One of the most scenic drives in the US is the Million Dollar Highway in the San Juan Mountains. The Million Dollar Highway is a 25 mile stretch from Silverton, CO to Ouray, CO (Yoo-ray) along US 550. While beautiful, it is a dangerous road full of twists and turns and steep drop offs sometimes with no shoulder or guardrail. The weather was sunny, so the top went down on the Beetle.
I wish we were better photographers so you could see the true beauty of this wonderful place.
Different minerals and rates of erosion cause the different colors of this mountain.
Doesn’t Ouray look like Switzerland?
Melting snow at the top of the mountains causes waterfalls lower down in elevation.
Interesting facts about Silverton
There is one paved road in town
There are a little over 500 permanent residence
Only fourteen days of the year does the temperature NOT fall below freezing
Elevation 9,308 ft
Name comes from a miner commenting that there is no gold here, but silver by the ton
The Sow’s Ear is a wonderful restaurant we stopped at in Durango. We went there due to the reviews about the food and the view. As you can see the view was spectacular. I had the Elk Tenderloin which was a new dish for both us, and so YUMMY!
Scott and I find that the best information comes from locals. We met a couple at the falls outside of Ouray during our drive and they told us we need to get tickets for the railroad for Saturday and not wait until next week which was our original plan. Saturday is the Iron Horse Annual Bicycle Race from Durango to Silverton. A more than 50 miles and almost 5,300 feet in elevation race between bicycles and the train. The race originated when two brothers raced each other, one on a 10 speed bike and the other from the train.
We immediately rushed to the train station and were lucky enough to get tickets for Saturday morning.
We decided to ride the gondola car which is open with no windows which is great for picture taking but bad for warmth. Remember that elevation change I told you about. Yea, it got cold.
The racers gather…
One of the brothers who invented the race.
The train whistle blows as the starting gun and they’re off….
Let’s enjoy the scenery from the train
The train we didn’t take.
Riders on the road
The guy who shovels the coal. It takes 4 tons.
The finish line.
The train ride one-way is 3.5 hours. We opted to take the bus back.
Back in Durango. Although we sat most of the day it still felt like a long one.
One thought on “No Planes, but Trains and Automobiles”
You got some beautiful photos. As many times as i have ridden the train, I did not get the wonderful photos you took..so happy you share these with everyone. The bike race is a big annual event and I am sorry I forgot to mention it to you earlier. We love Ouray and the ride from Silverton to Ouray is one of the most beautiful in the US. Yes but sometime scary. We finally made it to Durango on Monday evening of this week 6/12/17. I forgot to have the water turned on at our townhome so we spent the night
with our son and family. Glad to get home the next day to get settled in. If you are ever plan to return to Silverton, the 4th of
July celebration there is magnificent and they do have some nice campgrounds but reservations have to be made about a year in advance. The day starts out with an old fashion parade and the parade finished up with a water fight at the fire station between the Silverton and Durango fire departments. All the kids get wet and it is so fun to watch. They have the rhubarb festival going on after the parade…with lots of rhubarb items to buy (pies etc) . Then they have the yellow duck race down the river in the park. They sell numbered rubber duckies and the duck that crosses the finish-line first wins the prize. That evening
is the beautiful fire works. It is one of the largest in the US and is simply fantastic. So it is a full day of fun. I am so sorry we did not arrive in Durango before you got on the road again. You are having a travel experience of a lifetime. Have fun and I will continue to keep up with your travels.