I'm glad you're driving. I'm too old and sick to ever be able to make a trip like this but thanks to you I feel like I'm being blessed to see all the places you go.You've got a great job. Please be safe. I pray for you daily. Thanks again , Craig in Alabama.
Charles C. Parker Me too mate this trucker takes me to places I could only dream of from a wheely chair in Oz. Keep as well as you can and know your not alone. X
@@ksanurse check out wilderness on wheels. A have a few locations in Colorado that provide a great outdoor mountain adventure to those in wheel chairs. Colorado definitely has something for everyone to enjoy.
The BEST edge of my seat shotgun ride EVER! Thought I'd get motion sickness! Had to take a few breaks to get through the ride. Thank you so much! Watched it twice.
Iv'e skydived, bungee jumped, worked at heights, cliff dived, and stood on one of the highest bolders (Kjeragbolten; Norway) in the world, wedged between two cliffs at 3,228 ft above water, but watching this drive really made my heart pump! Imagine the fear of having to sneeze on one of those hairpin drop offs while driving that bad boy!!
I am planning my vacation in 2023. Looking at this video, I wonder if at the age of 74, can I still dream of driving from Ouray to Silverton and happily returning home to Illinois. Thank you for this wonderful experience.
I've never been over Red Mountain Pass, i have driven over Monarch Pass & Wolfe Creek Pass in a truck. I heard some locals say years ago about a truck that went over the side. Apparently the driver survived the initial crash over the edge, but went into shock while sitting in the state troopers patrol vehicle & died of a heart attack while in the troopers cruiser. That is one mountain pass i will NOT drive over!
@@montizzlefoshizzle7131 I'm very well aware of what Monarch can be like. I did say I've been on it. I've driven on Monarch in a snowstorm, when you couldn't see 50 feet in front of the truck! I also know that Wolfe Creek Pass has claimed it's share of truck drivers lives, even after they rebuilt it several years ago. A local rancher from Gunnison said the same about Monarch.
I retired after driving 32yrs and been retired 10yrs and have never seen anything like Red Mountain pass, thank you so much Riding Shotgun for the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. Love all your videos and this is my favorite.
Most of those drivers coming in the opposite direction were pretty savvy about giving you extra space in their lane just in case.I'm pretty sure they were not from South Florida. Thanks for the ride. Be safe.
Ok, came down to the comments wondering if anybody else noticed that. Good on the drivers who moved over closer to the mountain to let you have more room.
@@boobtubeakatv1296 and would rip the whole road off the mountain if an avalanche hit it, those guard rails are sunk 4-8 feet into the ground, an avalanche would rip the rails right out taking the support for the highway with it destroying the “oldest road in America” (the trail it was built on has been there since before the beginning of recorded history and will hopefully be there way longer)
Native Coloradoan and I don't want to nitpick but it's pronounced Youray not Ooray. Ouray is also known as the Switzerland of America. Thanks for the ride one of the most beautiful parts of Colorado!
I'll be watching this video again and again. This is the most beautiful yet dangerous run I've seen.Only with your strong heart and serious driving skills could this trip be made with a heavily loaded semi! I couldn't imagine the average trucker successfully making this trip. My heart was in my throat at every one of those sharp curves and drop off points and I'm just watching! Thank you for this wonderful experience!
Boston boy. Took this ride in my rented sedan on a sunny summer day during my only ever trip to Colorado. Unforgettable. When a wild hailstorm broke out as we approached the top we luckily found a pullover spot and waited it out about 15 minutes. Never again !!
I went over this in the early 70s. It was the most terrifying drive of my life. I would never do it again! I read it is the second most dangerous drive in the US. I enjoyed your video and adnire your skill and courage!
Use to run Red Mountain and Lizard Head back in the seventies and eighties in a tractor trailer. There were some real white knuckle moments. There are curves that even back then with a 40 foot and later a 42 foot trailer, it was impossible to keep the trailer tandems from crossing the centerline into the oncoming lane. Definitely not the run for the faint hearted truck driver. Great video Mike! Thanks, Doug.
Had a sibling that first drove animal feed to CO and livestock back to NM. He delivered an old cowboy mare to me after I got my first Mexican-made saddle. It was a bad day when my first school bus driver refused to load my my gift horse. Sad as a cowboy can be in first grade with no horse outside,
OMG. I had to stop watching for awhile. Felt like we were going off the side of the Mtn. holy s(*(&......It is so beautiful though. Thanks for the ride.
Just so you know, you dont have to say "OMG" and misuse the word "holy". You could have written that as "I had to stop watching for a while. Felt like we were foing off the side of the Mtn. It is so beautiful though. Thanks for the ride." You convey the same message without the profanities. If you want you can also start that with a non offensive exclamation "wow" or.end the sentence with an exclamation mark. "Felt like we were going off the side of the mountain!"
