[scaldwell]

Hi



Those of you with no fear of heights might want to try Colorado Route 550 from Durango to Ouray. This is also known as "The Million Dollar Highway" and especially refers to the Silverton to Ouray stretch. The highway goes over two summits with two ascents and descents complete with the necessary switchbacks. One thing to remember is that the Colorado Department of Highways does not seem to believe in guardrails for this highway, so you have the edge of the pavement, a narrow gravel shoulder and then sheer drops of several thousand feet. I found a video of the trip on Youtube and although its taken from an RV you can get a good idea of what the road is like.



Happy motoring.



Steve



Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIpJu7eOM0I...feature=related



Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LbGSaq0ADs...feature=related

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[Chris Vais]

I have driven this route, one time, during the summer in the midst of a mountain thunderstorm. Probaby the most terrfiying rode I've ever driven becasue I could just imagin slipping off the road and going over the edge. Needless to say I took it very easy and paid very close attention to the road. My wife, who was paying very close attention to the view, had a death grip on my right arm.



Speaking of extraordinary roads, did anyone watch Top Gear this week? The boys took a road trip from Davos, Switzerland to a village on the Italian side of the Alps, the name of which escapes me at the moment. They had a Porsche 997 GT3 RS, a Lambo, and an Aston Martin. The road was extrodinary, it had nice stone retaining walls to keep you from becoming a smudge on the landscape if you missed a turn. The views were out of this world. this road I would like to drive someday.



And lastly, this past April I spent a long weekend in Sicily while visiting my brother in Florence. We visited Erice which is a 15th century walled city on top of a 2500 ft high mountain. One has to drive a very windy road to get to the top, it also had beautiful stone retaining walls to keep you from taking a plunge. There was a hill climb scheduled for the weekend, we unfortunately were scheduled to be somewhere else, but I'll bet it was an interesting event. We saw some hill climb motorcycles in the parking lot at the top where race control was located. Would have been a nice road to take a crotch rocket up and down.

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[jlm968]

I'm in Denver and will be driving to Telluride on Monday. I lived in Ouray for 5 years and never got tired of the fantastic driving, on- and off-road. If you have a day for a good drive, try the 240-mile circuit from Ridgway to Durango, to Cortez, to Telluride, to Ridgway. I'm hoping to do that drive this week as the leaves change color.

Janke

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[gryphon]

Those vids make my tusche pucker. No thank you.



Tom

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[dep and dep]

That's a great route! I've driven it several times and taken the steam train once. I didn't watch the whole youtube clip, but I remember the scariest turn is a nearly 180 degree sweeper with steep drop offs on one side then the other and a mangled big rig at the bottom of the canyon! The San Juan loop would be an incredible drive in the 968.

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[coloradocab]

This topic should be reason enough for as many 968ers as possible to sign up for Porsche Parade 2009 (June 29- July 4). I am Tour Chair, and have six tour routes mapped out (four of which will be offered as guided tours) over some incredible Colorado mountain roads. Registration opens in March, and I expect it to sell out very quickly. Details at www.porscheparade2009.com.

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[jlm968]

I did a run to New Castle last night, 200+ miles along I-70...long, sweeping turns, altitudes over 11k...my moving average (according to the GPS) was 71 mph...most fun I've ever had driving a car!

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[mountainman]

this is one of my favorite places in the world. If you have not been, by all means go.

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[flash]

we are building a fun run map - map out your route on google maps - when we are ready, we can attach it so others can check it out and make the run too

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[scaldwell]

Hi

This route, also known as the "Million Dollar Highway", was recently featured on the "Dangerous Drives" program on "Speed TV". It will be shown again in the next week. On 2 January at 10:00 p.m. EST and 7:00 p.m. PST and 11:00 p.m. PST and on 3 January at 2:00 a.m. EST.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year

Steve

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