advice needed..WY-230 to CO-125 (Fort Collins, Loveland: how much, buy, living)

[pmjinnh]

One leg of our trip this summer will take us from Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Parks to Encampment, WY and onto Estes Park,CO.

Our plan is to drive from Encampment to Grand Lake via WY-230 to CO-125, then over Trail Ridge Rd to Estes Park.

I am curious as to these specific routes..are this back country roads that are potentially dangerous in "weather" as far as steepness, switchbacks,etc lack of shoulder, services, etc, or are they benign, safe roads to drive for people unfamiliar with the area? I'm not sure what kind of "weather" you all get in late July, early August, but is it conceivable to get snow/ice on these roads at that time of year?


Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

[jazzlover]

Typical two-lane paved highway. Not particularly hair raising. I guess Trail Ridge could get a "flatlander" a little excited. Services are sparse--basically nothing from Rawlins to Saratoga, a couple of convenience stores/gas stations in Encampment, then nothing 'til you get to Walden, CO. Nothing except for a convenience store/gas station at Rand until you get to Granby (I haven't driven that stretch for a few years).

It can snow anytime in the high Rockies, but it is unlikely to stick on the roads in late July or August (though it can--I remember driving through 6" of snow in Leadville, at 10,200 feet years ago on Colorado Day--August 1st). Afternoon thunderstorms are pretty common in the high country that time of year, with short, heavy rain and small hail possible. Temperatures can be in the 80's in the day, and drop to near freezing at night.

[pmjinnh]

Thanks, Jazzlover. Its good to know ahead of time what to expect.

[pmjinnh]

Jazzlover,

One leg of our trip this summer was originally going to take us from Riverside/Encampment,WY (south of Saratoga)to Estes Park,CO via WY 230/125 to Grand Lake, over Trail Ridge Rd to Estes Park....then I read about Snowy Mountain Pass and checked both these routes out on Google Earth. Now I am not so sure which route to take.
Can you give me input as to how long these 2 comparative trips would take?
If we go plan A (Riverside/Encampment to Estes via 230/125/34 (TRR)), then would we be going over TTR late in the day?

Plan B wouuld take us over Snowy Mountain Pass (WY 130) to Laramie then onto I80 from Laramie to I25 to Estes Park

We can save Trail Ridge Rd for another day as we will be in Estes Park for 7 days, its not like we'd be cutting it out of the mix.
Thanks

[jazzlover]

Are you after speed or scenery? Faster than Snowy Pass would be I-80 to Laramie, then 287 to Fort Collins, then Loveland, then up Big Thompson Canyon to Estes. If you wish to see Snowy Pass, then take it from near Riverside over to Laramie. Then you can either go the route I mentioned above, or you can go south through Woods Landing on to Walden. From there you can go your "original route" to Granby, etc., or you can go east to Fort Collins, via Cameron Pass and Poudre Canyon. Poudre is one of Colorado's prettiest canyons, but is a slower drive through a winding canyon for many miles. The Snowy Pass route is quite scenic, but would take about the same time as the Trail Ridge route.

Speed of trip depends a) how comfortable you are with mountain driving, b) how many stops and how much sightseeing you do along the way, and c) how much traffic there is. Weekdays traffic may be pretty light. On weekends, there is a lot of traffic, which can back up easily on two-lane mountain roads. All it takes is one moron in an RV who won't pull off and let faster traffic pass.

For your "original" route, if you leave Encampment in the early morning (before 8 AM), you should be on Trail Ridge just after lunch pretty easily, if you don't dawdle too much. I can make it faster than that, but I've been driving Colorado mountain roads almost continually for just about 40 years. Trail Ridge itself is slow-going--lots of curves, etc. and lots of "daisy-picker" tourists. You can't (and probably don't want to) make good time on it.

My best advice for mountain driving in the summer tourist season, regardless of routing:

1. Start early in the morning--the sooner the better. It's getting light before 5:30 AM. The "sweet light" of early morning makes the mountains look the most photogenic. Watch out for wildlife on the highways, though--they will still be out (of course, you may get to see wildlife--bear, moose, elk, etc.--that you won't see later in the day). Traffic is usually lightest then, too. Most tourists are too lazy to get out of bed that early. By 8 or 9 AM, it can be a madhouse of RV's, slow-moving tourists, and commercial trucks clogging up many mountain highways.

2. If you want to stop, or drive slowly to enjoy the scenery, do it--BUT PULL OFF AND LET FASTER TRAFFIC PASS. Some people (like me) actually have to drive those roads as part of making a living--we have to get places. Quite often, I was in the position of having to drive from one end of Colorado to the other in a day or less. "Dodging" slow-moving tourists can be really exasperating when you have to make those kinds of drives.

3. Expect some rain on summer afternoons if you are in the mountains. Unlike many other areas with mountains (California, for example), the Colorado mountains are prone to showers and thunderstorms on summer afternoons. Expect it, and the significant temperature drop (often from the 80's to 50's in minutes) when a storm passes over. Take lightning safety seriously. Have layers of clothing, too. Shorts might be comfortable at noon, but frigid by nightfall.

4. Evening can be a great time to sightsee, just like early morning. The "sweet light" in evening is great for photography. Many tourists are more concerned about their stomachs than the scenery by dinnertime, so the traffic usually thins out, too. Again, watch for the wildlife on the roads. If you do travel into the evening, make a lodging reservation in advance, otherwise all you may see at your destination is "No Vacancy" signs.

5. Buy fuel where it is cheap (usually away from the mountain resorts). Fuel in resort areas is almost always high-priced. I even knew some resort area gas station owners who would raise their prices on Friday morning by 10 cents or more a gallon and lower them back on Monday morning--just get a little more out of the weekend trade.

6. If you're on a paved road, don't expect solitude or pure quiet. You won't find it. That experience requires going into the backcountry. The simple rule is: the more steep, more treacherous, and less vehicle accessible the place is, the more likely that will have it to yourself.

[pmjinnh]

Thanks, again, jazzlover. This is great information!