Pacific Coast Highway Day 13

Day 13 - April 29, 2003 - Ogden, UT to Monument, CO

We left our hotel at 8:05 after a light breakfast after packing the Honda for the last morning. The sky was mostly sunny, it was 42 degrees and the trees in Ogden were just beginning to leaf out.

Ogden is a railroad distribution center so all along the city the rail lines go in and out. As we drove south on I-15 and then went east on I-84 to I-80, which would take us through Wyoming, we would see the tracks on both sides of the road. We also saw many long freight trains winding through red rock cliffs above steep canyon walls carrying goods east and west along the Union Pacific line.

As we left Ogden by way of the Echo Canyon, I-84 was very washboardy and I had to drive in the left lane to avoid some of this. Just before Echo, Utah we turned east on I-80 following the route of the Old Pony Express, California Trail, Oregon Trail and the Mormon Handcart Trail.

Along the road we saw many antelope or pronghorn eating sage brush, which is about the only vegetation around. At 9:10 we crossed the Wyoming state line and, again at 75 MPH and when there are three lanes, trucks are not permitted on the far left.

The road follows easy grades and is in much better shape in Wyoming than in Utah. Again, nothing more than sage brush and small cedar trees with many snow fences to control the blowing winds during the winter. The only thing that rises more than 10 feet are the microwave towers.

We are continuing to travel 5 miles above the speed limit - at 80 MPH - but most of the traffic is speeding by us. They must be going 100! At Fort Bridger there are huge sandstone buttes with absolutely no vegetation at all.

There are a lot of slow downs due to construction with lane closures slowing traffic. With the construction and the vehicles doing the carrying of gravel and asphalt, there is quite a bit on the road that gets kicked up with passing vehicles.

We stopped for lunch in Rawlins at Subway and found gas for $1.59 for 91 octane. We decided to go all the way to Cheyenne instead of taking the Fort Collins cut off. At 2:45 we were back on I-25 and noticed an increase in traffic that we would follow for the rest of the day.

We entered Colorado and we were able to tune into KOA - AM 850 and got the traffic reports for busy Denver. At 120 Avenue, we took the new E-470 toll road to avoid the rush hour Denver traffic and luckily, the hailstorm that impeded traffic on I-25. Almost home, we got gas one more time in Castle Rock and pulled into our driveway right at 5 PM.