I was in the middle of a pack of 11 Porsches on the road from Creed
to Gunnison, Colorado. As we wound our way through esses, sweepers,
and hairpins in every conceivable configuration, I could see Porsches
ahead and behind, all convertibles running top down. The constant movement
of the dazzling colors, the sound of the cars running through their
gearboxes, and the sheer athleticism of the driving was absolutely intoxicating.
We were still in the first morning of the Continental Divide and Conquer
Tour (CD&C), and already the sensory experience of cars, scenery,
and driving was reaching a crescendo. This drive even smelled good,
the bitter sweetness of the evergreens mixed with the musky, damp smell
of the forest floor and the faint perfume of wild flowers in the mountain
meadows.
The CD&C experience was part dance, with the rhythm and grace of
motions in harmony, and part jets flying in low formation, where speed
is the tension and precision the beauty. My entire visual field at this
moment was Porsches in motion, reds, blues, silvers, yellows, and whites
darting around corners, flowing over the twisting road surface, moving
up and down across an ever changing topography. It was as if I was in
the middle of a constantly changing Porsche kaleidoscope, a red Porsche
moving right around a turn up ahead while a zenith blue just ahead of
me was moving left, and behind me in my mirrors I could see yellows
and blues, silvers and whites moving back and forth through the twisting
turns. Running top down, I could hear the sounds of engines rising and
falling, the hum of rubber on the road, and the wail of the engines
ahead of me accelerating into the straight that was a brief respite
from the constant demands of the curves that followed one after another.
There was a route and organization, but the CD&C was this experience.
And it lasted two glorious days.
As much fun as it is to drive my Porsche on an isolated mountain road,
there is something addictive about driving in a group of Porsches. Group
tours, when they work, are a multidimensional, sensory experience of
smells, images, sensations, and sounds, that almost defy recollection.
The Continental Divide and Conquer was a group tour that was under a
magical spell of ideal weather, stunning scenery, and challenging roads.
At the end of two days, I had a blister at the base of my thumb from
shifting gears so much. I can think of nothing that better summarizes
the experience of the trip.
Route and Plan
Those of us in the Intermountain Region of PCA have some great roads
in the vicinity of our home base, Salt Lake City, Utah, and we get out
and drive them regularly. Sometime last spring, the subject of Colorado
came up, and I started looking at road maps and thinking about an overnight
drive. I had traveled through Colorado dozens of times on the interstate,
but as I looked at road maps, I realized the mountains of Colorado are
a web of roads and high passes. What about a drive up the spine of the
Rocky Mountains, crossing back and forth over the Continental Divide,
the backbone of the North American continent? This idea would become
the Continental Divide and Conquer Tour.
The route I settled on began in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, in the far
south of the state on the banks of the San Juan River. Only 38 of the
612 tour miles were on the interstate. The remaining 574 miles were
on secondary roads winding through mountain valleys dotted with meadows,
beaver ponds, and landscaped by meandering creeks, climbing up the flanks
of rocky peaks through thick conifer forests, and just occasionally
breaking across the ridgelines separating the continent into east and
west. The first day would take us along a range of peaks over 14,000
feet and through the historic silver mining area of Colorado, terminating
in Leadville, Colorado, which at 10,152 feet is reputedly the highest
incorporated settlement in the United States. Day two's route was by
backroad to Rocky Mountain National Park, across Trail Ridge Road with
its majestic overlooks, and into Steamboat Springs, a scenic mountain
ski town in western Colorado.
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Photos by Michael VanTyne
(from the Continental Divide
and Conquer picture site)
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Continental Divide and Conquer Map from GPS
data collected by Gottfried Hogh. Black is the CD&C route,
the red and purple are Gottfried's approach and return routes.
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The mileposts on this meandering tour were ten passes straddling the
Continental Divide, five conquered each day of the tour:
1. Wolf Creek Pass (10,850 ft.)
2. Spring Creek Pass (10,901 ft.)
3. Monarch Pass (11,312 ft.)
4. Independence Pass (12,095 ft)
5. Tennessee Pass (10,424 ft)
6. Fremont Pass (11,318 ft.)
7. Loveland Pass (11,992 ft.)
8. Milner Pass (10,758 ft.)
9. Muddy Pass (8772 ft)
10. Rabbit Ears Pass (9426 ft)
These mountain passes have long histories. They were the passable routes
through otherwise impassable mountains for the earlier settlers in this
region. As we drove down from Monarch Pass, we passed a dirt road off
to the side marked as the original road bed down from the pass, a reminder
that these passes were used by wagons and pack mules long before they
were turned into paved highways suitable for Porsches.
