Late Season Run

[juane]

This afternoon a buddy and I drove the historic Otto Mears toll road to Bonanza, Colorado.

Looking at the route on Google Earth I knew if I had a problem this would be the place. But, a nice drifted snow mound to the outside kept me alive and ATV tracks and fresh powder helped get through.

View is from East to North. The big mountain to the left is Ouray.

The road was originally built to haul ore from the Bonanza mining district to the railroad going over Marshall Pass in big heavy wagons. Marshall Pass was an infamous route on the Denver and Rio Grande RR known for massive snow. In fact, miles of snow shed were built to protect the rail over the pass. If you look close you can see the railroad across the valley. Too bad the image resolution is low...

Salida is in the middle background.

juane

 

[Ruadhrigh]

wow. that is a great picture!

 

[SteveLCetc]

Indeed. Got a higher definition version somewhere?

 

[evanz80]

Looking at the route on Google Earth I knew if I had a problem this would be the place. But, a nice drifted snow mound to the outside kept me alive and ATV tracks and fresh powder helped get through.
juane

Juane - Beautiful picture, but I agree with you. There's a certain amount of pucker factor sitting on the top of that grade. There's nothing to stop you if you started to go over the edge. But it also looks like fun!

 

[juane]

Here's a link to a better image:
http://picasaweb.google.com/tobascofish/NewStuff/photo#5137270000734978690

Here's the coords of the photo location if you want to plugin to Google Earth:
38.3454° -106.165°