Hanging Lake

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On our cross country drive to California today is our first day "in the mountains". We're following I70 to the west having left Denver and the plains behind us to the east. We cross over the continental divide at the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnels (1973 & 1979) which are very high at nearly 11,000' — it would appear there's no nearby mountain pass. This is an impressive bit of engineering: two tunnels each with two lanes of traffic that bore nearly 2 miles through the mountain! It's one of the highest vehicle tunnels in the world.

There are lots of ski slopes and chair lifts visible as we enter the tunnels (this is the Loveland Ski Area). There's more skiing on the other side.

Descending the other side we visit the city of Vail, another skiing destination, but neither of us ski. This is an expensive tourist place, nothing like Idaho Springs. It's more like the land of very posh ski-bunnies. But we can say, we've been there. Didn't stay long, but were there.

In the mountains, on parts of the I70, there are runaway truck ramps on the steeper descents — should brakes fail the trucks can go into these ramps which go back up the hill and safely come to a stop in the loose gravel. Reg's dad has a trucking company and he is interested in the many big rigs we see on the road.

The I70 follows some very narrow passes through the mountains and road work is pretty constant with repairs and road enhancements. There are opportunities to get out of the car and stretch your legs while awaiting your turn to go through the construction.

Along the way Kate has spotted "Hanging Lake" on "Dead Horse Canyon" in our AAA travel guide and we stop to explore. It's a bit of hike off the road up to this "Hanging Lake" (no, not that kind of hanging but probably that kind of dead horse) and along the way there's yet another "Bridal Veil Falls". 

The day is sunny and bright, the air is so clear and clean. The mountains are lovely.

Photos scanned and blog created April 2022 during the BadAss.II Covid wave and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.