First order of business for Day 6 was to figure out the route we would take: around the Rockies or over them. According to Google Maps, the quickest way to Salt Lake from Denver was to head north into Wyoming on the interstate, the travel directly west, bypassing the highest area of the Rockies altogether. We decided that a more scenic, adventurous route was in order. After a bit of playing around with the routes, we found a path that would take us up over the Rockies west of Denver, cut north into Wyoming (so we could check it off the list), and still get us to Salt Lake in about 9-10 hours.
We weren't disappointed with our route choice. The road west out of Denver moved into the mountains very quickly, and the abrupt change in terrain and environment between the Kansas-style flat plains and the high Rockies was actually rather jarring. Case in point: 10 minutes outside of Denver, it was snowing. Heavily. The fully loaded Fit struggled with the steep uphill climb, but we were shortly treated to some of the most beautiful mountain scenery either of us had ever seen.
We worked our way further up into the mountains to our highest point: the Eisenhower tunnel, approximately 11,000 feet above sea level. Denver is a mile high, meaning we had climbed over a mile up the mountains in the course of about half an hour. Pretty impressive. While inside the tunnel, we were treated to a scary bit of news via the tunnel's electronic notification signs: "Steep 8% downward grade next 8 miles", and "Ice and packed snow on roads ahead, slow down now". Jon was driving at this point, so he made sure he sat up straight, put his hands at 10 and 2, and tried to remember if he had told anyone that he would prefer to be cremated.
Out of the tunnel, and down the mountain we went, dodging slow-moving semi trucks and fast-moving SUVs. There were a couple of scary moments when the car would skid a bit on an icy turn, but we made it down to level ground in one piece, and turned north off the interstate, heading for the Wyoming border.
WYOMING
We stopped to gas up and switch drivers in Baggs, Wyoming: a small town just across the state line, and were amazed at the amount of ice and dirty road snow the Fit had accumulated during our mountain crossing. We considered cleaning it off, but the crust of ice covering the front license plate felt sort of like a merit badge, so we continued on in a dirty car.
The first section of Wyoming was, for the most part, flat and featureless, somewhat like Kansas, but with shrubs instead of grass. However, as we moved further into the state, we were presented with waves of beautiful rock formations, mesas, and rolling hills with sides showing colorful rock strata. It should be noted that, during our time in Kansas, the car stereo was never off: we needed music or comedy to keep us awake and interested while flying through the open plains. On this leg of the trip, we never turned on the radio: we felt that music would distract from the wealth of natural beauty rolling by just outside our windows. We didn't want to miss a moment.
Next stop: Salt Lake City!
UTAH
We crossed the border into Utah around 6 pm. Much like the latter part of Wyoming, the road was lined with beautiful rocky hills and cliffs for the majority of the drive. The main distinguishing features between Wyoming and Utah are that the hills in Utah are more covered in grass, and the rocks are more red. As we worked our way through Park City toward Salt Lake, the scenery continued to impress, with great snow-covered mountains and picturesque hillside towns. With each turn, some new beauty would revel itself, to the point that we started getting annoyed - Jon's camera hand was getting tired, and he only had space for 175 more pictures on his memory card. We actually found ourselves longing for the monotony of Kansas, if only for a break from sensory overload.
We finally arrived in SLC around 7 pm. One thing we had not prepared for: Utah is cold. We're debating going out tonight to see some of the city, but it is late it looks like freezing rain. The hotel room is looking pretty good right now.
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