The Alpine Loop Scenic Byway
Engineer Pass to County Road 2

Looking to the west, the countryside was much more rugged, and there were jagged mountains almost as far as I could see. The San Miguel's seemed so close that I didn't realize they were the San Miguel's and that there was a deep canyon in between with the San Juan Skyway at the bottom of it: I had to read the signs to get the picture.

I hung out for a bit and took lots of photos. Then I looked at what was next: the road continued on the ridgetop for a distance, then headed slightly up again as it went around the side of another mountain to the south. It didn't rise very far before turning around the west side of the mountain into the shade and then beginning a long descent. In the shade, the puddles in the road still had a good layer of ice on them.

The road went down and down and down before coming to some very sharp and rocky switchbacks. Slowly, the road deteriorated as I went further down. Finally I came to a road sign indicating that I was about to turn onto San Juan County Road 2. I mistakenly thought things were going to get better. Another 15 or 20 yards and I came to the last switchback (on a chunk of solid rock) before dropping onto the County Road. And it was a literal drop. My front bumper hit the gravel and bounced, then my back bumper dragged over the rock and dropped me on the "road." I got out and checked my underneath. Then I looked at what I'd just come over: if I had been going the other way, my 4WD, high clearance vehicle would not have climbed up over that.

So I got back in the driver's seat, thanked my lucky stars and headed on down the hill, in 1st gear. Sections of it weren't bad, sections of it I cursed. But the scenery was incredible. Maybe 2 miles down I came across 2 guys on glorified dirt bikes coming up. We stopped and shared notes for a few, then on we went.