I70 Denver

Also you are not constantly lifting that weight over several passes on 70. 40 in winter is a good road.

Ive done 70 and pretty much everywhere else west. It's a specialty of mine. Cabbage is a favorite.

Always be very careful when passing through Eisenhower in either direction, but particularly westbound. You will be confronted with a descent and possibly totally different weather.

70 is not really worth it to me I use either Wyoming 80 or 40 across in the south depending on where the delivery is going. It's too bad too, Grand Junction used to have or may still have a good old truckstop.

Many drivers do not get sent onto 70 in winter for obvious reasons. Vail is a royal pain with herds of cars with thinking about skiing rather than the trucks around them. They do stupid things together.

 

East of Denver is all good got some hills but no real mountain grades. West of Denver you got the mountains..... CHECK the weather I have had it change QUICKLY over that pass was great on the west side my teammate was driving to I laid down to get some sleep
.... Little while later

..

..

Hey Jack wakeup I think the sign says we gotta have chains on.... Well I had never done it before (practiced a few times but not on the road) I had no bungies cause Everytime I tryed to get any at yard they were out was when I worked at CR England oh the stories o can tell and the reason I refuse to team)
. to keep them tight so I told my teammate (Wich wasn't willing to drive I it AT ALL even if we chained). That I can get us down the mountain but I had to drive on his clock ( no choice really not safe to spend the night on the shoulder of a snowwy pass) he agreed and that if we were to get stopped or enter a weigh stations we would swap out before they could see who was driving (nighttime)

So I got us down the pass and now check the weather during winter months for EVERY mountain pass I run ( pretty much just monteagle and green river gorge these days though)

Oddly enough I'm on my way to Denver now (from MO)

 

Denver local is celebrating the chance for a few inches of snow...

Latest Forecast: Snow Is On The Way. Really!

 

Well looks like Ill miss it I'm still in MO

 

70 west of Denver is a fun drive in the summer, with a lite load. I would avoid it in the winter.

It real not any longer to drive around it. It may even be faster then pulling all the hills. It only like 90 miles extra to go around and take 40 or 80

From Kansas City you can go to Witcha KS then to Meade KS then to Tucumcari NM

If you want bypass Flagstaff it only like 50 miles more to get off at Santa Rosa NM then down to Alamogordo MN, White Sands NM to Las Cruces NM. The take I-10 into Los Angeles

 

Alamogordo White Sands Missile Range (The site of first nuclear bomb, trinity) has about a 10 mile pull to get over that one ridge. It's not a BIG pull, but a steady up and over.

I do not like to go down through Alamogordo, Ive gone through there enough times to recognize a darkness over my spirit and it's not my land and I don't want to be there. I understand and appreciate it's history, but that part of the land is not for me. Maybe I love life too much I don't know.

 

There's alot of days I'd rather run 70 then deal with all the nonsense on 80 during a blizzard. Yesterday 80 was shut down for 6 hours eastbound at the 229 from a 3 truck wreck with 1 fatality. When it gets icy and windy on 80 over around elk mountain there's almost always at least 1 bad wreck.

 

Here's something to keep in mind when your in the hills, any hills. Speed is not life.

When it's nasty to the point of chaining up, you gotta ask yourself " How bad do I really need to get over that hill?"

Chances are it ain't plowed worth a dang. The other thing is, no matter how good you are, how good, if there is a tard wiped out across the highway in front of you in a bad spot, or one coming behind you, you might not see mama no more in this life.

If it's not light and you need to chain............well then your basically an idiot if you try it.

All I do is run the west. Probably get more life out of my brakes than 90% of our forum.

Speed will kill you, or someone else. So will " BIG balls ", and lack of common sense.

 

You guys will love this, The ski areas that dot those hills do cloud seeding trying to squeeze out as much snow over them hills, They can not control where that snow falls and since Vail pass is the center of their territory that gets the snow which then the chains only signs fly up because truckers are not allowed to slow up them folks in those designer duds paying a few hundred a day for the glamor, meanwhile we are stuck chaining up, dodging cars and stressed. Plan your trips so you can miss them crowds that go to the ski areas at the same time, then they leave the same time clogging that road so a 2 hr. trip may take 6-8 hours.

 

dont go by the signs that are flashing to chain up call 511 because its more up to date. The more you drive the more comfortable you'll feel. oh when it says 45 mph go 45 the state patrol academy is off Floyd hill and that easy ticket for them.