More Colorado

Howard and I have enjoyed listening to "Wolf Creek Pass" for quite some time (it's a fun, silly song.) It talks about two idiots with a load of chickens going really fast down Wolf Creek Pass, through the tunnel (which takes off the top layer of chickens) and around the switch backs. The refrain goes:
Wolf Crick Pass way up on the great divide
Truckin' on down, the other side




We felt a little like the song going down the pass with a 15,000 fifth wheel behind us! Well, not really. It was a beautiful drive though and it did have a tunnel and two switch backs at the bottom of the hill. We also noticed that as we got closer to the bottom, there were not one or two, but several run-a-way spots for trucks! The first picture is of course construction at the bottom of the hill. The second is from the top of Wolf Creek Pass at 10, 850 feet. That was beautiful! The third picture is coming down into the valley where Pagosa Springs is located. (Right about the center of the picture is the road after the first switch back.) The fourth picture is mostly off the hill going into the valley. Colorado is a beautiful state!

We camped in Durango and while we were there, we went to Mesa Verde National Park and went down into the biggest cliff dwelling, the Cliff House.

On our drive to the Cliff House I took a picture of

Montezuma Valley from the highest point on the Mesa. I don't know if you can actually see Utah and Arizona, but they are in this direction.

This is a shot of the Cliff House or Cliff Palace from the View Point on top. We hiked down rock stairs and wooden ladders to get into the village. AND to leave we went straight up through a crevasse on rock stairs and a ladder to the rock above the village on the other side! It was quite a trip and really an awesome area!

Our main reason for going to Durango was to go on the Durango to Silverton Railway. The trip is 3 1/2 hours ONE WAY! We went over the highway and under the highway.

We went by beautiful lakes and followed the Animas River all the way to Silverton.

We went through a very narrow gorge with the rock cliffs REALLY close to the train sometimes and

sometimes just space on our side of the train with the river WA A A AY down there! It was fun to go around the curves so we could see the engine and the steam and smoke from the engine.

This is the gorge and the Animus River way down there.

At this point we crossed the Animus River at 7200 feet.

We asked for a vintage car. This car was actually built in the 1880s and the ride was really relatively smooth! It really rode a lot smoother than the open car in front of us.

These are called the Needles or San Juan Mountains. There are 14 peaks over 14,000 feet in San Juan County, the highest county in the United States. The only city, Silverton, is the county seat. The year-round population of Silverton is 350, but in the summer it swells to 800 people!

This was just a pretty shot of the train by the Animus River. We had a lot of this on our ride to Silverton.

We also had a lot of this as we got close to Silverton. It's Fall at that elevation. Silverton sits at an elevation of 9, 318 feet so it gets pretty cold. The driver said they have a 14 day growing season in the Silverton valley!!!

This is the Silverton valley with the town of Silverton in the background. This was a trip of a lifetime and well worth the time and effort! Would we do it again? IN A HEARTBEAT!