Photo Tour and Dancing All Along HWY 550, The Million Dollar Highway in Colorado!

Greetings nature, dance and music lovers on Hive!

Below is a dancing video and photo tour of my adventures down the Million Dollar Highway! This road stretches for about 25 miles in Southwestern Colorado, traversing the heart of the San Juan Mountains and eventually climbing up to 11,000 ft. elevation at Red Mountain Pass (featured in the first clip of the video below). There are no guardrails or barriers on this highway. For a good section of the drive, you're literally driving along the edge of a cliff, hence the alternative name "Highway to Hell" since there have been many fatalities here. Towns in this area literally get dark after 2-3 pm because of the epic mountains looming over those areas. Natural hot springs, local breweries, and vintage trading posts are abundant in this area.

On a weekday during this time of the year, the roads are pleasantly quiet and empty.

Dancing in a secluded area, the only person I ran into was a road worker who needed to repair some of the nearby signs. It was an unusual interaction. He kept trying to guess how tall I was. He repeatedly insisted that I'm 6 ft tall. I told him, "No dude, I'm 5'5"."

"I don't believe you," he kept replying. He walks towards me, standing within inches away from me. "You look like an oriental princess. I'd love for you to be mine."

"Uh-oh! Be careful what you wish for," I joke. "But thanks for the compliment." I give him solid eye contact and stick my hand out for a solid handshake "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some dancing to do."

"You're a strong woman," he says, winking and shaking my hands. Thankfully, he left me alone after that. But I actually appreciated his comment. When it comes to men approaching me like this, respectful indifference is how I like to show up. Appropriate fear is important, yet the more real and solid I am, the less I am seen as an object to exploit. It goes a long way to not moralize things or take things personally. I actually find "oriental" more amusing than offensive. Identity politics and political correctness bore me. And I feel perfectly capable of defending myself, but usually that isn't necessary. I've found that most men mean well, despite how they come off.

Getting back to the topic at hand, it was AMAZING to dance out here in this vital environment of 11,000 ft. elevation.

Hope you enjoy the video :)

Track ID and location:

1. "Forest Funk" - The Polish Ambassador, Ryan Herr, Jesse James Hendricks (Red Mountain Pass)
2. "I'm Your Captain/Closer to Home" - Grand Funk Railroad (Red Mountain Creek)
3. "Can't You See" - The Marshall Tucker Band (Cascade Falls area)

Now for the photo tour...

From the sweet little town of Ouray, the road begins by giving you a magical glimpse into the canyons.

The road was originally constructed by Russian immigrant Otto Mears in the 1880s and operated as a toll road, transporting ore from Silverton to Ouray. Building the roads were extremely dangerous and expensive, with the toll road costing $10,000 per mile at the time. They had to lower men on ropes from the canyon rim to blast the quartzite walls with dynamite!

It's mindblowing to imagine the construction of the tunnels in this area.

It's SO FUN to drive along these narrow roads!

A picture of the road and my Green Goddess toaster box :)

Wow. Pictures can't capture the enormity and scope of these mountains.

The depth perception of this particular curve is always a trippy one.

There are so many rivers and creeks flowing all throughout this area, much to my great delight. I have dreams of living next to a river.

I stayed out long enough to catch the sunset. There are so many mountains in this area that it's hard to know which one is which!

A picture of the same mountain, yet from a different location. I find this to be symbolic of how different things can seem, depending on where you stand.

A sea of golden aspens.

May our lives be as bold and radiant as these sunsets!