In case you missed it last week, a truck driver using GPS during an I-70 road closure in Glenwood Canyon tried to navigate his 18-wheeler over Gunnison County Road 3 — which so happens to be the “steep, rocky, four-wheel-drive route” that is used to get to Crystal Mill, the famed Colorado landmark, .
The truck was on State Highway 133, which goes from Hotchkiss to Carbondale, when the driver turned on CR 3 heading to the town of Marble. From there, it attempted a road along the Crystal River that is only used by four-wheel-drive vehicles. CR 3 eventually passes the historic, abandoned Crystal Mill before arriving in the tiny town of Crystal, high in the backcountry.
The big rig first got stuck on Wednesday and “remained jack-knifed across the popular route … until tow trucks extracted it on Friday, Aug. 18, around noon,” the . “Over the 40-hour period, nobody could get by except pedestrians, bicycles and dirt bikes.”
As incredulous as the situation sounds, it’s not the first time — and probably won’t be the last, considering how frequently Glenwood Canyon is closed these days due to rock or mudslides — a truck has been stuck on a high mountain road that was meant for SUVs.
In 2020, while trying to negotiate the Alpine Loop, which connects Silverton and Lake City, according to the Durango Herald.
“All-wheel drive or 4×4 is a must, and a higher-clearance vehicle is recommended,” for this dirt road, .
