San Juan Skyway, Placerville to Telluride
The view northwest from just southeast of Placerville
The road from Placerville to Telluride follows the San Miguel River. In places, the canyon is so narrow the road has to rise up but it always comes back to the level of the river. And until you're in Telluride, the red sandstone outcroppings are everywhere.
It was hard to take photos in here because of all the road construction. I simply couldn't stop and get out where I wanted to because of the heavy morning traffic and the heavy equipment action on the road. For a significant section of road, there's only one lane. And that had heavy traffic backed up on both sides of it. As beautiful as the weather looks in most of these photos, Telluride was almost overcast and it was raining off-and-on the whole time I was in town. For photos of town go to Telluride. For photos of the cirque behind it go to San Miguel Cirque.
Leaving town and heading out was just as bad for all the traffic. The construction was supposed to be complete in October, 2007, but who knows...
The San Miguel River cut down into this red sandstone
Looking north, just west of Sawpit
The striated rock walls just get higher and higher as you approach Telluride
Eventually, you'll see this rising beyond Telluride
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 Looking up the canyon toward Telluride |
 High rising sandstone walls |
 Bear Creek Valley, to the south |
 Looking southwest, Diamond Hill |
 Signs of Telluride approaching |
 Looking northeast, just west of Telluride |
