Moab UT to Buffalo Pass to Fort Collins CO
|
Last
day for the week's travels. I'll be home tonight. In the travels will
be road I don't often travel (Rifle to Craig) as well as Buffalo Pass, #4 on the map,
that has been on my To-Do list. |
| Packing for home |
| I-70 around Thompson Springs UT |
| Leaving the Grand Junction area to enter the mountains region. |
| Colorado River near DeBeque. |
| Nearing Rifle, Colo. |
| Heading north out of Rifle on Colorado State Route 13 |
| What's up with the sheep-dog being on the road side of the fence? |
| ...and here's the flock - also at the road's edge. I pulled off at the next driveway and knocked on the door to let the person know. These (loose) sheep weren't theirs but they knew who to call. |
| We're driving into a burn area but also of note is the ribbon of exposed rock in the far hill. |
| I think this is north of Meeker. |
| US-40 nearing Steamboat Springs |
| The Steamboat Springs ski runs (brown strips of no trees) coming down the mountain. |
| Heading
up to Buffalo Pass. I have been up this far a few years back but at the
top the gate was locked and I couldn't complete the trip over. I'm
fairly certain the gate will be open this time around. |
| At the top! |
| Buffalo Pass 10,339 Feet Continental Divide |
| A bit of the road on the west side was bumpy / rocky. The road down the east side was beautiful - like this the full trip down. |
| Looking down at North Park. |
| The
power lines. There are coal powered generation stations out near Craig
/ Hayden Colo. The first set of lines, I believe, head to Cheyenne WY with the
second set heading to Fort Collins. |
| The mountain peaks near the center to right on the horizon, I believe, are those in Rocky Mountain National Park. |
| Off the mountain. There is this ranger cabin / rest stop. |
| Info Sign Click for a larger size |
| Info Sign Click for a larger size |
| Info Sign Click for a larger size |
| While
Wyoming's Powder River Basin is large for coal delivery, there is a bit
of coal mining in Colorado - both active, and like this, no longer in
operation. This is a remaining building at Coalmont Colo. This mine was
serviced by a railroad (Laramie WY to Walden CO, to Coalmont CO). The
rails have long ago been removed but the railbed is visible on
satellite imagery. |
| That's it for the trip. I'll make a stop at Walden to top off the tank and decide which route to Fort Collins. Should I take short, curvey, slow highway 14 back to Fort Collins (2h & 88 miles) or take the longer but straighter & faster route via Laramie WY (2h & 118 miles)? Tonight will be the Laramie route. Animal encounter possibilities are a concern for each of the routes. |
