During one’s travels in America you’ll encounter physical barriers like mountains, canyons, passages through which you’ll have to cross. In different parts of the country these heights of land are designated by different terms, but the meaning is still the same.
During one’s travels physical barriers like mountains or canyons must be crossed. In different parts of the country these heights of land are designated in different terms, but the meaning is still the same-you’ve got a geographical/ geological landmark to overcome. Too numerous to name all of them, I’ve gone up and then down, preferably in good weather and using the same gear in ascent & descent. Save your brakes! And be patient, stop pushing and tailgating-not all passes have passing lanes. Many roads are marked with switchbacks 20, 15, 10mph. In Colorado CDOT snowplow drivers have perished in Red Mountain Pass avalanches US 550. Ski traffic can be pushy through the Eisenhower Tunnel I-70 and Vail Pass. The chain law may be in effect! Raton Pass on I-25 connects Colorado with New Mexico. Some passes close for the winter like Independence, Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain NP, Glacier NP’s Logan Pass and Beartooth Pass US 212 from Cooke City to Red Lodge MT outside Yellowstone. South Pass in Wyoming carried wagon trains over the Oregon Trail. On my 2014 Yosemite trip I crossed passes in Nevada like Sacremento Pass outside Great Basin NP, Carson Pass into the Sierras on CA88 and Walker Pass into the Mojave leaving California. Snoqualmie tops the Cascades on Washington’s I-90. In the East I-93 in NH passes through Franconia Notch into the White Mountains. Jefferson Notch, Evans, Kinsman and Dixville all provide access around the Presidential Range region. Down South I’ve found Neel’s Gap beneath Georgia’s highest hill Brasstown Bald. Daniel Boone and I both know Cumberland Gap, the mountains access from Virginia into Tennessee and Kentucky. Newfound Gap summits the Smokies at 5,048′ in that national park near Clingman’s Dome. Other scenic highways/ byways include Utah’s Burr Trail, Moki Dugway, Soldier Summit near Price, Parley’s Canyon above Salt Lake and the Uintas-watch for elk! Colorado’s Glenwood Canyon I-70 took years to finish with a tier bridge network over & paralleling the Colorado River with several tunnels. CW McCall made a song about Wolf Creek Pass, enjoy! There’s the General’s Highway in Sequoia, dreary Monida on I-15 Idaho and a Texas causeway to the Gulf’s Mustang Island called Aransas Pass. Take your time for the views.
manativeptwesterner 