Been on every hwy in every state. 40 yrs trucking. See the country at 65mph these days. Use to be 55mph. Love Wyoming Colorado. And Montana. Sometimes i just wanted to park the truck and stay forever.
My Marine Brother lives in Durango. He sent me vids off him driving this. I would have torn it up on my M/C until about 10 year years ago. Now the switched has flipped and even a 20 foot drop is a challenge. Love this video. I would have curled up in the fetal position.
Romelle F Young Thanks for making my Mother's Day on May 9, 2021. You brought back memories when I was driving north. I had my mother screaming at me from the back seat. My husband was saying prayers.
This road is paradise compared to Pacific Coast Hwy, US 1, in California. Drove it in 1977 and white knuckeled it all the way!!! A 200 ft drop into the Pacific, fallen rocks, loose gravel and switchbacks for 75 miles with no guard rails!!
Was going to Montrose for a business trip and when I told the people where I started that they replied, Oh! You're taking the most dangerous road in the country. Say what? They explained in detail. And after getting through it and breaking the vacuum on the car seat so I could get out and told my wife after she asked what took so long..this video really helped. Thanks for all you do.
It's pronounced youray ( Ouray ) it's a Ute Indian name. I lived in Montrose, Co. for 10 years so I thought you might want to know that. And that is very hot for that area.
Brought back lots of nice memories. My g/f {r.i.p.) and i took a motorcycle trip from Louisiana to colorado springs in 2003 we rode the 550 south all the way from Gunnison to Durango. i loved it (scared the hell out of me but still loved it and wish we could again. thanks for the fond memories.
Feb 2022 - Brought back memories of 1985, south bound in a loaded short hood Pete pulling a 45ft pneumatic with NO sliders. If you had been up there in '85 you'd know why they built those slide sheds. I saw a couple of places I thought I remembered, but it's been a few moons since. Good video and thanks for the memories
Oh wow I just learned about this highway this morning and it’s beautiful but terrifying I’m just watching and freaking out lol thanks for the video I probably wouldn’t see this otherwise
My daughter has a house on the right, across the river, at 10:40, just outside Ouray. She is a Ca. resident. Love riding over Red Mtn Pass on a motorcycle in the Summer!
Ya yeild if your going down hill not when you are going up, that raffic going down was moving over for him! This pass in the winter gets shut down quite a bit , CO native shout out! West side best side!
Western Colorado is a wonderful playground, my Gr Gr Grandfather came west after surviving the Civil War, covered all these areas on Horseback! Think I have Red Rock in my veins👍
When my parents left their farms and dairy interests in NM they took me to the Co ranch using this million dollar road once. Stopping at sites that sold minerals including gold. The price was so low they got me a glass tube containing an inch high amount of gold flakes. Which I lost riding a horse to go swim in a windmill fed stock tank, Another ordinary day thanks to the Red Mountain Pass.
Been too long since going over that pass, so beautiful. I will say the north bound is a lot easier and less nerve wracking to drive. As a youngster I was glad my dad was driving that. When I would drive that I was so tense by the time we were in the valleys my hands were sore and so glad that was behind us. Thanks for another great drive!
Well Michael, thanks for the ride along and hope all those 4 wheelers knew that you was driving a touring semi tractor/trailer.. LOL I will have to admit, I have never been on US 550 and Red Mountain Pass Highway, so thanks a bunch for the touring ride and I'm adding this highway on my bucket list to drive, but only in my van or car. Be safe and happy trucking trails!
Dude, I'm addicted to your videos. My wife and I are close to retirement age and are watching for pretty places to live. I use to have a fully loaded CDL but my health took it away. Anyway, keep the suicidal bugs of the windshield and PEACE!
Thank you for this video. We are so lucky to live in this gorgeous state. I've not been over 550 since 1976 and am not sure I'm brave enough to drive it now.
It’s a fact that it IS the most amazing stretch of highway in the US (lower 48 anyway). This is the better part of the San Juan Skyway scenic byway which is ranked the #1 scenic drive in the country in almost every ranking.
When I would drive these roads I always wanted to be at the end of the line. Less stress and I could drive slow and enjoy what's around me. I don't do it much anymore so thanks for letting me drive along with you!