While all mountain passes offer the possibility of spectacular approach
and descent, the passes that cross the Continental Divide are by definition
the high points in the watershed, the spots where the continent drops
away on both sides into valleys, lesser mountains, and high plateaus.
You cannot go up any further when you cross the Continental Divide,
and because these passes were all secondary roads off the beaten path,
the going up and down were sometimes more suited to historic mule teams
than the modern recreation vehicle. One of the things we discovered
on this tour is just what a robust performer a Porsche can be, more
akin to the agile mountain goat than the lumbering RV.
The People
The Continental Divide and Conquer was organized as an IRPCA event,
but we invited all who might be interested to join us. The invitation
was extended to the Colorado regions, to Porsche Pete's Boxster Board,
the internet site frequented by Boxster owners, and through a website
with drive details. With several months advance notice, a couple of
Porsche owners planned vacations that included the CD&C, while others
took additional days on each side of the event to join the drive. The
participating drivers came from as far as Ann Arbor, Michigan, and included
drivers from Indiana, two cars from Texas, two cars from Arizona, two
from Colorado, and four from Utah.
While the event was dominated by Boxsters, the participants represented
the full spectrum of Porsche owners. Two of the participants owned 911s
in addition to their Boxsters, but chose the Boxsters for the long trip
to Pagosa Springs. Two of the drivers were retired and traveled extensively
to attend Porsche driving events, several were dedicated autocrossers,
some regularly drove racing events, and several of us were first time
Porsche owners, while yet another participant has and drives a 356C
he has loving restored. The passengers included husbands and wives,
significant others, a father, a friend, and I had my nine-year-old son,
Alexander, along for the second time on a overnight tour.
Friday Drive Highlights
We assembled in the hotel parking lot at 8:30 am Friday morning to
start the drive. We had eleven cars in Pagosa Springs, with a twelfth
car scheduled to join us Saturday morning along the road. Since all
the cars were convertibles, tops were dropped to take advantage of a
morning temperature in the low 60s. After a quick drivers' meeting to
review radio communications, drive order, and route, we were on U.S.
160 headed toward Wolf Creek Pass. We stopped at a scenic overlook on
the approach, then about two miles from Wolf Creek Pass came upon the
long line of cars waiting to get through the construction in the area.
We were forewarned to expect this delay, and climbed out of the cars
to make the most of this delay, visiting by the side of the road and
talking about other drives. Our caravan of 11 Porsches quickly caught
the attention of several dozen of those stuck in traffic with us, and
soon our cars were the focus of an impromptu photo session, including
the photographers that were part of the drive.
After a wait of nearly an hour, we slowly wound our way through the
blast zone where the road was being widened and started winding our
way through traffic on the descent from the Pass. At South Fork, Colorado,
we headed north on Colorado 149, which winds its way through mountain
valleys for many miles alongside the Rio Grande River, whose headwaters
are in the vicinity of Spring Creek Pass. This section of the road was
quintessential Colorado, lush meadows and beautiful farms in the valleys
with water, dry scrub just over the hill where no water flowed. The
road ran for several miles up the Rio Grande Valley before climbing
into the evergreen forests of the Rio Grande National Forest and Gunnison
National Forest. Spring Creek Pass was one of the less spectacular passes
of the trip, but the road was an outstanding collection of climbing
switchbacks, sweeping, high speed turns, and winding, twisting stretches
hugging the mountainside, all through the coolness of densely packed
and aromatic conifer forest.
As organizer and designated point driver, I led most of the trip. However,
at a stop in Lake City, Colorado, after descending from Spring Creek
Pass, I ended up in the middle of the pack. This gave me a chance to
enjoy the sensation of being surrounded by Porsches during the next
segment of the drive, which terminated in Gunnison, Colorado. This segment
was a 46 mile run along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, descending
to the eastern end of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Broken up by
an occasional long straight necessary for passing the few slow moving
RVs we encountered along this stretch, the road surface was outstanding
and the road course was as twisted and convoluted as the river it followed.
The group was able to stay together until we ran into heavy traffic
coming into Gunnison, and this made this segment all the more enjoyable.
After lunch in Gunnison, we headed east on U.S. 50 along the Tomichi
River on our way to Monarch Pass. As we began the climb up the pass,
we encountered something that would prove very rare on this drive: a
four lane highway. This was fortunate, because the climb up Monarch
is beastly for RVs, SUVs, and normal passenger cars. Gunnison is at
7,681 feet, while Monarch Pass is one of the highest passes in Colorado
at 11,312 feet, and the last 2,000 feet of the climb are in the last
ten miles of the drive. The stretch of road leading up to the summit
was a jumbled collection of hairpins going into switchbacks, slaloms,
and sweeping turns so steep you could look back and see into the cockpits
of all the top down Boxsters further back in the pack. The climb was
relentless, and the cars were running at high rpms in second and third
gears all the way to the top, enjoying the Porsche advantage through
stupendous turns while staying with a speed limit that eluded the dozen
or so vehicles we passed on the way to the top.
