As a result of a series of phone calls, yesterday, I decided to
venture into the hills after work and explore a road I hadn't been
down before. Grabbing my trusty Gazetteer and a wad of camera gear, I
headed south out of Denver to Sedalia and took 67 to Rampart Range
Road. This gravel road goes as far as Woodland Park. But, I was
interested in getting down to Devils Head, which is a rather
photogenic mountain.
The road is entirely washboard right now, and has a posted 20 mph
speed limit (hmmm). Numerous turnouts and a major playground for
offroad modes of conveyance. Interestingly, enough, as it follows the
ridge line along, cell coverage worked quite a bit of the time,
although the signal was weak.
On the west side of the mountain, I got some sunset shots, and then
proceeded further south to catch 27 (FR 503) back north so I could
loop back to Sedalia. At least that's what the map said.
The road north was a bit narrower and lesser maintained, but with all
the heavy rains lately, I figured that much of the road conditions
were recently caused. Additional parking and camping areas abound. In
fact, this is a great area to go camping! I'm impressed. Only 30
something miles from the house/work. I come to a clearing with a small
meadow and got a clear shot of Devils Head. I stopped and took some
pictures, but by this point it's getting pretty dark. Exposures were
something like 10 seconds at F8, ISO 100. Too dark to actually focus
with the DMC-L1 and DZ glass. This is another one of those times when
"fly by wire" focusing totally sucks. I would take a picture, chimp
the result and tweak the focus and try again... The results are pretty
good, but I have to do some work with the images before presenting.
Carrying on, I continue north, but it's getting darker and darker.
This road follows Jackson Creek and I come up to a spot where the road
Ys off and a Jeep style road heads south while desired road continues
on north. But there is a little zig and a zag. What I didn't realize
was that my map was out of date and there is a segment of the road
that no longer exists and I can't get to Sedalia from here. But I had
continued on the road going south not realizing I was going south
until the road conditions got so bad and it was narrowing up so much
that I didn't think that this seemed right. I look at the compass and
realize my mistake. It took another little bit before I found a place
to turn around.
The road had been getting pretty steep, slanted and heavily "rutted".
The BMW X5 was struggling a bit going up because it doesn't have low
range and the slush-box tranny was slipping something horrible. (at
times it was at the limit). On more than one occasion I had wheels in
the air. The traction control was working overtime transferring the
power to the wheels on the ground. The Jeep Grand Cherokee would have
done a lot better because of the solid-axle suspension, but the
independent suspension of the X5 with limited (and stiff) travel meant
that I had it teetering on two opposite corner wheels on several
occasions. I'm just glad the road wasn't wet. By the time I turned
around, it was very much a moonless night and very dark.
Turning around was your classic 9 point turn with the bumper hanging
out over space...in the dark.
Once turned around, I pressed the button for Descent Control, which
was provided to BMW by Land Rover. It did a fabulous job and I only
occasionally had to do anything but steer. I am VERY impressed with it
and even with two wheels in the air, it kept things pretty much under
control. Did I mention that the trail was steep? Low-range steep? I
did override it a couple of times to come to a complete halt to
traverse a particularly nasty spot and wipe the sweat off the steering
wheel.
So, I get back down to the last "known position" and find where the
road used to be. Rats. This means I have to completely backtrack. In
the dark. Over washboard road.
I eventually do get back to the big city and feel good because I
pushed myself and the vehicle rather hard. We don't get environments
like this in Iowa and I'm now trying to milk every opportunity for
what it's worth since my time here is limited.
Oh, yes... Why I wrote this...
Rampart Range Road is a GRADE A photography road. Had I been more
interested in photography than driving (destination priority, BMW) and
had more time, I would have likely shot 500 pictures. The Jackson
Creek Road is very beautiful and I only wish that I could have
experienced it in daylight. This is certainly a must-return location
and on my very short list of places to go in Colorado. In fact, I'd
say that for accessibility, turnouts, and the overall concentration of
photographic opportunities, this is one of the best locations for
photography in the Denver area.
--
Ken Norton
ken@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.zone-10.com
--
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