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I am going to apologize in advance. This one is a big one. It was hard to narrow down the pictures. We have such fun Jeeping here and enjoy the scenery.
Ouray (your-ay) is known as the “Jeep Capital of America” and with very good reason! There are limitless opportunities from easy scenic drives to rugged challenges, from trails the miners built to passes that climb to spectacular heights. All of these have one factor in common: they traverse some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. Choose from delicate alpine tundra abundant with wildflowers, ghost towns, abandoned mines, animal life and breathtaking vistas.
Filming for the 1969 American western True Grit took place mainly in Ouray County, in the vicinity of Ridgway and the town of Ouray.
Downtown Ouray
Overview of the town.
Airing down at the trail head.
Snow bridge
Prospectors and Miners depended upon and trusted their mules and burros to carry supplies, haul freight, drag cable and mining timbers, pull ore cars and wagons. They were referred to as "Rocky Mountain Canaries".
An interesting fact told by one miner, circa 1900 "We have been using mules for years, and have found out that they are tolerably good animals. We tried horses at first, but we found that when anything touched the ears of a horse he would throw up his head and break his skull against the overhanging rock, but if you touch a mules ears he drops his head."
Traffic jam at the summit. Everyone wanting their picture with the sign.
Engineer Pass
Elevation 12,800 feet
Rose Lime Kiln
This 1881 vertical shaft kiln is a variety known as a separate feed kiln. A relatively sophisticated design
Female Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep
A little rain and hail.
Animas Forks
The first log cabin was built in 1873. Animas Forks was off to a good start by 1875 and advertised itself as being the "largest town in the world." But then the fine print that followed said "at this altitude" which was 11,300 feet, more than two miles above sea level. By 1876, this bustling mining community boasted 30 cabins, several stores, a hotel, saloons, two assay offices, a boarding house (which served other purposes as well), shops and many other buildings. The population grew to about 450 people by 1883. The town also had a newspaper, The Animas Forks Pioneer.published from June 1882 through October 1886 at the highest newspaper printing plant in the history of the United States. Avalanches were the curse of Animas Forks. In 1884, Animas Forks suffered a blizzard that lasted 23 days and dumped 25 feet of snow on the town. Residents dug tunnels to get from building to building
Animas Jailhouse
Before Silverton became an incorporated town, Animas Forks was the San Juan County seat, where court cases were heard. One man who didn't like the outcome of his trial promised the judge, "I'll take this to a higher court!" to which the judge responded "There is no such thing. This is the "highest" court in the United States" sitting at an elevation of 11,200 feet.
William & Mary Duncan built this 3 story house in 1879. Migrating from Pennsylvania, the Duncan's choice to include several architectural elements popular during the Victorian era, such as the picturesque bay, with tall windows to take advantage of natural light and breathtaking mountain views. Although these elements were typical of the Victorian era, they were highly unusual for such a remote location at this early date.
Momma bear and her three cubs
This is one of those times I wish I carried a camera bigger than what fits in my pocket. Look at the bottom just left of center.
Our first week here was spent jeeping with three other couples.
Stu, Bonnie, Steve, Shellie, Mike and Robin. Great times!
Black Bear Pass descends down into the town of Telluride.
Black Bear Pass
Elevation 12,840 feet
Bridal Veil Falls
These stunning waterfalls, at 365 feet in length, are the tallest free falling falls in Colorado.
View of Black Bear Pass switch backs that we just came down.
After lunch in Telluride we head uphill to Imogene Pass.
Tomboy Mine
Started producing Gold Ore in 1894. In 1897 Tomboy Mine was sold for 2 million dollars.
Imogene Pass
Elevation 13,114 feet
Poughkeepsie Gulch
This year we all looked but opt for the bypass route.
Lots of Marmots
Dave thought he had found the perfect place for lunch on what felt like the top of the world.
No one else agreed.
Rookie driver
They had pulled too far off the road. Passenger side wheels were not sitting on anything solid. They must have gotten a ride to go for help.
This is the sight we saw this morning as passed through town. Dave, busy looking at the three bucks wandering down the street almost ran into the back Stu when he stopped for the pedestrians.
Yankee Girl Mine
This Mine was one of the great Silver and Gold producers within the Red Mountain Mining District.
One of several herds of sheep grazing in the mountains.
One of the Sheep herding dog
After days of passing by this cabin with no roads to it, we finally had to stop and take a closer look at the sign with our binoculars.
The sign reads - Antiques 9:00 - 5:30
Hahaha
Buffalo Boy Tram House
Ore was taken down the mountain by tram to the Niegoldstown area mill. The tramhouse still exists along with the cables and ore buckets still hanging.
Stony Pass
Elevation 12,650 feet
Stony Pass crosses the Continental Divide and is one of the longest uninterrupted climbs in the state.
The views from the pass are amazing and you can see for miles. This is the Rio Grande National Forest area and it is quite different from the areas around Ouray. One of the most interesting things about the descent is the fact that you can see small streams along the trail. These are streams starting at the Continental Divide and they feed into and start the Rio Grande river.
Kite Lake
The Old Hundred Gold Mine offers one-hour guided tours that takes you 1/3 mile into the heart of 13,000 foot Galena Mountain where you can follow the vein and see real mining equipment in action!
After 10 hours of Jeeping we decided to eat dinner at the Avalanche in Silverton.
By the time we fueled up and aired up the tires, and drove back to the motorhome it was a 12 hour day.
Our favorite picture spot.
Red Mountain #2
We found the spill.
