Ken, I understand what you are saying. Off hand, I still remember removing the body of a crushed truck driver, that lost control of his vehicle by over heating his brakes. Strange thing is, he was reported to have stopped once, north bound, at the parking area up by the snow shed. Parked for a while to cool his brakes is the thought, then he headed on north obviously in too high a gear and again over heated his brakes. The S turns just before you get to Ouray, got him as his loaded trailer crushed his tractor cab up against a large rock which didn't move. Anymore the environmental laws require all wrecks to be removed, that run off the road, but some of the old wrecks are still there. We had to deal with several drug mules, coming up from the south border of the US, that had started using Hwy 550 as a preferred route north. I suspect some of these drivers had never seen snow, much less driven on it. We would call the DEA in Glennwood and they would send an agent or two to assist us. The wreckage would be winched up, loaded on a flat bed and hauled away. Of course the DEA doesn't release news reports on these situations. But most of that was winter time foolishness.
On one situation, we, the sheriff's department, was trying to reach a state road maintenance crew that had been in the area of major avalances up by the snow shed area. Four of us piled into a tracked vehicle, a Swedish Snow Track, to try and reach them. Up by the rock tunnel we got hit on the side by a somewhat small snow slide that started pushing us toward the edge of the highway but stopped prior to our going over the several hundred feet drop off. A quick vote was held in the vehicle and it was unanimous to turn around and head back to Ouray. Of the two crew members for DOT that were trapped, one died and the other was rescued a few days later as the large snow plows and dozers were able to clear Hwy 550.
Summer time, most of the problems were of the drivers that had anxiety attacks and froze behind the wheel. I know this sounds strange to experienced mountain drivers, but these anxiety attacks are just as real to them as if they really were in the danger they perceive at the time.
I was over Red Mountain several times this past summer as we spent a month in our RV at the local KOA campground. We towed our Jeep out and had a great time running the Jeep trails and eating at Handlebars restaurant in Silverton, a great place to eat. In that month I only managed to trash out 4 tires on my Jeep. LOL So as often I do, I came back to Florida with all new tires.
The summer before, we were headed to Silverton in the Jeep and on the San Juan County side of the Pass, headed down the Chattanooga Switch area, I cam around a somewhat blind curve, and there coming up the hill, north bound in the outside lane was an 18 wheeler with a scared driver. He had all of his driver side tires over in our lane and we were both going so slow, I could see the fear in his face and the death grip on his steering wheel. This was one time I decided to swerve and avoid a head on collision. So I took to the shoulder of the road, which there was one up against the side of the rock wall on our side of the road. How I kept from tearing off my passenger side mirror, I will never know. O'how I wished I had been in a patrol car that day, as that driver and I would have had a very serious conversation about his driving ability or lack thereof.
Second true story and remember, most of my true stories are. In the same area while I was living in Ouray, the Sheriff's Dept in Silverton called our county and asked to borrow someone from the Coroner's Office so the Coroner asked me to handle the case for them. Nothing special but a climber had been struck by lightning the day before and they needed it investigated and the body recovered and returned. Again, real early in the AM, I was driving a patrol car, a Jeep Cherokee this time, as I came around one of the blind corners, there in the middle of my lane rested the largest rock I had/have ever seen on a road. It was much larger than my Cherokee I was driving. It was blocking my lane and a foot or two of the outside lane as well. So I called dispatch on the radio and requested a DOT crew with a large front end loader to come more it.
If a large RV would have come around that same corner that morning, going any faster than I was going, a very good chance they would have ended up with a new very large rock hood ornament and possibly injury to the occupants. As experience mountain drivers know and understand, always be ready for the unexpected at any time.
Honestly, some of the truck drivers are the absolutely worst drivers on that road. Not all but some of them are also first timers on it. One story with somewhat a bit of humor, in the early 90s, GM was testing and doing some photo shoots of a new turbine powered 18 wheeler. It was all modern looking, tons of power and I was told they had about $750,000 tied up in the rig, including the test equipment in the trailer. They pulled up to the parking area by the snow shed on Hwy 550, to take some photos of the truck with the San Juan Mountains in the background. There was the truck, the photo vehicle, support vehicles, etc. all park there. The truck driver parked down at the far end of the parking area and got out, walked back to where the others were parked, so there wouldn't be anyone, but the truck in the photos. Someone noticed about this time, that the truck was slowly rolling backward, toward the cliff edge. The driver took off at a full run to try and apply the brakes, before the truck and trailer went off the 300 foot drop off. He almost made it. It took days for then to get all the wreckage out of the bottom of that canyon.
joe b.
Stuart Florida
Formerly of Colorado and Alaska
2016 Fleetwood Flair 31 B Class A w/bunks
www.picturetrail.com/jbpacooper
Alaska-Colorado and other Trips posted
"Without challenge, adventure is impossible".
Big Sur drives. Ok it is third place in that list but very very lovely. Reasonable speed and attention to the road is all that is required. Unfortunately there are not many scenic overlook pull over sites, so like others have mentioned, the driver has to take quick peeks. Click on the pic for a better view of Red Mtn.
