Aspen to Denver in Snow
Page 6: April 6, 2008

Leaving Aspen, Colorado relatively early in the morning, we set out towards Interstate 70. We were warned by Bill that very heavy traffic occurs on Sundays from skiers trying to race back to Denver from a weekend in the Mountains. He also said that I-70 often closes at the various mountain passes when it snows due to traffic, crashes, icing, and visibility. While no road closures did occur, we did face snow, traffic, and visibility issues along with nearly witnessing two close accidents. I-70 is the only East/West interstate through the state of Colorado. It is also the highest altitude Interstate in the US at 11,000 feet above sea level where it Tunnels underneath the Continental Divide at the Eisenhower Tunnel located in the Glenwood Canyon Area. This section of Interstate meanders around the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon and has multiple tunnels and at least 40 bridges, making this the most costly 12 Miles in the entire United States Interstate System to build (up until the Boston Dig). I have taken many pictures of this return trip as being a Southern Boy, the large snow made driving a little different. Take note of the stop at the second rest area. This is the same location, just the opposite side of the interstate where pictures were taken yesterday. FEET of SNOW accumulated overnight. Cool. The temperatures stayed below freezing until we got just outside of Denver, where the skies cleared and the temperature hit a balmy 50 degrees at Buffalo Bill’s Museum.