Torrey, Utah to Colorado Springs

Start the day with a snow storm and minus 2 deg C, then have blue sunshine and some canyon carving, then high winds and 28 deg C temps, then blinding sandstorms, and finish off the day with an 11,312 foot pass over the Rocky Mountains into Colorado Springs !   Oh, and never go lower than 2000 metres / 6500 feet in 500 miles / 800 kms.     Enough to make for a fun day ? 

Despite being in a motel with a comfortable bed, I didn't sleep too well - Must be too comfortable for me now !!  But as I was so stiff from the climb to Angels Landing the day before, it was a godsend to not have to crawl around at ground level.   Anyway, wanted to make an early start as I knew I had some 500 miles to do to Colorado Springs, so peered out of the curtains at about 6.30 am and it wasn't raining as forecast, so all good. Quick shower, open the door to get something from the car - And there is a snow storm !!  Elsie was rapidly turning white !! 

Bugger - What to do ?  When you are at about 6000 ft, weather can change pretty quickly and dramatically, and I knew I had some high passes to cross today - Would this mean they might be closed ?   Snow didn't last too long, and by the time I had had breakfast with motel neighbours Bill and Terry from Idaho, the sky was blue, but there was a very strong wind and it was bitterly cold - Minus 2 C was the lowest I saw on my in-car thermometer.  But true to S1 Elise custom, I was determined to keep the roof off, so I donned long thermal underwear, skivvies, fleece,  windproof trousers and jacket, topped off with my woollen neck warmer and beanie, and just managed to squeeze into the drivers seat !!  I was also using my home made side window extension wind deflectors for the first time to keep the cold air out of the car.  And off we went.
Within 5 minutes we were in our first gorge in the Capitol Reef National Park, and admiring all the different and amazing rock formations around every corner.  You just cannot drive fast through these sections because the views are SO spectacular.  Predominantly red coloured to start with, as we left the Capitol Reef NP and moved out into the no less interesting San Rafael Desert, the formations turned grey, and much more easily eroded, so softer curves to the formations beside the road. At this point the high wind was starting to become evident, with sand blowing off the formations and creating a haze.  This continued all along Hwy 24 until we intersected with the freeway of Hwy 70 and turned east.

As we crossed the San Rafael Desert, the wind was getting stronger and stronger, and whipping up all the top soil or sand and blowing it across the road. In many cases it was blowing in the same direction as we were driving, so if you got into a sand storm you might stay in it for half an hour as it travelled with you.  In the photos you can clearly see this, and it went on and on, bad for at least a couple of hours, although long distance haze was very evident all day, which spoiled some of the views in the mountains later on in the day as well.
In one partcularly strong period of wind, one of my home made wind deflectors was suddenly torn off the car (woke me up pretty quickly Ican tell you !!) and I saw it bouncing down the middle of the freeway !!  Luckily the traffic was so light that I was able to slam on the brakes, reverse back up the emergency lane, and leap out and grab the pieces before the next vehicle came along - A large truck which would have smashed it to pieces.  But that was the first time I have used them in really cold weather, and they worked brilliantly in keeping the cold wind out of the car, so I shall repair it, no problem !!
By the time we reached Grand Junction, the temp was also up in the mid 20's, which meant I was starting to consider taking some of my cold weather gear off - Fortunately I didn't because I was soon to need it again !!
At Grand Junction I decided to chance a run across the mountains and hope it hadn't snowed any more, instead of staying on the boring Interstate 70. So I cut SE on Hwy 50 through Delta and Montrose. Just after Montrose we hit a 7500 ft pass which cooled things down considerably, and then we came to the spectacular Blue Mesa Reservoir.  We wandered along the southern edge initially, and then crossed on a bridge and continued along the northern edge - And the whole reservoir was still frozen solid, so this gives some idea of the temperatures they normally get up there - Today was a relatively balmy 8 or 9 deg C air temperature. (The photos are all linked to a map so you can see where everything is).
After leaving the reservoir, we started climbing further - I watched my altimeter as it went up past 3000 metres, then crept up gradually to about 3400 metres, and when we reached the top of Monarch Pass, there it was, 11,312 feet. 

Elsie runs OK going up these passes at these altitudes, but at the top she does not like to idle as she is running so rich due to the lack of air in the mixture, so it will be interesting to see how she goes at 14,000 feet on Pikes Peak tomorrow morning !!  The views eastward from the top of Monarch Pass were the first really good mountain views I had had close up, so they were exctiting to see at last.  The run down the other side was equally dramatic - There is still a lot of snow up there and I am just so fortunate to have hit this warmer weather window - a week or 10 days ago I could not have made it across the top.  As it is, there are still lots of people skiing up in the mountains, which gives some idea of how good it must have been to have lasted though this warm spell.
Once down on the plains, it was a fairly simple run for the last hour into Colorado Springs, although you have to glance at the altimeter ocasionally to remind yourself you are still at 1800 metres, or about 6000 feet !!
Very cold out there tonight, and still that biting wind that we have had all day, the forecast for tomorrow is fine, but I decided to motel it again tonight as I didn't arrive in Colorado Springs until dusk after a solid 10 hour drive, stopping only briefly for fuel twice, so an average of about 50 mph for the day.  While many camp sites and motels along the way in smaller towns are still closed, the big advantage of being here now is the total lack of traffic.  I never had to sit behind any vehicle in the mountains, and on the open plains I just sit on the 65 speed limit all day.  Most people are doing about 70 - 75 mph.
Tomorrow it is off to Pikes Peak in the morning to cross one more thing off my list, and I am really looking forward to that.  It is right behind the motel where I am staying, so I should be able to see it out of my window in the morning !!  Then it is a couple of hours drive up to Denver where at 6 pm I am attending the monthly LOCO (Lotus Owners of Colorado) meeting, and showing them some photos and telling them about my trip, so am looking forward to meeting everyone there - My 4th Lotus meeting so far this trip !
Photos of today are here :- https://picasaweb.google.com/117739775480775657932/TorreyUtahToColoradoSprings?authkey=Gv1sRgCPXW8byPjL6hKA#