I-70 through Utah and Colorado, then upward to Wyoming to Utah

[ZLoth]

I'm planning on taking a trip next May, after Memorial Day through Utah and Colorado. The plan is to enter Utah on US-50, then at Salina, UT, gas up, then take I-70 to Grand Junction. The following day, continue on I-70 and possibly visit Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak before staying at Colorado Springs. Then, head north via Empire, CO to Rawllins, WY. After that, head to Idaho via Utah.

Any suggestions? Do I have a screw lose?

[oscar]

The road to the Mt. Evans summit might not be open in late May, if the weather doesn't cooperate with the usual opening date by Memorial Day.

Both Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak in one day would be pushing it.  If forced to choose, I'd go with Mt. Evans if it's open.  Also, part of the Pikes Peak summit road is unpaved, if that makes you nervous (it shouldn't, I've driven it twice in low-clearance sports sedans), while the Mt. Evans road is completely paved. 

[The High Plains Traveler]

The road to the Mt. Evans summit might not be open in late May, if the weather doesn't cooperate with the usual opening date by Memorial Day.

Both Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak in one day would be pushing it.  If forced to choose, I'd go with Mt. Evans if it's open.  Also, part of the Pikes Peak summit road is unpaved, if that makes you nervous (it shouldn't, I've driven it twice in low-clearance sports sedans), while the Mt. Evans road is completely paved. 

Pikes Peak highway is now paved in its entirety. Grand Junction to Mt. Evans to Pikes Peak is an extremely ambitious day.

[Milepost61]

Yeah I agree I would only try to do one or the other. Both the Mt Evans and Pikes Peak roads are 2 hours round trip from the starting point up and back down.

[Revive 755]

^ I'd go with at least three days in Colorado if your schedule can support it.  There are a lot of scenic view pulloffs along I-70 that can eat some time - especially the one in Glenwood Canyon that require doubling back to return to eastbound I-70.

[ZLoth]

Well, since I have several months to plan (and save), I'm still flexible with the schedule. There is no way to hit Pike's Peak and Mt. Evans on the same day, but I can squeeze Colorado Springs in between. I'm budgeting $200 per day for food, lodging, and fuel.

[CL]

If you were planning on just driving through Salt Lake, I suggest you take this route through the city: http://goo.gl/maps/crbeh

It'll add about an hour to your travel time. That takes you along the eastern foothills of the city (and you'll get some really great views along the way of both the city and directly adjacent mountains), a few of Salt Lake's older and very beautiful neighborhoods, and downtown.

If you don't have an extra hour to spare, http://goo.gl/maps/M0u3L will give you those last two items (and even then you'll still get decent views), adding only twenty minutes of travel time.

[J N Winkler]

A word regarding I-70 in Utah:  two-thirds of its length is in service deserts.  The gap between Salina and Green River (variously signed as being 106, 108, and 110 miles long) is considered the record-holder on the Interstate network and is the most famous, but there is another gap of about 65 miles from Thompson Springs eastward to probably Fruita in Colorado.

In regard to I-70 in both Colorado and Utah, I would steer clear of any schedules that require driving either of them at night.  If you had to do this, you would not only miss the scenery, but also might find the curves unmanageable unless you slow way down.  I had to drive I-70 in Utah at night during the summer in 2002 (I was trying to cover too much ground in one day) and found the experience intensely unpleasant; I had to set the cruise control for 45 MPH going through the twisty stretch just west of the San Rafael Swell to avoid feeling like I was going to run off at every curve.

[oscar]

A word regarding I-70 in Utah:  two-thirds of its length is in service deserts.  The gap between Salina and Green River (variously signed as being 106, 108, and 110 miles long) is considered the record-holder on the Interstate network and is the most famous, but there is another gap of about 65 miles from Thompson Springs eastward to probably Fruita in Colorado.

The OP's planned fill-up in Salina should easily get him the ~200 miles to the first gas stations in the Grand Junction area.  But there are plenty of gas stations about halfway in Green River in case he's driving a real gas hog. 

By the time he gets to Salina, he'll have driven through many service deserts on US 50 in Nevada and western Utah, such as ~80 miles between Ely NV and the Border Inn on the Utah state line (gas pumps on the Utah side, gambling on the Nevada side), and from there on to Delta UT.  (Even worse is on US 6 between Tonopah and Ely, which might be a lower-48 record, but that's not on his itinerary.)  So he should have the drill down pat about thinking twice before driving past open gas stations with less than half a tank of gas.