I made the trip south from Grand Junction to Albuquerque in a mid roof with a 53' spread loaded with lumber in 2016 with a straight 10. 13 speed wouldn't have been so bad. Seemed like a trip that would never end and very exhausting but running back across 70 to catch 25 south was an additional 300+ miles out of the way. Even as a seasoned driver it made me up tight. One spot early in the trip past that 13'7" tunnel, there was a minor rock slide. I was at the front of the line for next line of stopped traffic to pass so I got out and asked a couple of the construction guys if we were allowed to be on the road because I didn't see any signs nor restrictions in the map saying you couldn't run it but it does look sketchy. Stepped to the edge and looked over with was a straight 90 degree vertical drop way the hell down, solid rock and I instantly got vertigo, crouched my knees and slowly stepped back from the edge and they got a good laugh out of it and the only words from my mouth was "NOPE! Hell to the f**king no! That's a long way down there". Beautiful scenery up there and I have photos of it but I'll never do it again.
Thanks for making this video, people who drive big trucks for a living are probably the best drivers on the road, and some of the nicest people you will meet...Please be courteous to them!
I lived in the Rockies as a teen in the 1970's. There were so many roads that hadn't been widened and straightened that they didn't generally warn trucks off the narrow ones, because that would have meant warning trucks off most of the highways. The signs just urged trucks "use caution." U.S. 64 in northern New Mexico was commonly used as a shortcut route by oversize loads of oil drilling equipment. You had to be prepared for a truck intruding into your lane at any blind curve. It would terrify the flatlanders. Fun stuff.
Incredible drive, sir. My dad told me about this route .. he did it both directions in his motor home, so I came to RU-vid to find out about it. Thanks for the ride along.
My watching this in January 2024!😀There toward the end you had 6 cars behind you on the flat and I saw a place where you had room to pull over but you didn’t! Couldn’t figure out why but this video was way in the past! I’ve watched recent videos in the new job in the older truck! It seems to do pretty well in the snow pack on the well roads! Hope you get the new truck soon MmMike! Keep on trucking! Glad you survived the Million Dollar Highway!❤️😀🚙
I love this video. I remember the first time I went through Ouray and hit those switchbacks, it blew my mind. It's a great trip if you can make it to Durango. They have a free Railroad Museum, and then of course, there is the day trip on the narrow-gauge to Silverton. I've been there a couple of times and really have enjoyed it. I'm glad I moved to Colorado, you can never run out of things to see.
Green Mountain Falls outside of Colorado Springs was a favorite family vacation area for us Midwest flat landers. That was before they put the freeway thru. Made the trip to Durango. Seemed every time we cleared one mountain range there was another ahead to cross. Finally got to Durango and took the train to Silverton and back. About a year later, Butch and Sundance came out and we immediately noted the train. Saw a recent RU-vid video of that train ride. Seems like there are homes along the rail 60% of the way out of Durango. At the time we went, crossed a Hwy a mile or so from the station and out into grass land until into the climb. What a different experience today. :-/ Thing I loved about mountain driving was the visual effects while driving. You thought you were driving on level or slightly descending Hwy. then look at rear or side view mirrors and realized you’re driving up quite a steep slope. Last did the MDH with family in ‘66 Impala hard top. Fully loaded with 3 weeks of camping gear and clothing. Dad would see the Speed Limit signs and claimed them as just wishful thinking. LOL Thanks for a great memory ride. Cut my mountain travels. Too many times I’ve seen what the rains have done to those roads compared to what they looked like 50 years ago. Did a pair of Yosemite trips 2 years apart back in ‘03. Second trip was eye opening as to the amount of road decay in the mountains. :-(
Mike, some of us out here have disabilities or other constraints making it unlikely to drive across the country in any vehicle, much less a semi. So, we get to ride along with you and see the world. I wonder if folks in retirement home would tune in, too.
Oh yeah brings back memories when I drove the greyhound back in the days now I drive semis like you. I was with my rig last on same road about February time. Nice view. Thanks for the reminder from one trucker to another brother drive safe as you always do. God bless you.
I did this drive about 4 months ago (in Oct 2022) in a 26' box truck. Not nearly as balsy as you in a 53' tractor trailer, but hairy none the less, especially as a driver from Texas, where the biggest hills are in someone's driveway! One of the most beautiful drives I've done! I'd say the only thing that beats this drive is The Bear Tooth Highway, heading into the NE entrance to Yellowstone from Billings, MT. I did that one in a car, though.
Just discovered your channel and peeked at a few of your vids.. this one earned my subscription! I'm partial to Colorado, so thanks for the beautiful ride!
America is beautiful. I crossed over the continental divide in Colorado a few years ago with John Denver’s Rocky Mountain high on the CD player. Thanks for taking us along for a ride.
I took this route one year while returning to Albuquerque from camping/fishing around Monarch pass with a boat in tow. Gorgeous even while having to watch the road. Became my favorite scenic return home Worth the extra travel time even loaded. I recall the pucker factor that first time with my 84 Mazda B2000 truck that was a lot narrower but with about the same power to weight ratio as yours. Thanks for the memories Mike. Noticing things I missed while driving.
