Driver rescued after truck falls from iconic Colorado highway into canyon
A driver survived a 300-foot plunge from the "Million Dollar Highway" last week in the same area where three people have died this year.
The unidentified driver walked away - once rescuers lifted him/her back to the roadway, that is - with only minor injuries.
The pickup truck went off the side of U.S. 550 on the north side of Red Mountain Pass shortly after noon on Thursday. Ouray-based first responders called in the Ouray Mountain Rescue Team to bring the driver from the canyon floor back to pavement via a technical rope system.
The crash happened between mile markers 88 and 89, according to the rescue team.
Two people were killed at mile marker 88 on August 5. Both were adults from New Mexico. A juvenile relative survived.
Two days later, a 78-year-old woman survived a roll from the highway three miles away.
Between those locations, on August 23, a 65-year-old woman died when her motorcycle left the road and tumbled into the canyon.
There is no guardrail system along the highway in these locations. Snow plows reportedly need the open edge to push off large amounts of snow which fall on the roadway every winter. The Colorado Department of Transportation conducts regular closures of the highway during the season to bring down dangerous snow from the mountainside above the road. Plows then quickly sweep the roadway clear rather than loading it and hauling it away.
A guardrail does exist on the south side of Red Mountain Pass. Two weeks ago, that guardrail prevented a van from plummeting 800 feet.
There have been 13 crashes on the 13-mile stretch of U.S. 550 between Ouray and the San Juan/San Miguel county line near the pass's summit, according to the Colorado State Patrol.
Initially a private toll road built in 1882, the current route between Ouray and Silverton was opened to the public in 1924. The road acquired the name "Million Dollar Highway" through several means, according to reports. One suggests the roadway's foundation was built with gold and silver tailings common to mining in the area. Another report describes the moniker coming from travelers' refusals to drive the road even if paid a million dollars.