After spending about a half hour taking pictures and enjoying the spectacular
vistas from the top of Monarch Pass, we again headed east on U.S. 50
and then north on U.S. 24. U.S. 24 follows the Arkansas River, which
flows along the eastern base of seven peaks that are over 14,000 feet.
This area has very harsh winters, so the vegetation is sparse compared
to what one finds at lower elevations, plus much of the area is above
tree line. The peaks towering on the western horizon seemed to block
half the sky, and we found ourselves driving in the deep shadows of
dusk where the road skirted the base of a mountain, even though it was
not yet late afternoon. After 42 miles on U.S. 24, we turned west and
headed up Colorado 82 for Independence Pass, at 12,095 feet the second
highest stretch of paved road in North America.
Colorado 82 runs for eight miles along Twin Lakes, gradually ascends
the lower slopes of Mount Elbert - at 14,433 feet the highest peak in
Colorado - for a couple of miles, then essentially goes straight up
for about 1500 feet over four miles. Of course, straight up is actually
a series of alarmingly tight switchbacks up the side of a cliff on a
road with no shoulder, no guardrails, and hideous vertical drops to
the valley below. Tremendous fun if you are in a nimble Porsche, quite
frightening if you are lumbering towards Aspen in your RV. The Porsches
were unfazed by this run, even in the rarefied oxygen of 11,000 plus
feet. Independence Pass' 12,095 feet is the highest paved crossing of
the Continental Divide on the continent. Nestled at the base of Mount
Elbert, the landscape is other worldly, a vast stretch of Arctic tundra
with no trees, ice sheets, rocky soil and a few wild flowers struggling
to make it to maturity in August before the first snow fall. Cold and
barren, but with beautiful vistas, it was well worth the drive to look
off at the continent falling away to the east and west. Of course, it
was also worthwhile to have earned the bragging rights that were apparent
in the stunned looks on the faces of struggling SUV drivers as they
passed a parking lot full of Porsches.
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(click to enlarge)
Monarch Pass
(photo by Michael Van Tyne)
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(click to enlarge)
Independence Pass
(photo by Michael Van Tyne)
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Saturday Drive Highlights
Saturday morning in Leadville was clear, but cold. A quick run up Tennessee
Pass outside Leadville had been our fifth Continental Divide crossing,
and today would add five more. With the morning quickly warming, some
of us dropped our tops, but we also turned on the heated seats. At 9:00
am sharp, we were on the road to Fremont Pass, Loveland Pass, then on
to Rocky Mountain National Park.
The drive up Colorado 91 was pretty close to driving a super highway.
This was clearly a road designed to bring tourists south from Interstate
70 to Leadville and nearby ski areas. But what better way to start the
day in a Porsche than long climbing straights, huge, sweeping turns,
and numerous passing lanes? It was a great warm up on wide open roads,
something we would not see for several hours once we got in the vicinity
of Rocky Mountain National Park.
Rather than taking a straight shot east on Interstate 70, we headed
off on U.S. 6, the old route from western Colorado to Denver. U.S. 6
took us up Loveland Pass, another chaotic run up the side of a mountain
to the top of the world. The view from Loveland Pass included a sweeping
vista of the Arapaho National Forest, with Interstate 70 far below packed
with SUVs, RVs, and other weekenders scurrying to their destinations,
oblivious to what they were missing a mere 20 minutes off the beaten
track.
(click to enlarge)
Loveland Pass
(photo by Michael VanTyne)
Another short drive up Interstate 70, we caught U.S. 6 east again and
then Colorado 119 north, cutting through a deep ravine of black rock
carved by a tumbling creek beside the road bed. This is where we first
encountered the heavy traffic that would be a part of our drive for
much of the middle of the day. Picking up Colorado 72 headed north for
Estes Park, we were in a pack of traffic all headed for Rocky Mountain
National Park through the rolling foothills at the base of the Rockies.
No point in getting too excited about the traffic, we just enjoyed driving
the undulating road with all its twists and turns as we watched huge
storm clouds gather to the west over the park.
