Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Monarch Pass, a white-knuckle drive

Linda and I upon our successful climb to Monarch Pass

Driving US 50 through Colorado, especially over Monarch Pass, can be a white-knuckled experience.

It was for me.

A few years ago my wife and I, on a roundtrip to California, got on the highway in Nevada and took it all the way east into Colorado. 

It was a memorable drive.

Heading up to the pass traveling east, the mountainside was on the left. The drop-off side was on the right. We were on the right side. And there didn't seem to be much, if any protection.

I recall that in the higher elevation, there were two lanes going up and just one lane in the opposite direction.

Without much protection from the dropoffs, and when there wasn't any traffic coming up behind us, I would drive the centerline of the two lanes that were heading up. The pull was such that we were only doing about, maybe, 40 miles per hour.

It was a slow and arduous climb. It was one of those times when I had most of my attention on the road and my wife was watching the scenery and commenting on the dropoffs.

Slowly but surely we made it to the top, taking time to stop and take a picture to record our success.

While the pull up was slow, the descent was fast. After all, what goes up, must come down.

In searching the internet about Monarch Pass, I found a website that offered a fast nine-minute trip up the mountain.

I really enjoyed the video, mainly because, someone else was driving, and I assume that since they posted the video, the trip ended safely.

It brought back a lot of memories.

Next post: Aug. 23, 2011


  1. Walter, I got white knuckles just watching the video. It was like a roller coaster ride! Sorry, I couldn't watch the entire ride, I get motion sickness :)

  2. If this was white knuckle you may not want to visit Colorado.