Greetings from the highest paved road in N America! 56k oh noes!

[zenkidori]

I'm surprised I havn't posted this here yet. This is one of my absolute favorite roads to drive on. it usually opens memorial day and stays open untill a big snowfall. Great freaking road. On the weekdays it's pretty clear because it's back in the hills a ways and costs $10 for a 3 day pass(and there are actually rangers there to fine you several hundred dollars for not paying) so I've never seen a single ricer on it. I think it's too far for most of them to drive anyway, haha.

the view is staggering, sometimes you'll get near the top and look down on the tops of clouds, otherwise you can see forever. very cool. I've heard you can see several states from the summit, but I dunno, you can see a VERY far distance in any case.

bad things tho, some people prone to altitude sickness should stay away, since it climbs to 14,000+ ft above sea level. There are also no guardrails to keep you from plummeting down the very steep and very long dropoffs. scary good fun. Most of these pics were taken with a POS point and shoot from a moving car, so no photography criticism prease!

To get to this road you need to actually take another twisty mountain road just to get to the base, haha.





The sign at the base of Mt. Evans.


In the forest


Looking out from the Tundra


Tundra


What I call the "Low Machine Gauntlet". the road has been made very "wavy" but the thaw and freeze of water coming from summit lake


Summit lake


past where things grow, mostly it's just rocks and steep dropoffs up here, not even many lichens












the Summit




Here are a few pics my buddy has taken up there.

The "touge to the touge"


Entrance to evans






good trout fishing at this lake, just down the road from the entrance. I don't think there are any fish up in summit lake tho.


the car in front wasn't just passing the truck, they were hugging the inside lane, a common occurance with out of state tags











if you're ever in the area, definately worth visiting.

[rskrobot]

Awesome shots. Looks like loads of fun to drive.

Originally Posted by zenkidori

There are also no guardrails to keep you from plummeting down the very steep and very long dropoffs. scary good fun. Most of these pics were taken with a POS point and shoot from a moving car

Were you driving?

[epp_b]

Nice 240!

[RUU-CHAMA]

This is obviously fake since America has no curved roads.

[fbc]

Awesome piece of road - just got to watch out for that drop...

[swek]

Thanks for reminding me why I need to visit the US soon. Such fantastic nature.

Not interested in the cities, I have that at home.

[watto]

That looks absolutely brilliant! Nice views too.

[jayhawk]

Sweet pics. I would love to take my car up there and flog it senseless, but as the sign says, I get altitude sickness. It went away after being in the Rockies for a few weeks, but the bizzare, opium den dreams never did.

[flamingice]

Spectacular.

[zenkidori]

Thanks guys, it's a great place to be, I'm just sad I couldn't have gone up there with my SLR that day, you can only do so much with a old point and shoot.

Originally Posted by rskrobot

Awesome shots. Looks like loads of fun to drive.



Were you driving?

Yeah I was driving while taking those pics.

Originally Posted by epp_b

Nice 240!

not really. to be honest we aren't real huge fans of 240s anymore, but they're cheap and work. This car actually went to my friend who's thinking about putting an LS1 in it. FTMFW!

Originally Posted by RUU-CHAMA

This is obviously fake since America has no curved roads.

of course, this is actually to showcase my AWESOME 3d imaging skillz.

Originally Posted by swek

Thanks for reminding me why I need to visit the US soon. Such fantastic nature.

Not interested in the cities, I have that at home.

Then you, my friend, need to visit the following locations:
Colorado Rockies
Moab
Bonneville salt flats
hawaii
the pacific northwest coast
the grand canyon
redwood forest
florida everglades
florida keys
yellowstone

Originally Posted by jayhawk

Sweet pics. I would love to take my car up there and flog it senseless, but as the sign says, I get altitude sickness. It went away after being in the Rockies for a few weeks, but the bizzare, opium den dreams never did.

That's crazy. I saw my first altitude sickness victim last year, kinda nuts to think that could effect someone so much. It's a great road to drive quickly, provided you watch out for the cliffs, animals and avoid tourist times.

