A Rocky Mountain Roadtrip
- Levi Olson
- Sep 10, 2023
- 5 min read
Ever heard the phrase "It's not the destination, it's the journey"? Of course you have, it's a bit of a cliche, but like most cliches there are elements of truth to it. Take traveling for instance, so often when we plan a trip we focus on the destination and the act of actually getting there can often times be stressful. Booking flights, rushing to your transportation, dealing with security, trying to sleep on an overcrowded plane, not exactly what I would call a good time. It's funny how often times we go on vacations to take a break from the pressures of daily life, but we still find a way to stress ourselves out as we plan our trips and bog ourselves down with specific travel dates. This is why I think road trips are appealing, they give us a sense of freedom and they allow us to get away from the typical travel itineraries and excessive plannings that are often associated with vacations. Not only that, but there's just something so American about going on a road-trip, almost as if we're following the footsteps of the pioneers who also hit the open road into parts unknown.
When I was planning this particular road trip, I knew I wanted it to be as low key as possible. I knew perfectly well that I could blast right down the highway in one shot and make it to Breckenridge in 12 hours flat, but at that point I could've just taken a plane and been there in a fraction of the time. I instead decided to split the drive in half and make a pit stop in Hays, KS and really take my time and enjoy the sights. Speaking of which, if you've never made the western drive to Colorado off of I-70 it's a real treat, you literally get to see the landscape change around you going from the forested hills of Missouri to the rolling plains of Kansas and capping it all off with the imposing Rocky Mountains of Colorado whilst passing through major American cities the whole way across. Of course, many people like to knock Kansas for being flat and boring, but I think there's a sort of simple beauty in the emptiness of it all. You pass through stretches of The Great Plains, with nothing but scattered cattle and tremendous wind turbines to give you company. Perhaps I'm an outlier here, but I find driving through a landscape like that to be relaxing and almost therapeutic as I can just put on the cruise control and jam out to some music and be alone with my thoughts for a little while.
Once you make your way out of Kansas and go through the hustle and bustle of Denver, you'll find yourself in the mountains on what I believe is the most incredible stretch of interstate in the entire country. If you haven't seen it before, the Colorado stretch of I-70 is a true engineering wonder as it weaves up and down over itself through the mountains and valleys of the Rockies. It constantly gains in elevation until you surpass 11,000 feet and reach the legendary Eisenhower tunnel which cuts right through the continental divide. Then, when you break out of the tunnel and see daylight again, you're met with the steepest decline of the entire highway. A whopping descent of over 2,000 feet in a little over 8 miles which roughly equates to a 7% grade. At this point you have two choices, burn your brakes out in the right most lane and try to postpone the inevitability of gravity, or embrace the chaos and put your car into a lower gear and launch down the freeway. I of course chose option two. I dropped my car into 3rd gear took my foot off the brake pedal and flew down the road in my tiny little Golf GTI knuckles white on the steering wheel as I weaved between SUVs and semis flying at a speed of 80 miles per hour until I reached the bottom where I turned off onto the peaceful winding CO-9 highway until I reached my final "destination" of Breckenridge.
My time in Breckenridge was great, I had no plans other than summiting Quandary Peak, which I dedicated a morning to. Other than that, I just wanted to enjoy the sights and sounds of the quaint ski town and see what I could find. This worked out perfectly because I had my own car, which meant I had the flexibility to explore the surrounding region at my own pace. I got to explore some scenic trails during the night when things had gotten quieter, and I got to enjoy some winding canyon roads. This is another aspect of road-trips that I really enjoy, being able to do things at your own pace, not being reliant on catching a bus or a train and just truly hitting the back roads and exploring.
On the subject of exploring, when I eventually left Breckinridge, I made the rash decision to take the back roads all the way back to Hays and avoid the interstate all together. This was a lot of fun, I got to go through the meandering mountain roads of the CO-9 until I reached the valleys nestled in the Rockies that had been claimed by cattle ranchers. Driving on those lonely two-way roads surrounded by towering mountains on either side is a truly incredible experience that I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys driving. That being said, once you leave the mountains and pass Colorado Springs, you'll enter the Colorado Plains which is a less than ideal driving experience. My time there was harrowing to say the least. Basically, the Colorado Plains are just a wide stretch of yellow, flat grasslands with no amenities and no signs of life. While I was there, I quickly realized that I may have made a mistake as I saw my fuel gauge plummet and my thermostat reach a whopping 103 degrees Fahrenheit all the while passing through strange towns with no signs of life and of course no gas stations. Thankfully, after 150 or so miles I passed through a town called Kit Carson which had a single, small, unmanned gas station where I was able to refill and be on my way all the way back home.
Now, I'm not going to sit here and pretend like road-trips are for everyone. They can add to travel time significantly, they can drive up your costs if you have poor gas mileage, and if you don't enjoy driving, you'll probably have a stressful time. That being said, I still think road-trips add a lot to the travel experience which makes them worthwhile to consider. You of course gain more freedom by choosing to go by car, because it allows you to plan your own routes and stop and rest whenever you feel like it. Road trips also allow you to experience parts of the country that are often overlooked, quaint little towns like Kit Carson or Hays that would normally be missed entirely. Small towns like those give us a glimpse to a totally different style of living then what many of us are used to, almost like a window into an earlier, simpler time of living. Also, if you're someone like me who enjoys driving, going on a road-trip actually brings enjoyment back into the travel experience. Whether it's cruising down the highway or exploring the back roads, you're bound to find something interesting that you would otherwise miss from the cabin of an airplane. So, if you don't mind adding a couple hours to your next vacation maybe consider hopping in that car, putting on some tunes and hitting the open road to your next destination. It's a crazy world out there, and you'll never know what you'll find along the way.
Check out this page if you want to see the rest of my pictures from my road-trip: https://www.thaiguylevi.com/portfolio-collections/my-portfolio/breckenridge-roadtrip
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