vail. It is a paved all weather road.
Shrine Pass Road is a dirt road from the top of Vail Pass down to the town of Red Cliff. It is only open in the summer and probably not open in May. Plus you have to drive farther west than Minturn and drive to the top of Vail Pass and then down into Red Cliff.
The directions from TL Navigator to use Shrine Pass Road are about as wrong as you can get.
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johnrbd
Hanford CA
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cm -I checked out 24 south from Vail using Google Earth and it appears to be good 2-lane road all the way down to Buena Vista. Elevation readings along the way didn't seem too extreme.
This is the first time TL Navigator failed me. Usually if I want it to take a certain road and enter a town enroute and it goes thru there, but not this time, it insisted on Shrine Pass Rd, even with Minturn and Gilman entered.
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cm
Dillon, CO USA
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Joined: 08/01/2002
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Highway 24 is a good road. There are some switchbacks in a couple of places and you have some climbing since you have to get from the Minturn elevation, 7861 ft, to the top of Tennessee Pass at 10,424.
If you go this way be sure and stop at the location of Camp Hale and at the top of the pass at the Memorial for the 10th Mountain Division from WW-II. Camp Hale was the training camp and you can still see some of the foundations of the buildings and there are signs explaining the area. Ski Cooper is the ski area t the top of the pass and is where the 10th Mountain Division got their winter training. The memorial lists the names of those men killed in the battles in Italy.
Many of today's Colorado Resorts, including Vail, were founded my members of the 10th Mountain Division after they returned from the war. Also spend a day or two in Leadville. A lot of mining history. There is a very good mining museum in Leadville and the Mineral Belt Trail is a good tour of some of the historic mining districts.
Also Mt Elbert and Mt Massive, the two highest 14ers in Colorado, are just west of Leadville and are visible from just about anywhere in town.
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4runnerguy
Glenwood Springs, CO
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Joined: 03/10/2003
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As noted, CO 82 is not for your rig. Otherwise, we travel exactly the same route (Exit I-70 - US 24 - US 285 - CO 291 - US 50 - County 1A - CO 69 - CO 96 - CO 165(Greenhorn) to I-25) from Glenwood down to the family cabin at Lake Isabel along CO 165. Of course you're also bypassing CO Spgs and Pueblo this route, but if you're heading to I-40, this is definitely more scenic than I-25 through those cities. Be warned, the Cotopaxi cutoff (1A) is easy to miss. Keep track of your mileage from Salida. It's just before a Sinclair station on the right side of the road. (It is marked.) We typically take six hours from Glenwood to Lake Isabel via US 24 out of Minturn, not towing but stopping for lunch, gas, and the unavoidable stop to pick up something we forgot at the grocery store. But if you want to sightsee, you can spend weeks along this route. You can find plenty of advice here for things to do in the Leadville, Buena Vista, Salida area by using the search function. One out of the way stop is Bishops Castle along CO 165. Plenty of parking for big rigs right along the road just past the castle (southbound).
US 50 is also a viable option with plenty of scenic opportunities also. A stop at the NPS visitors center at Cimarron is a great place to stretch your legs for a few minutes. Unless you really like to fish, the campgrounds aroung Blue Mesa reservoir can get quite windy.
I do think the grade up Monarch Pass out of Gunnison has a much longer continuous pull than the couple of short steep sections of US 24 over Tennessee Pass -- one right out of Minturn and the other near the summit. Both have grades right around 6%, less than you encountered on I-70. Monarch Pass does have more passing lanes however. Tennessee Pass is almost 1000' lower, and except for North Pass (CO 114), one of the easiest passes over the Continental Divide in Colorado.
Ken & Allison
2 Camping Cats (1 diabetic)
1996 4Runner, TRD Supercharger, Edelbrock headers
2007 Fleetwood Arcadia, Honda EU2000i
4 mountain bikes, 1 canoe, 4 tents, 8 sleeping bags, 2 backpacks
(You get the idea!)
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johnrbd
Hanford CA
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Joined: 09/12/2005
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Lots of great info. Got to checkout Bishop's Castle for sure. So many great areas to checkout.
Trying to avoid Memorial Day crowds, but starting out latter part of May will probably be necessary to avoid snow/ice at high elevation passes.
Current option-Zion-Bryce Canyon-Arches, Ouray, Buena Vista (and maybe Leadville, Bishop's Castle, and Santa Fe - then head home (26-30 days or so). Probably 3 days at most stops.
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