Durango Man Drives Off Wolf Creek Pass + Rolls 700 Feet and Lives
On June 23, a Durango man recently drove off of Wolf Creek Pass, rolled 700 feet down a mountain and into a creek, and thankfully survived.
A Durango man, William Hardaway, was helping his friend move and was driving a 1993 Dodge Ram pickup truck hauling a side-by-side, a Jeep, and toolboxes on a trailer on Wolf Creek Pass according to the Durango Herald. Wolf Creek Pass near Pagosa Springs is infamous because so many car crashes happen there, due to the road's tight turns.
The 36-year-old thinks that the clutch on his truck messed up, causing his truck to hit a tree, the trailer detached and he rolled 700 feet down a mountain and into a creek. According to William, his truck started filling up with water and he didn't know if he was going to make it out.
William climbed out of the truck but was unable to climb up the mountain due to his injuries. He was forced to spend the night at the bottom of Wolf Creek Pass, curled up next to the creek.
Thankfully Colorado State Trooper Josh Lewis saw skid marks on the road the following morning, then the trailer, and started to investigate. Authorities found William within 30 minutes of their investigation.
Even though William fell 700 feet and into a creek, he spent two days in the ICU and suffered injuries like compound fractures and injuries to his spine -- he survived. It's a miracle that he's alive and he thinks so too.
According to the Durango Herald, William feels lucky to be among the few people who have survived a Wolf Creek Pass crash. There's not much of William's truck left and you can see the appalling pictures from the crash here.