Over the Mountains

Good morning from Pueblo, Colorado! We all survived the trip over Wolf Creek Pass yesterday. Winne, Peggy, and I. We started off our travels yesterday heading East on Highway 160 through Mancos, CO where we were treated to a balloon fest as several hot air balloons were lifting off near the highway. It looked like a fun thing to do on a beautiful fall Colorado day.

We drove through Durango and then on to Pagosa Springs through some very pretty country and stayed right around 7,000 feet in elevation for that 100 miles or so. In Pagosa Springs we found a convenient spot to pull over and disconnect the Vue for the trip over Wolf Creek Pass. I figured Winne would appreciate the lightened load for the 40 miles ahead. It didn't take too long after leaving Pagosa Springs to start our climb. Fortunately, the road heading up the mountain is in very good condition and has two lanes going up (in most places). Winne made most of the trip up in 2nd gear at around 35-40 MPH - right around the speed limit - while the engine hummed along at about 3700 RPM and the water temperature stayed at the normal spot all the way. I suppose it helped that the outside air temperature was in the mid 50s. Although I spent most of my time concentrating on driving - the views coming up to the summit were fantastic. Beautiful canyons with tall evergreens and steaks of yellow from all the aspens that are turning color this time of year. Since Peggy was driving the Vue we didn't get many pictures during this 40 miles - but here a couple from other spots during the trip.

Once we topped the 10,800 foot summit and started down it was time for Winne's engine to take a break and time for the transmission to do its work. I immediately geared down to 2nd gear for the initial descent and hit the brakes only enough to keep the speed between 35 and 40 MPH. After a few miles the slope lessened and I was able to make most of the rest of the trip down in 3rd gear and finally 4th as we entered the town of South Fork on the Eastern side of the mountains. We pulled over in South Fork, reattached the Vue, and continued our trip along Highway 160 through the high prairie. We stayed pretty near 7,500 feet for the next 100 miles or so until we ran into one last mountain range that needed crossing. This time we left the Vue attached and up we went. La Veta Pass tops out at about 9,400 feet and was another stretch of hard work for Winne - but once again she made it over and back down with no issues.

We finished up our trip stopping near Pueblo, Colorado for the evening. Whew - I'm glad the serious mountains are behind us as we head further east today. We are still near 5,000 feet here in Pueblo but we will be gradually dropping as we head East to Kansas today.

Central Time here we come!