Since we could hear distant thunder, we scrapped our plan for a picnic
and stopped at a restaurant outside the north entrance to the park for
lunch. This proved a lucky decision, as it started to sprinkle while
we ate lunch and lightening could be seen striking the high peaks. By
the time we finished lunch, we were in the midst of a summer mountain
thunderstorm, with heavy rain, but blue skies clearly visible in the
distance. There is a distinct beauty about a storm in the mountains,
clouds colliding with the soaring peaks, the smell of damp evergreens,
and the sound of rain swelled creeks. As we drove slowly along the rain
slickened roads, our Porsche pack was more muted in the dampened light,
but still a vibrant collection of exotic beasts to the many campers
passing going the other direction. We were through the storm by the
time we made our first stop, an overlook where we could see lightening
strikes to the east and brightly lit landscapes to the west, the direction
we were headed.
Trail Ridge Road at its highest point is 12,183 feet, the highest stretch
of paved roadway on the continent. Rising 4661 feet from Estes Park
over approximately 20 miles, this was a climb of spectacular vistas
overlooking craggy peaks sculpted by the crude blade of glacial ice.
Rocky Mountain National Park contains some of the most brutal mountainscapes
I have ever seen, peaks so rudely scarred by the forces of nature, with
wounds so fresh, that the landscape evokes sympathy from stunned onlookers.
"Look over there, look at that landslide, at the gash running across
that peak," and other, similar exclamations could be heard at every
stop. The park was crowded this Saturday, and one could easily understand
why. This harsh landscape certainly evoked a sense of wonder in us all,
and there was certainly no urgency in moving down roads that tip toed
down over the jumbled boulders that bore witness to the brutal force
of glacial ice that had recently ruled these mountains.
Gathering together in Granby, Colorado, we prepared for the final sprint
to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, the end of the drive. The Colorado River's
mighty flow starts with creeks and streams in the vicinity of Milner
Pass, the Continental Divide crossing in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Heading west from Granby, we followed the Colorado River for 30 miles,
then headed north into the mountains towards Steamboat Springs along
on of the Colorado's major tributaries, the Muddy River. While less
spectacular than some of the high mountain passes where we had spent
much of our time on the tour, this segment also offered long straights
through tranquil mountain valleys and long winding stretches through
the shade and coolness of thick forests. It was a good way to reconnect
with the real world after two days spent scrambling along the flanks
of towering giants.
About fifteen miles outside Steamboat Springs, we crossed the Continental
Divide for the tenth time at Rabbit Ears Pass. Crossing the Continental
Divide is pretty commonplace in this time of super highways; I have
probably been over Vail Pass in Colorado 20-30 times in my lifetime.
But we missed Vail Pass, instead finding our way over Wolf Creek, Spring
Creek, Monarch, Independence, Tennessee, Fremont, Loveland, Milner,
and Muddy Passes, and now pausing at Rabbit Ears Pass to take a group
photo. "Let's show 'em how many times we have been across the Continental
Divide in the past two days," I hollered. So we did, and just a
little bit of pride went with the accomplishment, something a little
different done in a car that made the journey all the more amazing.
Epilogue
Having completed the run, I would do it a little differently the second
time. Not that there was anything that could have gone better on this
tour. But now that I have been through Rocky Mountain National Park
once - and am very glad and will return in the future with my family
- I will take a different route in the future to avoid the crawling
traffic into and out of the Park, even though it means foregoing the
incredible vistas inside the Park. Next time, I will continue over Independence
Pass to Aspen and spend the night in Glenwood Springs. Starting early
the next morning, I will take Interstate 70 to Vail, U.S. 24 to Leadville,
then back on Colorado 91 through Fremont Pass to I-70. Loveland Pass
is a keeper. Beyond Loveland Pass, I will take U.S. 40 north through
Berthoud Pass to Granby, then Colorado 125 north to Willow Creek Pass,
then south on Colorado 14 to Steamboat Springs. Just for a little variety
and a little more driving on roads that the average motorist avoids
in their determination to get from A to B.
It is also worth adding the San Juan Skyway between Montrose and Durango
to any trip through Colorado. We drove this route as part of the trip
from Salt Lake City to Pagosa Springs, and it is as stunningly beautiful
as anything we drove during the CD&C. Definitely worth a trip back.
As memorable as the drive was, it is the people that joined us that
made it a truly memorable experience. Only a fellow Porsche enthusiast
can understand why it makes sense to spend two days driving from Ann
Arbor, Michigan, Evanston, Indiana, Houston, Texas, Phoenix, Arizona,
or [insert your city here] in order to spend two glorious days driving
in the Rocky Mountains with a bunch of strangers, and then two days
driving back home. It is the Porsches that brought us together, but
it was the people that made the event so much fun.