Gold King Mine waste water spill is a 2015 environmental disaster near Silverton, Colorado. On August 5, 2015, EPA personnel along with workers for Environmental Restoration LLC caused the spill when trying to add a tap to the tailing pond for the mine. Workers accidentally destroyed the dam holding back the pond, spilling three million gallons of polluted mine waste water and tailings, including heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and other toxic elements, such as arsenic, into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River in Colorado. The EPA was criticized for not warning Colorado and New Mexico until the day after the waste water spilled. The EPA has taken responsibility for the incident. As of August 11, acidic water continued to spill at a rate of 500 to 700 gallons per minute while remediation efforts were underway.
Lunch at Tomboy Mine
Ophir Pass
Elevation 11,789 feet
Another hail storm
Remains of a small mill are on the site, along with a jaw crusher, air compressor, and gasoline motor. The equipment sits in the middle of a bog, caused by water running out of the mine tunnel.
Another female Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
They would come up from the bottom with a big mouth full of something with the water spilling out.
Clear Lake
Can you say cold and windy?
Beaver Lodge
Two beaver swimming
While we were watching the beavers swim around we noticed something moving on top of the small dam. We get out the binoculars and see a Canadian Goose wandering around. (Center/right edge) Strange because we have not seen any other Canadian Geese in this area.
Headed back to the motorhome with a little bit of daylight to spare we decide to see where the trail off the side of the Highway that we have passed several times will take us. Part way up we come to a flat opening where it looks like the road ends. There is an SUV parked with a guy standing by. I can tell right away he wants to talk to us. As we get out he asks us, if on our way up we happened to see his wife? She is wearing a yellow windbreaker. We tell him that we did not see anyone. He starts to explain that they had parked at the Highway and started walking up. Part way up she gets winded and stops. He continues on for some pictures of the waterfall off to the left. After his pictures he starts down and makes it all the way back to the car but his wife is nowhere in sight. He now thinks she must have made her way up. After having seen the condition of the road he drives the car up expecting to find her waiting for him. Still no wife. Now is when we get here. He decides to walk the overgrown trail off to the right. We give him one of our hand held radios and tell him we will wait until he returns and we will radio him if his wife shows up.
Taking selfies while we wait.
After awhile he radios us that he has found her. Apparently she caught her breath and continued uphill. She did not see him off to the left taking pictures. She followed the trail to the right and went all the way up to the mine looking for him. She thought it was so beautiful. She looked around, took some pictures and tried sending him a text that she was headed down but no cell service. We all had a good laugh, talked for awhile but they had to get going they had a 4 1/2 hour drive to their hotel.
Now by ourselves we decided to take the trail the rest of the way up to the mine.
It was very pretty up there with lots of wild flowers as she had explained.
While walking around we notice a large pile of scat. Not thinking to much about it at the time. Mostly making sure not to step in it. As we start down the mountain side, I start to think about what kind of animal would have left a pile like that. Once back at the motorhome I google it to find out it was bear scat.
Kendall Mountain Trail head
Fun drive close to the town of Silverton.
Old wooden train car
High roads are narrow in places.
Kendall Mountain
Elevation 12,700 feet
As we round the corner we see two people walking. They hear us and start making their way to the side of the road. We notice she has two big 35mm cameras hanging from her neck. As we pass we stop to speak.
Well meet the Stanfields.
They are both 82 years old. They live in Arizona and summer in Silverton for the cooler weather. They drive themselves to the top of Kendall Mountain every year to take pictures of the town below. We want to be just like them when we grow up!
View of Silverton from 12,700 feet
Black Prince Mine and Townsite in Arrastra Gulch
Gold Lake
Mayflower Mine
Although discovered in the 1880's, the mill was not built until 1929 and continued to operate until 1991.
Lots of mining debris scattered around. Explore with caution.
Sometimes you just need a little shade
We came around a corner and look what we found.
I think she is saying "Hell No!"
Maggie Gulch
Grouse
Minnie Gulch
Not sure what they really are, but I call them Mountain Mice.
Made it back to the pavement. Not sure it's much wider.
What a cutie
Sunnyside Mine
King of the rock.
Music in the street. Sundays @ 6:00pm Silverton.
No need to block off anything. People will go around.
Birthday dinner at the Brown Bear in Silverton.
Peach cobbler a la mode
Magpie
What else you gonna do on a rainy day?
We figured out where the turtle in the road came from.
The Hot Springs has a special pool for turtles and fish
As well as multiple different pools for people all of varying different temperatures.
When we came around the corner we saw two young boys waving their arms. We stopped to give them a jump. When they were pulling away one of the boys said thank you so much you have no idea.
Sheep Herders horse.
Anyone looking for a place just to get away from it all? It's for sale.
Golconda Boarding house. Today, the Boarding house remains the largest structure of this type in the San Juan Region. accommodating up to 100 men, working in shifts underground. Meals were served on the first floor and dormitory-style living quarters on the second floor.
Golconda Compressor House and Blacksmith Shop. The heart of the Mine operations above ground. The compressor house and blacksmith's workshop were critical support buildings for the underground mining activity. The building is part of what was referred to as the "Surface Plant", and was staffed in shifts, 24 hours a day, as the operations in the mine continued non-stop. The air compressor was used to power the rock drill and other pneumatic equipment, and brought fresh air to the men working deep underground.
As this hillside came into view we noticed animals moving about.
The town of Telluride below. From here traffic is only one direction "Down".
Lunch at Brown Dog Pizza, Telluride
Detroit style - Brooklyn Bridge pizza
Annual Film Festival Weekend
Last Dollar Road
Rainy, muddy, very slippery and loose cattle.
Made it back. Time to hit the car wash.
We ran every trail listed for this area at least once while here.
Last year when we were in this area we scoped out this small private campground. There are 6 sites with full hook-ups plus a 2 bedroom apartment in which they do short term rentals.
On our last night, after being here for over 2 weeks he shows up with our bill to collect.
