An abandoned boat was found in the middle of the road Saturday night just north of Vallecito Reservoir.

The marooned vessel was reported on County Road 501 near the intersection with Mushroom Lane, said Upper Pine River Fire Protection District Chief Bruce Evans.

The rest is a bit of a mystery, the fire chief said.

It appears the driver was hauling the boat on a trailer when the driver hit a mailbox, knocking the boat off the trailer and spilling its contents onto the road, which included a cooler and some drug paraphernalia.

The working theory is that the driver, assessing the situation, thought it better to leave the scene and boat in the road to avoid getting a DUI, or worse, Evans said.

“They probably stopped and thought, ‘Well, if cops get here, we’ll get a DUI or we could just leave the boat here,’” he said.

The kicker is that among the spilled debris was a ticket boaters receive to access Vallecito Reservoir, which included the name of the boat’s owner, Evans said.

The boat was also registered, but it’s unclear who was driving at the time. The investigation was handed over to Colorado State Patrol.

State Patrol Capt. Adrian Driscoll said troopers were investigating the incident Monday afternoon.

“We really don’t know what happened because there was no one at the scene,” Evans said. “It’s difficult to put it all together unless someone was there to tell the story.”

Crews with Upper Pine River Fire Protection District were on scene for about an hour cleaning up the mess, which included spilled gasoline.

jromeo@durangoherald.com