Durango to Montrose and the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park 21 May

We headed out over the San Juan Skyway to Montrose, then on the next day to Aspen via the Black Canyon of Gunniston.

 

The red iron cliffs outside Durango.

 

 

Well, well, this little fellow is a prairie dog. There were hundreds popping out along the way.

 

 

The drive on the San Juan Skyway was outstandingly beautiful and a little scary. Quite narrow in parts with very sheer drops. The top of the pass was over 11,000 feet in elevation, over 4000 feet higher than Mt Kosciuszko. Some of the mountain peaks here are over 14,000 feet.

 

 

We were soon in the snow. We had been climbing to much higher altitudes since Albuquerque, so we were slowly adjusting. 

A very cold looking lake.

 

There is quite lot of evidence of long abandoned old mines and mining equipment along the way. The road from Silverton to Ouray Is called the Million Dollar Highway because of the mining wealth that once passed over it.

 

A frozen river by the road.

 

 

On the Red Mountain Pass, we passed the ruins of the Yankee Girl Mine, which was recognised as one of the most valuable in the USA.

 

 

The Idarado Mine trestle.

 

 

The once thriving town is now a ghost town.

 

 

Getting down a bit now, but the road is still scary.

 

 

A waterfall.

 

 

Road tunnel.

 

 

Arriving at the picturesque ex gold and silver mining town of Ouray, sandwiched between imposing peaks. The whole town is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

 

 

Ouray main street still looks like it is straight out of the Wild West.

 

 

The town library.

Following the San Miguel River to Telluride.

Telluride set in a beautiful box canyon, was once a notorious mining town. Butch Cassidy robbed his first bank here in 1889. It is now a very popular place for skiers, including the rich and famous.

 

 

The houses in the old part of town are gorgeous.

 

It was getting late and a looking a bit bleak, but we took the gondola up to a ski resort, Mountain Village, with an elevation of 9,500 feet.

 

The next day we left the very ordinary town of Montrose where we had an overnight stay in a very ordinary motel and continued on to Aspen. On the way we stopped for a few hours at the Black Canyon of Gunnison National Park. 

The views over the Black Canyon are magificent. It was created by the Gunnison River as it slowly sliced through solid stone for two million years. It is called the Black Canyon because it is so deep and the sides are so close together that it is mostly in deep shade.

 

We stopped at most of the overlooks and also walked a few trails.

 

It is strikingly deep, around 2000 feet, with very steep sides.

 

Standing in front of the multihued rock face, the Painted Wall.

 

End of the Warner Point Nature trail. But will we get back before those rain clouds catch us up?

 

Last stop for the day, before Aspen, was at a pretty waterfall along the road.