There aren't many places to turnout for sightseeing on the west side of this pass! This is the main one. And it is on a 120° turn at the bottom of a steep inline (The highway is above and to the left of the car above). We discussed how many trucks may have not made this last turn and used air here for a runaway ramp; I have not been able to find that information on the Iway.

The top picture is the panorama of the valley below looking toward Pagosa Springs. In the valley immediately below, Wolf Creek, which the highway follows, joins with the West Fork of the San Juan River.

This pass, on the Continental Divide, gets over 400" of snow each winter. The tunnel, completed in 2005, was closed due to ice inside it so we "got" to use the narrow old highway as a detour.

I was unable to find the name of the waterfall far below; Treasure Falls is to the east along the highway but this one made a better picture.

The rock "spines" in the pictures below are what the overlook is built on. It is almost a vertical drop from the edge of the parking area. The fence is 5' tall for additional safety, except the top rail is coming disconnected from the posts, probably due to snow pressure. The wind blowing up the valley created a high velocity updraft.

We didn't tarry long here due to the cold.