[ZLoth]

In city driving, my 2005 Chevy Malibu gets about 300 miles per tankful. MPGs tend to increase with highway driving, but 300 miles is a nice, conservative number.

However, I have never driven my car in high altitudes beyond I-80/US-50 in the Sierra Nevadas. I anticipate that my altitudes will be higher on I-70, thus the lower oxygen content and the higher gas consumption.

I have budgeted $200 per day for expenses, including lodging and gas. I have also budgeted about 400 miles per day, which is about 6.5 hours of driving each day, not including stops and such.

[J N Winkler]

In city driving, my 2005 Chevy Malibu gets about 300 miles per tankful. MPGs tend to increase with highway driving, but 300 miles is a nice, conservative number.

It is a good number for planning.  Sometimes owner's manuals lie about true tank capacity (for example, I passed through an unsigned service desert on US 64 eastbound in northern New Mexico on an empty tank and put 11.1 gallons in a tank with a nominal capacity of 10.5 gallons when I was finally able to fill up in Dulce), but you don't want to find out yours has been painfully honest when you are in the middle of the desert without fuel.

However, I have never driven my car in high altitudes beyond I-80/US-50 in the Sierra Nevadas. I anticipate that my altitudes will be higher on I-70, thus the lower oxygen content and the higher gas consumption.

Altitudes will indeed be higher (I-70 in Utah ranges from about 5000 ft to 7000 ft).  And the effect on consumption will be precisely the opposite.  You will rack up very good MPG numbers compared to low-altitude driving, but you will have very little power.  On long upslopes (I-70 in Colorado has strenuous climbs up to Vail Pass and the Eisenhower Tunnel complex, for example), you should be prepared for extended periods of lower-gear operation.

I have budgeted $200 per day for expenses, including lodging and gas. I have also budgeted about 400 miles per day, which is about 6.5 hours of driving each day, not including stops and such.

In my experience this is realistic.  You may want to adjust daily driving downward for the mountains, at least until you get used to them.  People tend to get tired more easily at higher altitudes, at least until they adjust to the reduced oxygen availability (which can take a few days), and the roads are also more demanding to drive.  Take I-70 in Colorado as an example:  compared to rural I-70 in Kansas, which has no curves requiring advisory speed signing and is uniformly 75 MPH, it has numerous curves (some signed, some not, and many of the ones that are signed have reduced advisory speeds), plus many lengths with speeds reduced from 75 MPH to as low as 50 MPH.  (I am planning to tabulate the curves and speed limit changes on Colorado I-70 eastbound in a later post.)

[oscar]

However, I have never driven my car in high altitudes beyond I-80/US-50 in the Sierra Nevadas. I anticipate that my altitudes will be higher on I-70, thus the lower oxygen content and the higher gas consumption.

Altitudes will indeed be higher (I-70 in Utah ranges from about 5000 ft to 7000 ft).  And the effect on consumption will be precisely the opposite.  You will rack up very good MPG numbers compared to low-altitude driving, but you will have very little power.  On long upslopes (I-70 in Colorado has strenuous climbs up to Vail Pass and the Eisenhower Tunnel complex, for example), you should be prepared for extended periods of lower-gear operation.

My Prius seems to do better at moderately high altitudes due to less wind resistance, but other vehicles I've driven have had their mileage take a dive over 10,000 feet.  YMMV, really, so check your gas gauge before you drive past Green River.  You should be able to make the ~106 miles from Salina to Green River, at least, if your normal range is 300+ miles.

[Scott5114]

An idea you might want to consider: buy one of those red plastic gas containers to keep in the trunk just in case you get caught unawares in an unexpected service desert.

[oscar]

An idea you might want to consider: buy one of those red plastic gas containers to keep in the trunk just in case you get caught unawares in an unexpected service desert.

Is it safe to put such containers, with gasoline in them, in an enclosed space like a trunk?  I had to bring two extra fuel containers on one leg of my Arctic road trip this summer, and had no better place to put them than inside my truck's camper shell, so I had to leave the shell's windows open (letting dust in) to provide some ventilation, per the instructions on the containers.  That went off with no problems, but I was quite relieved when I was able to empty the gas containers into my gas tank.

