Proper Jeeping. Things get rocky on the way down Engineer Pass in Colorado - lengthy stretches doing 2 or 3 mph and still crunching the rock rails.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Proper Jeeping. Things get rocky on the way down Engineer Pass in Colorado - lengthy stretches doing 2 or 3 mph and still crunching the rock rails.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
The East had its charms, though. Much of this trip has been like living in a Jeep brochure, such as here, the full shot that opened the last text piece, from a pullout of Windsor Road in Westpoint, TN...
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Or here, set up for the night at the Panhandle Campgrounds near Guymore, OK.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
West of Alva, Oklahoma the lush green rolling land gives way to the definition of "The Plains." My view from the Panhandle Campgrounds, wondering if the storm was going to make it all the way to me. The wind did, the rain didn't.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
In the Oklahoma panhandle, headed west, the land opens up and invites you to see where it ends, or if it ends.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Pass through a tight right-left combo on Lake Road in Grenville, NM and the elevated plain land falls away to miles of valleys defined by towering rails of rock. Welcome to the West.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Colorado is where the trail turns into real trail, and things get real pioneer-y.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Coming from the southwest, Colorado also wastes no time climbing to elevation and looking like the Arcadian scenes on a bottled water label. Like here, near Aquila, CO...
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Or here, just off Hell's Hole above Wylie Gulch.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Or here, in Hell's Hole above Wylie Gulch. Some kind of Hell...
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Climbing up to Engineer Pass. If you end up in Lake City before the climb, stop by the San Juan Soda Company. Ice cream so good it's Irresponsible.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Or perhaps it looks more like those 5,000-piece puzzles your grandparents while away the time with. This is the west side of Engineer Pass.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Lots of abandoned mining cabins and materiel all over the Colorado mountains. You had to be a hard unit to make a go here.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
That's $2.59 per gallon. As i write this, gas in Los Angeles is about $4.50 a gallon. I've had zero complaints about the trail, and just as many about filling up on the trail.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
With prices like this, though, "No Ethanol" is the "Organic" of gasoline.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
The Colorado state flower is a Jeep, no matter what the state literature says. And there are some beautiful examples. This one was sitting in a gas station in La Veta.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Steve, a great guy who works at the KOA in Statesville, NC told me I had to get some Randy's barbecue before I left. I took his advice. The meat was perfect, but North Carolina's vinegar-based BBQ sauce isn't my favorite. I'm ok with Hot Dog Guy outside of Randy's and his joy for ketchup, though, even if it is a little creepy.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Why would you ever be in Oark, Arkansas? Who knows. But if you ever are in Oark, go here for lunch, the Oark General Store. Open since 1890. I had an Angry Bird sandwich and coconut cream pie. The. Real. Deal.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Arkansas gets my vote as the most beautiful of the eastern states. The Trans-America Trail there is almost nothing but tree-covered fairy tale roads through forests.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
You'd be amazed how many dinosaurs you find in small-town parks...
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
... and pretty, dead buildings. This was in Kelso, TN and is the building featured on its Wikipedia page.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
About those Camaros. I've seen a lot of dead cars in a lot of yards, but if you have a Gen 3 or Gen 4 Camaro, you set that bad boy off to the side or put it out on display. I caught this one and the next two in less than 24 hours in North Carolina.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Someone placed that car there, and continues to mow around it to make sure it looks good. Good-ish.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
This one was placed next to the road opposite a T-intersection, not in front of the home on the property. The person that owns it does not want you to miss it. And you won't.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
A Dalmatian cow. That is all.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
The saddest post office ever.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
It's fly season, dragonfly season, turtle-crossing-the-road season, and butterflies season. Butterflies are the only one of those creatures to have zero sense of self preservation. Butterflies supposedly live for about a month on average, but they love flying into cars so much I don't think most last more than a few minutes.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
As with the hermits in the east, Colorado has its folks who don't want to be near people. They do it without hiding in the trees, though.
Image Credit: Jonathon Ramsey
Back to CO, another view of the run up to Engineer Pass.
