10/14 My goal today was to check off a bucket list drive, San Juan Skyway and in particular the section between Silverton and Ouray known as "The Million Dollar Highway" and one of the most dangerous roads in America.
We started out going counterclockwise to Durango because I wanted to get gas at a station there that sold non-ethanol 87 octane gasoline. Boy, did the Tahoe thank me. She gave me an estimated 395 mile range and I think we got a lot more out of her than that even with crossing five mountain passes over ten thousand feet. Ethanol gas bad. Anyways off my soapbox and on to the pictures.
We took 550 North out of Durango. We decided that we needed to come back and take our time driving through here again and stop in all the little towns and inspect everything. We also wanted to ride the old Durango to Silverton narrow gauge railroad pulled by an old coal burning locomotive. C.W. McCall has a song about this called
The Silverton.
Outside of Durango is Pinkerton Hot Springs.
These photos are from Molas Pass
Coming into Silverton we are greeted by this big mountain. 550 runs underneath it on the way north.
Above Silverton are a few signs.
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| Silverton |
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| The actual train that makes the run. |
Out of Silverton the road begins to climb. This is the section called Million Dollar Road. There are several theories about how the road got its name. One is that it cost a million dollars to build. Two after people get done driving it they say "I wouldn't do that again for a million dollars." Three the government used mine tailings to help build the road and they buried a million dollars worth of ore under the road. Whatever the reason, it is an All American Road and a National Byway which makes it worth a million in my book.
The road does one of these numbers. This photo is looking south. When we drove it they had the inside lane closed down and were removing rock to make the road wider. Yeah its a long way down.
Just past the above section of road is a sign for Forest Service Road 648 that starts at the top of Red Mountain Pass and drops into Telluride. The road is one way and super steep. C.W. McCall has a song for this,
Black Bear Road. Another quite humerus song.
The road does one of these numbers and brings us out by the Iditarod Mine.
Eventually we were dumped into Ouray which is famous for it's hot springs. They had the outdoor pool closed and were cleaning it. We also took a cut off to see Box Canyon Falls but didn't want to pay $4 a person and the trail wasn't accessible. They also do lots of ice climbing in the area.
From here it was pretty flat and straight to Ridgeway where we turned to go west on CO 62, even Dallas Divide Pass was pretty tame and we could see the mountains around Telluride from here. In Placerville we turned again on 145 and took the turn off to Telluride. Famous for skiing now days.
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| If you look closely at the middle mountain, you'll see a road zig zagging down it. That is Black Bear Road. |
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| Lift #7 takes you from town to the top of the ski area. The main lodge is on the other side of the mnt. |
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| Mine tunnels connect Telluride and the Iditarod Mine at Red Mountain. |
Historic downtown. There used to be a yarn shop here but we couldn't find it. So we walked around and had some ice cream.
This contraption is called "The Gallopin' Goose." After they did away with steam engines in the 1930s, the railroad started using these to plow snow and do maintenance. They did so well the they built 7 Geese and ran them as passenger, mail and cargo until the mail contract was pulled in 1950 and now they are used for tourist.
The first few were built using Buick "Master Six" four door sedans and later ones used Pierce Arrow bodies. Yes, CW McCall has a song for this one too,
Gallopin' Goose
I thought I needed to go back to Placerville and hang a left. Was I wrong. We drove all the way to Norwood before I realized the going North and West was wrong. A nice drive though.
Going back down. We passed a guy on a bicycle going up the pass and then we passed him again on the way back down. He gave us the what in the world face. Or it was the face of a man exhausted from a hard ride up hill. I don't know.
We ran all the way back twenty mile to where I should have turned at the round about outside of Telluride and drove past the ski area and then up another pass.
Lizard Head Pass. The mountain on the left looked like a lizard head. I didn't take a picture of it.
Form here we ran on down to Cortez. It was getting dark and we were running fast. I was doing seventy quite a bit of the way and I was passed several times. It was a fun drive through the corners at speed through tall mountains and small towns. We were treated to a gorgeous sunset as we came into Cortez with the sky bathed in pinks and oranges and yellows. Leftovers for supper, a little television and then to bed.
This contraption is called "The Gallopin' Goose." After they did away with steam engines in the 1930s, the railroad started using these to plow snow and do maintenance. They did so well the they built 7 Geese and ran them as passenger, mail and cargo until the mail contract was pulled in 1950 and now they are used for tourist.
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