The preferred solution in the Arctic (if you don't have an open truck bed, which is perfect) seems to be a trailer hitch-mounted platform behind your rear bumper, to which you can bungee-cord your gas cans, coolers, etc.  If you have a roof rack, that could work too, but watch your vertical clearance going into shopping mall parkng decks, etc. 

[The High Plains Traveler]

An idea you might want to consider: buy one of those red plastic gas containers to keep in the trunk just in case you get caught unawares in an unexpected service desert.

Is it safe to put such containers, with gasoline in them, in an enclosed space like a trunk?  I had to bring two extra fuel containers on one leg of my Arctic road trip this summer, and had no better place to put them than inside my truck's camper shell, so I had to leave the shell's windows open (letting dust in) to provide some ventilation, per the instructions on the containers.  That went off with no problems, but I was quite relieved when I was able to empty the gas containers into my gas tank.

The preferred solution in the Arctic (if you don't have an open truck bed, which is perfect) seems to be a trailer hitch-mounted platform behind your rear bumper, to which you can bungee-cord your gas cans, coolers, etc.  If you have a roof rack, that could work too, but watch your vertical clearance going into shopping mall parkng decks, etc. 

I would be leery about mounting a jerry can of gasoline in any place vulnerable to vehicle collision. Five gallons doesn't sound like much, but if it is released during a collision it could ignite and turn a minor accident into a destructive one.

[oscar]

An idea you might want to consider: buy one of those red plastic gas containers to keep in the trunk just in case you get caught unawares in an unexpected service desert.

Is it safe to put such containers, with gasoline in them, in an enclosed space like a trunk?  I had to bring two extra fuel containers on one leg of my Arctic road trip this summer, and had no better place to put them than inside my truck's camper shell, so I had to leave the shell's windows open (letting dust in) to provide some ventilation, per the instructions on the containers.  That went off with no problems, but I was quite relieved when I was able to empty the gas containers into my gas tank.

The preferred solution in the Arctic (if you don't have an open truck bed, which is perfect) seems to be a trailer hitch-mounted platform behind your rear bumper, to which you can bungee-cord your gas cans, coolers, etc.  If you have a roof rack, that could work too, but watch your vertical clearance going into shopping mall parkng decks, etc. 

I would be leery about mounting a jerry can of gasoline in any place vulnerable to vehicle collision. Five gallons doesn't sound like much, but if it is released during a collision it could ignite and turn a minor accident into a destructive one.

Good point.  Up north, on the highways where you might need to carry extra gas, the traffic volumes are light enough to make rear-enders a low risk.

I'd still be worried about carrying gas in a jerry can in an enclosed car trunk.  In most lower-48 places, if you're not comfortable about carrying extra gas outside the car body, you're probably better off not carrying extra gas at all, except (crossing fingers) in an emergency when you need to bring gas out to someone else who's out of gas. 

[ZLoth]

Just as an update.... I made my trip budget, and am now saving up to have extra cash. I am looking forward to mid-June.

And, no plans on carrying a gas container inside or outside my vehicle.

[agentsteel53]

unless you are planning on doing a serious amount of dirt-roading, there are no service deserts in the lower 48.

just keep in the back of your mind to tank up every 150-200 miles, and the extra 100-150 of range will be sufficient to cover any miscalculation.

that gap on I-70 of 106 miles is the worst of what you will encounter.  just get gas at the shiny new truck stop in Thompson, and then again in Salina (about 120 miles west), and you are more than fine.  if you're driving east, you will hit Green River before Thompson, which has plenty of services.

[djsinco]

Either or both Mt. Evans or Pike Peak roads will be a "must-see" for any road trip in my home state. For that matter, Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mtn. Nat'l park is no slouch either.

I had a friend visit a couple of years ago the week after Labor Day. The weather here in the Denver metro was in the low 70's, and it was warm and dry, even on top of Mt. Evans. I spoke with ranger at the Mt. Evans station, and he said that the policy there is not to open before Memorial Day (to cars,) nor close later than the day following Labor day.

In the past it was dependent upon if the road was passable.

Good luck, and just for you, my preferences in order of top to bottom, would be, Mt. Evans, Trail Ridge Road, Pikes Peak road. As stated above, any of these will be great!

Remember to bring warm clothes, as even late in May can be cool at lower elevations in the Inter-mountain West, and well below freezing at higher elevations.

[ZLoth]

Unfortunately, this trip has now been "postponed indefinitely".

[pctech]

Glenwood Canyon is worth the trip alone!