| Show editor gives road conditions on his I 1 trip east and back our trip east started out over tn anu pikes peak ocean to ocean highway with tho the exception of a few miles over the divide at the top of the salim canyon down towards emery wu wj found the highway in eacel excellent lent condition as far as aa green river where we turned off for moab between moab and monticello we found miles of absolutely the tha rottenest rott enest place piece of road we encountered on the entire trip it was a terror Ilo however the tha contract tor for a now new road over a new location has been awarded and since our return it has been opened to travel so that bug bear has been removed the tha road should now be in ili first class condition tho the scenery through this part of the country la is wonderful east from monticello through cortez colo wo we found tad fate roads until we turned off to go up to mesa verdo here we got off on the wrong toot foot and took a short cut steep and narrow a dugway cut for miles and miles out oui of the side of the cliff thousands of feet from heaven and nd just as far from the bottomless pit plainly down below it was bad enough to make hair on a bald I 1 man stand on end I 1 know coming down 23 miles arom the park to th tho e maln hig highway hwak bogot wo got on all another road plenty steep enough ant an awfully crooked but good and wide and well kept from there through durango to pagosa springs wu lind had good loaft over tho the continental divide northwest ot of chama now new mexico tho road was steep and not so good tout but from chama to and over combres pass pasa feet it was fair over laveta pass it was wonderful with wide easy grades gradi ei not very sharp and grand scenery As we approached pueblo w we found short stretches of hard sur stir faced roads eastern colorado ant ani western kansas had cuir dirt roads an exception should be made at garden city where we encountered 40 miles of splendid brick pavement reno county hutchen son has a great mileage of brick road from there on east to joplin mo ato yes until through the ozark oearl hills 0 7 the roads steadily grew better in the ozarks the roads were wonderful from there th through rOlIgh they are constructing a very large amount of new road and for about miles wo WG had detour atto detour which made travel very dirty and rough A couple or oc years from vow the road from joplin to st louis should be in perfect condition harty thirty miles out of st louis we truck struck hard surfaced roads and from abe there c on east to indianapolis yes to columbus and cleveland we had rock brick or concrete all the way on the return trip after leaving we passed into michigan blira some som e of their wise road builders have an idea that a good road can be hullt built with try dry clean gravel pre prend all over the right of way to a depth of from four to eight ln inches che and then let the travel travlee try to pack it down dum bum rotten we call it of course not all roads are built that way for paine of the lieme roads in the country lead into detroit hut but then we wore were crossing tile the main highways at kalamazoo wo we kot got on the hard bard surface again anu an through chicago to the mississippi we had hard roads roada all the time in fact the illinois roans roads are the les roads loads we found on the entire trip rind and we crossed crossd d the state twice and had a good opportunity to judge them iowa Is away behind its sister state in road building at least we found the roads in southern iowa poor we wore were told that we should have crossed the state further north where road conditions were much better acm west front from tho tha missouri river we nye followed what la Is known as tho the D L 1 D road detroit lincoln and do denver U tills this Is a good road us as tar far as we followed it to near kearney Kc arnoy where we took tho the lincoln highway this D L D wo we found a new system ot of road construction or road which waa vas now new to us ua it deserves a tow few words at this time evidently the road bed Is graded up roughly and loads ot of fairly good road building gravel are arc dumped off tho the traveled portion of the road and every time is a rain or as often as they think necessary a little of this gravel ts Ls shoveled or graded over on oil to the traveled road completely obliterating tile the whee tracks it Is then thoroughly dragged with abort a sort of homemade home homo made mado float when tills this thin coating of gravel Is well down and a little moisture cames comes more gravel is spread and dragged down this continuous continuo ua performance of spreading and dragging has resulted in a very hard smooth road surface one which appears to be obtained with the minimum expense and a maximum degree of satisfaction tills this method is ia it in direct contrast with the method used in hi sonie some places in Alic michigan higan prom from kearnery Kear neny to cheyenne wu followed the lincoln highway ano ther splendid plen did at cheyenne Chey enno we turned south through ft colllns collins to esty baty park hero we entered tile the rocky mountain national park the real backbone of the continent the road here led up fall arly and over fall river pass feet away above the timber line anti and into the snow banks the road was good and ad steep with plenty ot of switch backs for I 1 15 r miles it was mostly low gear work wo we were an hour and a halt half making the ascent without a 11 single stop several der deer were seen along the road and the floral display 1 above the timber line was simply gorgeous I 1 down from the a summit and overl over I 1 1 the continental divide to grand lake kakoi the lake was a keen disappoint disappointment nie lit i while the water was exceedingly clear clearl I 1 tile the lake setting Is not one two three with puffer lake and fish lake lins has it backed clear oft off the map the road over rabbits ear paci wag waa an abomination avent li a single good word tor for it from steam boat springs to the utah state line the road Is about like the one from milforde dl to lund then to vernal it id iq poor around vernal there la is some mighty good road but between myton and Dusch osne there was about 15 miles allea of disgust then from the main road to strawberry reser reservoir voie was about 12 miles of worse than disgust down tho the spanish fork canyon wo we had a stretch of beautiful moun tain road to springville Spring ville here wo i landerl on oil the concrete and all was good to the home camp except a couple or detours one north of holden and the other south of covo cove fort and by the way the only place wu traveled over the same road twice was from cove fort home walter drove the car the entire distance 1 of miles with only nn an exl expense l on account of the engine of cleaning the once and removing carbon from tile hie cylinders wo we bied five punctures on the entire trip our gasoline mileage was miles per gallon taken as a whole the road conditions were tar far better than we had an art fici at the start and it if we were looking ig for the bat bait way to got get over the mountains we surely would say take fake the pikes peak to green river utah then to moab monticello Montle ello bui durango durange and laveta pass we believe the roads ar are 0 the best the grades the easiest and the seen cry ns as line as anywhere on the conti nent |
