Greetings from Littlefield, Texas,
Sunday July 13: A hand full of MGs had a nice run up Pike's Peak today.
When the MGA with an attitude pulled up to the entrance gate just after
11 am, two more MGs were patiently waiting. Larry Hoy
<larryhoy@juno.com> was there with a red chrome bumper MGB. In the
navigator's seat was his 14 year old son Brandon. Bill Early
<Cancola@aol.com> was also there with a green chrome bumper MGB-GT. In
his navigator's seat was Lucy Cole. After a brief pause to let the MGA
carbs cool a bit, we paid the toll ($6 per person) at the gate and parked
the trailer at the side.
This run wasn't exactly what I remember from eight years ago, but it was
still a hoot. Some of the sand curbs were missing, making the flat road
surface a little wider, also making the approach near the edge a little
more interesting. The unpaved portion of the road appeared to have been
watered at some point, making for a fairly hard surface with the
resultant washboard and potholes. About two thirds of the way up, about
a mile of the road had been blacktop paved through the tightest
switchbacks and steepest inclines. The asphalt wasn't a lot smoother
than the dirt, but it did wonders for the dust problem. A few miles from
the top there was a new visitors center, causing a bit of a traffic jam
and just a little delay. Otherwise, most of the road was still dirt,
still hairy on the edges, and still fun in the switchbacks. Temperature
was around 80dF at the bottom (7500 ft) and about 55dF at the top (14,110
ft). The whole day was wonderfully sunny and warm, couldn't have been
better (except maybe for a few less slow cars in the way).
While we were at the top getting a few pictures and enjoying some home
made doughnuts, another MGB chrome bumper roadster pulled up and parked a
few spaces away from our MGs. Along with exchanging information we gave
him our e-mail address and told him how to subscribe to the MGs list. By
now he may be on line with us, so say "Hi" to Rick Zilverberg with the
blue '74 MGB. And Rick, if you're there, introduce yourself.
The trip back down was another story in itself. A couple thousand feet
down from the top there's a nice viewpoint where you can see many miles
of the road below zig zagging its' way through the valley. Here we could
park the MGs just below a switchback and take pictures from just above
the turn. At the viewpoint where we were taking the pictures there were
a few sizable washouts at the edge of the road. It makes for another
spectacular photo to park the MGs just above the washouts and take a
picture from below. Hope to get some of these shots on our web page
soon.
On this trip we were stopped by a park ranger at the new visitor's center
on the way down. They were checking brake temperatures on the cars with
an infrared pyrometer. We had been hot dogging it some on the way down,
but using the lower gears to check the speed, so we just passed the test
at 275dF. At 300dF they stop the cars and make them wait on the side
while the brakes cool down. While they're waiting they get a long
lecture on how to keep the brakes from overheating. So, the hotter the
brakes, the longer the lecture.
Back at the bottom of the hill we picked up the trailer and said our
farewells to our friends. We then proceeded to drive around the back
side of the mountain, which is a lot of fun, but not as easy as it
sounds. In the process of driving this "scenic route" we found another
30 miles of rough and dusty one-lane gravel road, complete with lots of
steep hills and switchbacks and more than a few tunnels blasted out of
the rocks. It was a nice drive, but by the time we got back to the main
highways it was late and dark and there were no campgrounds in the area.
No problem for well seasoned travelers -- just press on to the next best
site and turn in late.
Monday July 14: Our morning fuel stop is at Colorado City, Colorado, and
it seems like a long trek to make San Antonio in two days. So which way
do we go? Well, west of course. Makes perfectly good sense to a couple
of MG nuts. Just 20 miles away is the San Isabel National Forest and
some very delicious looking mountains. This time the road is paved and
pretty decent, but uphill all the way. No step for a stepper as Carol
likes to say. By now third gear for 20 miles is getting to be habit
forming. We get as far as the little village of Farisita with its'
little recreational lake cradled nicely in a high mountain valley before
deciding that digression is the better part of valor. There are things
to do, places to go, and commitments (what a horrible word), so we turn
it around and coast the 20 miles back to the interstate to continue
south.
Eighty-five miles down the road we're in Raton, New Mexico, where we bail
off the interstate onto US-87 as the road less traveled. An hour and a
half later we're across the state line into Texas and continuing on
though Dalhart and Vega, where we switch to US-385 to avoid Amarillo and
more interstate. Somewhere along the way we decide to try it with the
top up (but no windows) to lesson the effects of this Texas sun. Seems
like a reasonable move. After passing through more bits of small town
Texas such as Hereford, Dimmitt and Earth, we finally stop for the night
at Littlefield, Texas. The road is good, the traffic is light, and we're
definitely not being bored to death. If we have to be going home after
such a terrific road trip, this isn't such a bad way to go.
Tomorrow more of 385 and 87 will take us back to San Antonio. For now
we've already put the top down for the morning start. Two more days to
Grapevine, and we'll be bringing our pictures to GT-22.
See y'all on the by-ways,
Barney and Carol
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