Passing Out

Another day, another three mountain passes conquered.  And paying off yesterday's "home on the range" theme, today I saw a herd of actual buffalo.  I'm not sure they were playing but they did appear to be enjoying themselves in their green green meadow.  Which brings me to today's theme, "How Green Was My Valley."  It could also be "How Red Was My Mountain."

I cruised up Colorado Highway 550 through Silverton (kind of a dud), Ouray (cute!), Telluride (really cute, but too many touristas), and back to Durango, racking up 250 miles on the odometer.  The two-lane twister took me past the Red Mountain mining region, home to numerous historic mines with names like Virginia Girl and Idorado.  The area made a lot of folks ridiculously rich in the late 1800s, and is, in fact, where the Guggenheim family wealth originated.  You can't see it very well in the photos, but the mountains are very very red.

Ouray retains its Western charm, but has a more progressive feel than Silverton, which was run down and looking like it was on its way to becoming a true ghost town. In Ouray workers were busy remodeling buildings, the outdoor Hot Springs was bustling, and the Mouse Coffee and Chocolate store was expanding into the space next door.  Go mouse!

Telluride was the biggest tourist trap of them all, with lots of contemporary condos, restaurants, shops, and outdoor outfitters ready to serve the weekend warrior's every need.  It took the cafe forever to serve my tuna salad, and I couldn't wait to leave after an hour. 

Stopped for a photo at Lizard Head Pass, elevation 10,222, peeled off my jacket around Dolores, and made it back in time to visit Harley Davidson of Durango for the souvenir T-shirt.

Along the entire ride I was struck at how absolutely green the mountains were, some rising more than 14,000 feet, all sloping down cleaving valleys in between.  One after another after another.

Birds spotted:  Willow Ptarmigan, Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Tomorrow gettin' outta here and heading towards Aspen.