Re: [A/S] Re: [AirstreamList] Hunter &the No. Colorado Route

[Don Horn <donhorn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hunter,

I can echo what the others have said about route 50 being lonely, but I
recommend you at least take the leg from Sacramento to Carson City.  I
enjoyed that drive much more than taking I-80 through  Reno.  There are
several campgrounds at South Lake Tahoe, if you don't mind stopping after a
relatively short drive (about 200 miles from Santa Rosa).

You can easily get back to I-80 if you want to, by heading north just before
Fallon.  However, if you like back roads and little traffic, there's no
reason not to stay on 50, except that you won't find many private RV parks
between Carson City and Colorado.   Just past Fallon, keep an eye out for an
aerial gunnery range--jet fighters shooting into the side of some hills.  On
my last trip I stayed at Great Basin NP.  Try to get there early in the day,
it gets dark very early, being nestled in a canyon in the east side of the
mountains, and it's fairly cold at night due to the altitude.  You might
want to stop at the cafe/bike rental/convenience story in Austin, at the
east end of town, just before the highway curves up and to the left.
There's a nice lady there that will talk to you all day if you let her--at
least she did when I stopped by last spring, and there was no one else in
the place (Austin, that is!  ;>)  )   They even have an espresso bar there.
The daytime temperatures should be pleasant this time of year.  It's
extremely hot during July & August.

In the middle of Utah, 50 joins I-70, and it's interstate until Grand
Junction, where as Tom says, you can turn off on 50 again or stay on I-70.
If you're on I-70, but want to bypass Denver and head south, which I usually
do, just take C-470, which loops around town to the south, and connects to
I-25.   If you want to drive into or through Denver, you're on your own
(which you are anyway)...

If you take 50 all the way to Pueblo, the road gets very narrow and twisty
along the Arkansas river canyon, but I didn't have much trouble with my
20-footer.   At Pueblo you can continue east on 50 or head south on I-25
towards Raton (you can do this even if you're coming south from Denver
instead of east on 50 from Monarch Pass).  If you're headed to Texas, I
recommend taking 50 east from I-25 then south on 287.  There's a COE
campground at Hasty, CO (John Martin Reservoir) with water & electric
hookups and a dump station.  It's free in the off season, and I actually
stayed there in February once, when it was still free, but the water &
electric were already turned on.  It's pretty cheap anyway, even when they
are charging a fee.  I think the dump station is free, even if you don't
stay there.  

BTW, I once drove back from California around September 10th or so, and
stayed on I-70, and there was a nasty blizzard on Vail Pass.  In fact, I
don't think the snow stopped until just north of Colorado Springs that trip.
I'm hoping we have no early snow this year, because I'll be heading back to
Colorado from the Bay Area myself around October 16th.

Don