Durango-Silverton-Ouray-Telluride-Durango

I confess that until I met our friend Jen, I didn’t know anything about Durango, CO.  Located in southwest CO, it is far from my previous stops in Aspen, Denver and Carbondale.  But having spent 3 days here now, I really like this town.  According to the city’s website

            Founded in 1880 by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, historic Durango is perched at 6512 feet above sea level and is the county seat of La Plata County.  Located in the southwest corner of Colorado near the Four Corners area, Durango is nestled in the Animas River Valley and surrounded by the San Juan Mountains. This diversity of the surrounding geography and ideal climate provides for a veritable playground of endless recreational opportunities and attractions.

I agree.  It’s nestled into the mountains surrounded by amazing scenery.  There’s a river running through it, a college in town that provides the young, artsy vibe and a main street alive with restaurants, bars and shops catering to tourists and residents alike.  And, small herds of mule deer that wander the streets of town unmolested.  We saw a spotted fawn nursing in front of the local library the first evening.  We’ve also seen several “Welcome Hunters” signs in town.  We’re rooting for the deer.

We started our visit to Durango with tours of the local organic grocery store and pet supply store followed by stops at those attractions called WalMart and Bed-Bath-Beyond.  Yes, even we rugged campers must occasionally re-provision our covered wagon with cat food, cat litter, water, milk and a new mattress topper for a bed that was turning out to be uncomfortable.  Nothing like 2” of memory foam to take the rough out of roughing it.  That night we cooked dinner for Jen in the rig making full use of the great kitchen space.
Yesterday, after a long, hot shower in the nicely tiled bathhouse (we do have to walk about 50 yds to get there so we’re still roughing it you know), we hit the road with Jen for an all-day drive, Durango-Silverton-Ouray-Telluride-Durango.  

roadside hot spring

 Durango’s best-known tourist attraction is the Durango-Silverton railroad:  a steam locomotive that carries folks up the valley retracing the route the ore trains ran when mining was king.  We opted to parallel the train on the road allowing us to stop along the way.  First stop, James Ranch:  a family run operation that milks cows, makes cheese, raises beef and pork and packages it for sale, raises chickens and sells eggs and organic vegetables and runs a grill where you can buy lunch.  All this and amazing scenery.  Lunch was the best burger ever eaten while overlooking the farm valley.   Then on to Silverton, first passing a roadside hot spring just sitting there casually spurting water alongside the highway.  We’ve learned there’s a lot of geothermal activity in the area.

The town of Silverton is geared towards the visiting train travelers who have 2 hours there to absorb the history and scenery before returning to Durango so we drove through, took a look and headed on to the next town, Ouray.  Ouray calls itself the Switzerland of America and has alpine-themed restaurants and hotels.  It also has hot springs and spas.  Out of Ouray we headed to Telluride.  Telluride is a ski destination and big money is spent there which was evident in the well-preserved Victorian houses, expensive boutiques and $5 tap beers.  It was fun to see but didn’t hold us long.  Then on back on the highway  to Durango.   

The major reason for the drive is the scenery which is indescribable.  It’s the peak of fall colors and the golden aspens mixed with the green pines with red rock and blue sky and white clouds….wow .  Thank goodness for digital photography because we would have run out of film before we got very far.  Several times we went over 10,000 ft. passes with the weather changing as we went up and down.  

 At one point when we stopped high in a pass to take pictures and the snow was blowing in our faces, I realized that I may have pushed the sandal-wearing days a bit too far as my toes turned blue.

We got back to Durango as darkness fell and had dinner at another excellent restaurant in town.  Today is our turn in the hot springs.  We’re going to spend the afternoon in Pagosa Springs soaking in the mineral pools.  According to the website they offer free loaner swimming suits.  Luckily we brought out own.