Volosaurus rex
Doctorate in Volology
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- Dec 2, 2009
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I’ve only been to Bryce Canyon once and that was in 1978, so I can’t provide any useful insight on what approach route would be preferable (or to be avoided) for your specific purposes. However, if you aren’t already using it for planning purposes, I believe that you will find the website, milebymile.com, to be an absolute godsend. They have detailed mile-by-mile commentaries, often accompanied by a host of photographs, for roughly 1700 major and scenic highways nationwide. For example, here are links to their webpages on two major portions of the San Juan Skyway: http://www.milebymile.com/main/highway-10.html and http://www.milebymile.com/main/highway-11.html. You also can reverse direction for the highway from what first appears in order to assess different potential routes. If I am going into areas that I have not previously visited, I will usually have a notebook of printouts for navigational purposes for the itinerary that I ultimately decide upon.
Don't underestimate the value of Youtube for video clips that may be useful for planning purposes. Here are links to a few clips, again for various areas in the San Juans, that should adequately illustrate my point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfF_B0zBUVI; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQE1ANPSk-8; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkXI7pLSMS8; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__sy1DYQB9I (Note: This one is best left to persons who are truly experienced in high-altitude, off-road driving or jeep tour operators); and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdyMOt68MxY.
For some of that vaunted fall color that is visible in the Ridgway/Telluride area, which is accessible from Ouray County Roads 5, 7 and 9, as well as the Last Dollar Road, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=884SbtYKKyo and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqoOhPwjwnk.
If you are heading west from Denver and have not previously visited the area, I would highly recommend circumnavigating the Gore Range, which is north of Vail and Silverthorne. Locals consider the Gore Range, which encompasses the appropriately named Eagles Nest Wilderness Area, to be one of the most rugged mountain ranges in all of Colorado. Indeed, it is so rugged that very few, if any, trails actually cross the Gores. See http://www.gohikecolorado.com/gore-range.html and http://www.coloradoswildareas.com/wilderness_area/eagles-nest-wilderness/. Most of them just lead to high alpine lakes.
You could describe the Gores as Colorado's version of the Tetons, given the fact that the Gore Range is a fault-block mountain range. To give you a flavor of this lesser-known range, see http://www.summitpost.org/gore-range/170958 and http://www.mountainphotography.com/gallery/gore-range/. You won’t find a lot of company on the roads in this area, but it is most impressive, particularly in fall.
"Only 60 miles at its closest point from Denver, the Gore Range as a whole is relatively unknown. Due to the lack of mining roads that crisscross more popular mountain ranges the interior of the Gore Range can be difficult to reach. Of the summits of the Gore Range none attain the magic 14,000-ft mark, which accounts for some of the range's obscurity. The monarch of the Gore Range is the 13,534-ft. Mount Powell at the north end of the range. Overall, the west side of the Gore Range is more accessible than the east. If approaching from the east, expect long, tedious, bushwhacking adventures with difficult route finding."
Incidentally, have you ever taken the road to the summit of Mount Evans in the Front Range? 'tis the highest paved road in the country; the summit parking lot is at an elevation of just over 14,100 feet, so it is the easiest 14er you will ever climb. You're almost guaranteed to see bighorn and/or mountain goats at the summit parking area. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5kn3NDW9bQ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvZpP6DC-2A. You will also drive through an area inhabited by bristlecone pines (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ia-bRFR16Sg).
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