Roadtrippin' Colorado Style

Okay, I give up trying to find the western end of SH 3, so I'll just take 2nd Street back down to 550. Two problems here: 1. Where's the junction plate? I know we're not on 160/550 right now. 2. Where's the 3 digit blanks?

Alright, time to head north. Will someone tell that driver that you're supposed to stop before the crosswalk? I'm sure the pedestrians wouldn't complain. Also, check out an entry from the redundancy department of redundancies on the left.

After filling up with gas at a station on the corner of a busy intersection, I had to improvise a way back to 550 by using city streets. Check out this specimen I found while doing that!

Driving over the Animas River, I find some rafters hard at play. That looks fun.

Typical view of US 550 in northern Durango.

US 550 turns a bit in Durango. Here's the signals controlling one of those turns.

When road expansion attacks. The next placement of this traffic signal will be inside the building.

Approaching the far northern edge of Durango. How do I know that? You can't build straight up.

Okay, traffic signal aficionados, explain this one. Why the drooping line carrying the wires? Why not keep it all on the tension line like every other major town? (This is not an oops, by the way. There were at least two other intersections with the same configuration.)

Yup, still on US 550.

Ok, seriously. Someone needs to explain birth control to these elk if they really are this much of a problem up here.

Look at the top ridge. See that scar? That's from a rock slide where part of the ridge gave way. How cool would that have been to see?

We're also on a Scenic Byway now, too.

Heading north. I don't like the looks of those clouds. I wonder if they'll have an effect on the photography.

Yup. *sigh* Bear with me, folks. These'll get better again.

These signs with the logos just look weird to me. Don't know why.

A turned warning sign that uses neon to convey its message. Probably Icy Road.

A rogue VMS hides out in the tall grass waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey.

Random natural spring sitting beside the road.

More clouds. It's not too obvious in this pic, but it really looks like it's raining ahead.

More oops goodness in the form of a wrong colored arrow plate.

Doesn't get much more descriptive than this. Oh, wait, it does? Than what's the point of this sign?

US 550 travels over the railroad lines for the Durango and Silverton Narrow Guage Railroad here.

Passing a parking area. Perfect for photography of perpetually pretty ... uhmm... trains. So much for the alliteration.

Welcome to the San Juan National Forest. Here's your new asphalt and construction staging area. Enjoy!

Look up the road. Do you see the old intersection alignment? The new intersection doesn't require cross traffic to be sitting at a 30 degree angle to the road. I'd say this is an improvement.

See how all the clouds are a bit fuzzy? That's not a camera issue. It's a good sign that we're about to get wet.

The top sign's small text reads "Group Camping" and "Group Picnic." How come they didn't use symbols so it's legible like the sign below it?

I feel like I'm at a big CDOT yard sale. I've passed more equipment parked on the side of the road in this trip than all the others combined.

If it weren't for the overexposure due to the cloud cover, this would have been a great pic.

Starting to get a little wet now.

The sign points the way to the emergency entrance to the housing development. This is necessary since the pass can be closed ahead.

r-dub's definition of Suck. This is definition 1 and is the biggest.

A gap in the clouds gives us a great photo shoot.

r-dub's definition of Suck. Definition 2.

Of course, the road is going to curve to stay under the clouds. It won't go under the clear part of the sky.

This region of CDOT also signs every movement of every lane at every intersection on the US and state highways. Overkill or good thinking? Hmmm....

Coming out from under the rain just in time to find the Durango Mountain Ski Resort.

In a previous trip, I mentioned that if you were losing a lane when traveling up a pass, it either meant you were at the summit or the pass was about to get really narrow. This is not option one.

Another VMS greets us as we continue to travel uphill.

Climbing still, we find a reassuarance shield placed here to reassure us.

Entering San Juan County.

So in the last few pics, you've probably noticed the peak that Mother Nature was kind enough to illuminate and my camera was kind enough to wash out. That's Engineer Mountain and stands just under 13,000 feet high. I kept this pic's colors more favoring the peak than the road. This was the way it looked for the last few miles. Nice, huh?

Starting to experience some curves while ascending this pass.