A station wagon driven off the road put the driver in the hospital and her vehicle in Clear Creek, closing a section of US Highway 6 for a few hours Tuesday morning.

The crash occurred shortly after 10 a.m. Sept. 11 near mile marker 263.5 in Clear Creek Canyon.

“Older female heading eastbound and veered off the roadway,” State Trooper S.M. McCall said.

The woman was later identified by the state patrol as 87-year-old Erma Sandau, of Golden.

The Subaru wagon clipped the end of a guard rail on a left-hand curve in the road. McCall said there was a lack of skid marks leading up to the vehicle where it left the roadway. The vehicle rolled down 20 yards of steep slope before coming to rest, wheels up, in the middle of the creek.

Golden Fire Department and water-rescue crews responded to the scene, along with the Colorado Highway Patrol, Black Hawk police, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies and EMT’s.

The woman was extricated from the vehicle and carried out of the creek on a backboard. She was taken to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, where she was in stable condition Sept. 12, according to hospital staff.

The state patrol reports that no one else was involved in the accident, though a good Samaritan apparently did check on Sandau immediately following the crash.

CDOT opened up one lane of traffic at about 11 a.m. The entire roadway was opened around noon.