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canyonwalkerColorado Travelog #19
Red Mountain, CO - Tuesday, 5 Jul 2022, 3:30pm
As I described in my previous blog, Colorado's "Million Dollar Highway" (US 550) connects from Ouray to Silverton. I ended my previous blog with us barely having left Ouray and stopping at Bear Creek Falls. The road climbs quite significantly from there.
The view above is looking up into the San Juan Mountains from Bear Creek. You can see the road cut crossing from the middle of the picture's left edge to the center. This northern end of the road is very narrow and steep. Once over the Red Mountain Pass, elev. 11,018' (3,358 m) it descends more gently through glaciated valleys to Silverton.
Despite the weather the views were occasionally amazing. We mentally bookmarked the side canyon in the photo above to come back to later in the day. But first we drove all the way to Silverton to visit the town.
Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride are all former mining towns that boomed in the late 19th century with the discovery of silver high in these mountains. People and money flowed into these towns. In the early 1900s the swankest hotel in all of Colorado was in tiny Ouray. It was a status stop for wealthy and important industrialists with business in the area.
Before the end of the 19th century, though, political changes in the US made silver mining less profitable. Business had already started to slow down when that swank hotel was built. Within a few decades it was abandoned.
The towns found new life in the 20th century as skiing and tourist destinations. The first ski lifts opened in the 1940s. It wasn't until the 1980s, though, that the town really started to take off again. Now they're full of overpriced lodges, hotels, and gift shops— and the tourists who think such things are splendid. Ugh. It gives us hives. At least the natural beauty of the San Juans remains.
Speaking of natural beauty, we did go back to that hanging valley.
We could see a long cascade waterfall at the back of the canyon. A dirt and gravel road led into it. "What the heck, we've got a real 4x4 and know how to use it!" we figured. We went for it.
Along the way we passed a charming little side falls. That's the photo above.
In beauty I walk. Even when I mostly drive.
Red Mountain, CO - Tuesday, 5 Jul 2022, 3:30pm
As I described in my previous blog, Colorado's "Million Dollar Highway" (US 550) connects from Ouray to Silverton. I ended my previous blog with us barely having left Ouray and stopping at Bear Creek Falls. The road climbs quite significantly from there.
The view above is looking up into the San Juan Mountains from Bear Creek. You can see the road cut crossing from the middle of the picture's left edge to the center. This northern end of the road is very narrow and steep. Once over the Red Mountain Pass, elev. 11,018' (3,358 m) it descends more gently through glaciated valleys to Silverton.
Despite the weather the views were occasionally amazing. We mentally bookmarked the side canyon in the photo above to come back to later in the day. But first we drove all the way to Silverton to visit the town.
Silverton, Ouray, and Telluride are all former mining towns that boomed in the late 19th century with the discovery of silver high in these mountains. People and money flowed into these towns. In the early 1900s the swankest hotel in all of Colorado was in tiny Ouray. It was a status stop for wealthy and important industrialists with business in the area.
Before the end of the 19th century, though, political changes in the US made silver mining less profitable. Business had already started to slow down when that swank hotel was built. Within a few decades it was abandoned.
The towns found new life in the 20th century as skiing and tourist destinations. The first ski lifts opened in the 1940s. It wasn't until the 1980s, though, that the town really started to take off again. Now they're full of overpriced lodges, hotels, and gift shops— and the tourists who think such things are splendid. Ugh. It gives us hives. At least the natural beauty of the San Juans remains.
Speaking of natural beauty, we did go back to that hanging valley.
We could see a long cascade waterfall at the back of the canyon. A dirt and gravel road led into it. "What the heck, we've got a real 4x4 and know how to use it!" we figured. We went for it.
Along the way we passed a charming little side falls. That's the photo above.
In beauty I walk. Even when I mostly drive.
