birthday 3-1 trip
Another year has passed in the life of r-dub. Guess it's time to celebrate with another road trip. I've got a hankerin' for some pass hopping. Let's see where these roads will take me this time, shall we?
Scenery meter goes to 11
Yeah, I know that this is supposed to be a roadgeek site, and for the most part, it is. This trip went more scenic than I was expecting, though. Not that I'm complaining.
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Looking at the southern slope of Marcellina Mountain.
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And now the western slope. It's pretty easy to capture most of the sides of a mountain when the road you're on goes around it.
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We're entering ranch lands now.
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A couple of steep switchbacks later, we emerge at the base of the valley we saw on the last page.
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Heading over Anthracite Creek.
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Looking upstream.
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There's some severe discrimination against quad drivers along this route!
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"I used to be by the window, and I could watch the squirrels. And they were merry."
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Every time I see homes along these routes I try to make up some reason why it wouldn't be a good idea to live there. I can't come up with one for this place.
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Hugging the side of the valley.
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When civilization attacks.
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These folks are into the natural lawn ornaments, I see.
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At the END! of GCR 12. This is SH 133. I had to wait about five minutes for the motorcycle parade to pass.
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Alrighty then, we're heading south on SH 133 now.
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Tons of bicyclists on this road.
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133 is just over 68 miles long and runs from Hotchkiss to Carbondale/SH 82. Here's a pict of 133's north END!
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Mining operations are predominant along this stretch of 133.
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Mining operation paraphernalia.
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Good thing that's covered. It would suck if something came off of that conveyor belt.
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Old-school retaining wall.
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More mining madness.
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From 65 to 25 in one easy step!
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Tiny, narrow street now. We're passing through Somerset, CO.
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Getting all nice and friendly with train loaders.
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The first reassurance shield for 133 that I've found.
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Old rock cut here.
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Entering Delta!Delta!Delta! county.
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More bicyclists in the way.
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Taken at 1:08MST. I have now been traveling this Earth for exactly 31 years. Sure, this shot is not as scenic as last year's picture, but it's still worth it.
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Coming up on SH 187, which is a short spur into Paonia.
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At the northern END! of SH 187.
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Nothing at the other end except Paonia. This picture brought to you by the letter "P."
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The next intersection is a blind intersection controlled only by a stop sign on the cross street. This sign helps warn speeding drivers that things could get interesting ahead.
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Dropping into a valley.
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Random railroad tracks.
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Welcome to Friendlyville!
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Coming up to the southern END! of SH 133.
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At the southern END! of 133. Your choice is to go west to Delta and Grand Junction, or east to Gunnison.
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We've decided to go east. The sun's starting to get in the way if we were to continue west. As luck would have it, we're going to stay on the West Elk Loop byway, too.
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US 50 is a control city here because there's nothing after Crawford, as we'll see.
- Where to next?
- Page 6
- This trip's Index
- Page 8
Section Links
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with any of the orginizations listed within this site. I'm just a bored roadgeek with way too much time on his hands. All of the picts in this page are mine and mine alone unless otherwise noted. Remember, kids: stealing is bad, mmmm-k? I get quite pissy if things are taken without telling me. I don't like to be pissy. You won't like it either. If you want to link to this page, that's fine. Please shoot me an email beforehand so I can link to your page as well. K? Thanks. --Ryan
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