[NecroJoe]

Originally Posted by zenkidori

Then you, my friend, need to visit the following locations:
Colorado Rockies
Moab
Bonneville salt flats
hawaii
the pacific northwest coast
the grand canyon
redwood forest
florida everglades
florida keys
yellowstone

Then, YOU my friend, need to visit The Alps, Castle Neushwanstein

I've lived in the US my whole life, but I spend a month in Germany/Austria/Switz/France/Denmark and loved it. Would love to go back again soon. See, I'm not a tropical beach guy...I love the Pacific North West, and parts of Germany reminded me of it.

[zenkidori]

Originally Posted by NecroJoe

Then, YOU my friend, need to visit The Alps, Castle Neushwanstein

I've lived in the US my whole life, but I spend a month in Germany/Austria/Switz/France/Denmark and loved it. Would love to go back again soon. See, I'm not a tropical beach guy...I love the Pacific North West, and parts of Germany reminded me of it.

or I could just to go Bavaria Town in Washington.

[araracd]

Great roads, great pics. They suddenly reminded me of the original Need for Speed game. Some of the roads were pretty similar to that (except for the drop).

[bone]

that looks like an uberawesome road

and looking at those pics, i realise again how much i like the mountains and how long it's been since i last been on high altitude

why is everything so flat around here

PS: why do you have to pay toll? does it go anywhere besides to the top? and you can get one for 3 days...so you have sleeping facilities up there or sth?

Originally Posted by swek

Thanks for reminding me why I need to visit the US soon. Such fantastic nature.

Not interested in the cities, I have that at home.

x2

fly there, rent a car, zig zag from north to south, and stop everywhere where there isn't a city nearby

that's what i want to do, but sounds a bit optimistic, so i doubt it'll ever happen

[IceBone]

Excellent pics, looks like a really great road. And didn't know the US had such high peaks. Highest here is 2864m (you do the calc to feet) and you have to climb it, no roads going there, hehe.

OT:

Originally Posted by RUU-CHAMA

This is obviously fake since America has no curved roads.

great choice of car, mate! high five!

[zenkidori]

Originally Posted by bone

PS: why do you have to pay toll? does it go anywhere besides to the top? and you can get one for 3 days...so you have sleeping facilities up there or sth?



x2

fly there, rent a car, zig zag from north to south, and stop everywhere where there isn't a city nearby

that's what i want to do, but sounds a bit optimistic, so i doubt it'll ever happen

It's a national Park sort of thing, and the road just goes to the summit. There are camping areas nearby, and hiking trails on the mountain. No sleeping areas unless you bring a tent, but there are porta-potties at summit lake.

Give it a shot, it would definately be worth it. There are a lot of european kids who backpack across the states, I always see them hanging around train stations and such(just like we do around europe). You could use the trains go get everywhere, then just rent a car or motorcycle in your destination city and head on out. Or you could do what top gear did and just buy a cheap car(just don't look at ghetto dealerships, I bought a Jeep Cherokee last week for $800 and it's nearly perfect).

Originally Posted by IceBone

Excellent pics, looks like a really great road. And didn't know the US had such high peaks. Highest here is 2864m (you do the calc to feet) and you have to climb it, no roads going there, hehe.

America is FULL of huge mountains, Colorado has nearly 60 14ers(Mountains rising above 14,000ft) alone.

[zenkidori]

here's a cool panorama I found:

[bone]

the train!

i hadn't even thought of that thing

[matt2000]

that is truly spectacular. i want to be there right now

[Viper007Bond]

Originally Posted by IceBone

Excellent pics, looks like a really great road. And didn't know the US had such high peaks. Highest here is 2864m (you do the calc to feet) and you have to climb it, no roads going there, hehe.

Heh, only the middle of the country is flat. We have at least 3 major mountain ranges here. Hell, the 2nd most climbed mountain is an hour from my house. It has has a 51 week long ski season (they close down for a week for maintenance) thanks to a glacier.

Just take a look at Google Earth. Tons and tons of mountains here.