Crossing the continental divide

Sunday, October 5th dawned cold and clear in Carbondale with us eastbound on I-70 towards Vail, Colorado thru more beautiful fall colors.

I-70 thru Glenwood Canyon is considered an engineering marvel with a 12 mile span featuring 40 bridges and numerous tunnels, and is one of the most expensive rural highways per mile built in the US.

On the road to Vail.

Vail Colorado.

Fall colors and ski slopes Vail, Colorado.

Not long after Vail, we began the long, arduous climb up to the highest point on the US interstate system, the Eisenhower Tunnel, 11,158 feet above sea level at the continental divide.  Our faithful 2000 F250 Diesel pulled our 19,000 pound combined gross weight up to the top pretty well, considering it's 14 years old and pushing 231,000 miles.

Climbing towards the continental divide.

Approaching the tree line!

Eisenhower tunnel at the Continental Divide.  Whew....what a climb that was!!

Just past the east end of the tunnel we pulled over at a parking area perched high on the side of the mountain to give the truck and ourselves a well deserved break.  As we stepped out of the truck, the distinctive sound of a steam whistle greeted our ears. Stepping over to the edge of the steep drop, we were treated to the sight of a steam locomotive chugging across an elevated trestle on the historic Georgetown Loop Railroad!




The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Completed in 1884, this spectacular stretch of three-foot narrow gauge railroad was considered an engineering marvel for its time.

Engine 9 chugging up the Clear Creek canyon from Silver Plume to Georgetown.

The decent from the Eisenhower Tunnel down towards Denver is a long descent with many steep 7% grades.

It felt like we were going straight down at times.

After approaching what we thought was the bottom of our long descent, we were treated to this ominous sign.

They weren't kidding either.....

Eventually, we did reach the bottom, and thanks to our diesel engine brake, without smoking the truck or trailer brakes!