January 1-3, 2022 | Austin, Texas –> Breckenridge, Colorado
We spent the month of January at Tiger Run RV Park on the north side of Breckenridge, Colorado at 9,600 feet. The drive from Austin to Breckenridge was our most harrowing yet, particularly as we had a small weather window for towing. We left Austin on January 1st, a little later than we’d hoped after getting the Airstream ready to roll and grabbing one last smoothie at our favorite spot, Juice Land.
We planned to do the 940 mile drive in 2 days with an overnight in Amarillo, where we had hoped to connect with some dear friends, but we were derailed by terrible weather in Lubbock. It was late in the evening and we could see precipitation of some kind falling – like a sleet/rain mix, but traction on the roads seemed ok at our low speeds until we reached line of sight of a bridge where an accident had occurred; a small car had spun and smashed into the guardrail. We immediately engaged 4 wheel drive and white knuckled it to the next exit. Potentially icy roads weren’t something we wanted to confront while towing ever, but especially not at night. As we exited, we spotted the bright lights of a truck stop and felt deep relief. We pulled in between a couple of 18-wheelers, hopped into the Airstream, and were immediately surrounded by the comforts of home. Movie night!
The next day was now even longer than we’d originally planned, and we didn’t want to tow through Hoosier Pass into Breckenridge after dark. We set out at first light, after giving Emma some time to explore the cotton field behind the truck stop up close, but at the first intersection we came to, we must have hit some ice. Tim braked and we felt the whole rig sickeningly slide ever so briefly. It wasn’t a serious loss of purchase, but it was sobering, and with temps set to be cold all day, we knew we were not going to make good time. We were flabbergasted that Lubbock didn’t do a better job salting and plowing the roads – north Texas routinely gets freezing weather; there’s no excuse for inadequate winter maintenance of roads with speed limits up to 80 mph. We resigned ourselves to the very real possibility that we wouldn’t arrive in Breck on the day we’d scheduled — but being able to be flexible is a gift of this kind of travel and we are coming to really embrace it.
That night, after a long day of cautious driving, we reached Pueblo, Colorado, where we exited I-25 and turned Westward into the mountains. We stopped for a quick dinner. We had some family debate over dinner about whether to continue – we were just 2.5 hours from Breckenridge. Tim, Emma, and Graham wanted to just get there. But it was late, and we knew that the last stretch of driving included the hairpin turns of Hoosier Pass, so Sara’s more conservative plan won out. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy the adventure of sleeping at Wal-Mart? We opened Campendium (the app we use to locate camping spots, from boondocking locations to urban overnights like Wal-Marts or rest stops) and found a nearby Wal-Mart. Tim went in to purchase a few supplies (etiquette of Wal-Mart overnights dictates that a small store purchase is in order) and we got a wonderful night’s rest after the long day, awakening to the most beautiful mountainous Wal-Mart view we’ve ever had.
The drive over Hoosier Pass was just spectacularly beautiful, as if a reward for those who do it by daylight! The roads weren’t great – the area had received a significant snowfall, as I later heard from locals, between Christmas and New Year’s, and on January 2nd the roads were a mess. Again we were surprised to see that the plows just weren’t keeping up. The roads were covered in thick slush – not as serious a problem for traction as ice, and temps were above freezing, but conditions definitely fell short of the dry roads we’d prefer for towing over a mountain pass. We engaged 4 wheel drive and took the drive slowly.
What actually made this leg of the journey most frightening was that we forgot to fill the gas tank before leaving the Wal-Mart in Pueblo. Towing a trailer through a mountain pass is pretty fuel-intensive, even for our hybrid truck, and we faced a long mountainous stretch between towns with no gas for miles. We nervously watched the truck’s estimate of miles to empty alongside the miles remaining to the nearest gas station on google maps; the numbers were terrifyingly close. At one point, we reached an old gas station, like a mirage in the desert, and squeezed into the tight pump area only to discover there was no gas to be had at this little outpost. Yelping in frustration along with other drivers who had stopped, we leapt back into the truck and, as fuel-efficiently as possible, gunned it toward the next town were we expected a station. As we eased up grades and coasted back down them, we stabilized our miles to empty estimate by a slim margin until finally we pulled into a gas station.
The rest of the drive into Breck was spectacular. We got right to work settling in and adjusting to new routines and a “new normal” for winter camping in a high alpine environment.
The Peace of Wild Things 