The Ophir Pass, From Silverton to Telluride

Our research for interesting roads to explore in the Durango area lead us to the

Ophir Pass between Silverton and Telluride.  It's a scenic, 10 mile unimproved road over a portion of the Suan Juan Mountain Range.
On our way to Silverton, on HWY 550, we just had to stop and enjoy the DSNGRR one more time.

Today, the sky was a perfect blue.  Once we got to Molas Pass which is 10910 feet, the views of the mountain ranges became memorable.  We have been here a few times and this view was THE best yet.

This time someone asked if they could take our picture.

As we climbed in altitude traveling towards Silverton, we noticed that the aspen leaves are beginning to change.  It's been 42 degrees many mornings at our campsite in Ignacio, 6654 ft. This year, peak leaf season in Silverton is predicted to be the first of October.

Entrance to the Ophir Pass is by a Forest Service Road.

The pass begins in spectacular fashion.  Scenic vistas all around and a cloudless blue sky.

 Ronnie has to stop multiple times for me to get photos.  I see the perfect landscape composition everywhere I look.

Soon, the landscape begins to change as we gain altitude.  We are above the tree line now.

Ophir Pass: 11789 feet above Sea Level (I rename it O-Fear Pass)

Once we travel over the pass, this mountain range comes into to our view.

Wow!

We decide to pull off to the side of the dirt/rocky road to enjoy our picnic lunch..with this view out the Jeep's front windshield.

This section of the Ophir Pass is the most narrowest. Uphill travelers have the right of way.

Again, Ronnie has to stop so I can take more photos.  Excellent opportunities to capture scenes we have never experienced before.

We successfully traveled down that narrow section of road.  We did met 3 other Jeeps and all were able to navigate the road and carefully pass with care.

The tiny community, seen in the valley, is Ophir.  The Ophir Pass is a historic mining road/path built around 1875.  Pack mules and wagons were used to transport the silver ore back over this pass to Silverton.

 We have just traveled this narrow shelf road.  Humm... we think this road was a bit more adventurous than The Shelf Road to Cripple Creek.

Our view of the Ophir Pass from the community of Ophir.  Notice there are no switchbacks on the mountain side.  All you see is a diagonal line for the road.

The Ophir Pass comes out onto Hwy 149.  We turned west towards the township of Telluride.

Again, more scenic views along Hwy 149.

We briefly visited Telluride in 2005.  We remembered the interesting shops, art galleries and the ski resort.

Telluride is a colorful town with lots of flowers and historic store facades.  It's history is also deeply rooted in mining.

We also remembered Bridal Veil Falls and the historic power plant/remodeled private residence 

which can be found at the cliff end of the box canyon.

The dirt trail to the falls and historic building can be seen in the center of this photo.  Look for the zigzag line, which are switchbacks.

We couldn't go up to the falls on our last visit because we were traveling in a full sized dually truck.  This trip, we have our Jeep so Ron says lets try it.

Our views of the historical structure get better and better but photos are difficult because of the sun's direction.  The water flow of Bridal Veil Falls is a bit puny because it's late summer season.

Once we reach the end of the dirt path/switchbacks, the views of the historic power plant .....

...and the town of Telluride in the valley below, are amazing.

I do not venture too close to the edge of the road either.

Whew, we have really enjoyed ourselves.

We are mighty thirsty after all this Jeep riding and sight seeing.  A cool drink at Telluride's High Pie is a nice ending to a picture-perfect day.

Telluride Brewing Company:  Russell Kelly's Pale Ale and Fishwater IPA

More later....

Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

Check this scenic train ride off our bucket list.  When we were last in the Durango area in 2005, we said to each other.."One day we'll come back and we will take this train ride."  

The Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad

Our train trip was outstanding.  We were not disappointed, we enjoyed every minute.

 The original train depot in Durango was built in 1882.  I took this photo when we purchased our tickets in August.

Folks are gathering this morning to board the train.  It appeared the train cars were about at full capacity.  Our trip left at 8:45 for a three and a half hour ride through the San Juan Mountains to the historic mining town of Silverton..

This steam engine (aka as an over-sized boiler) has been in continuous use since 1925, when it was built.  

I could have taken many many photographs!  This one was taken as the train rounded a curve on a cliff overlooking the Animas River.

When I looked behind me, this was the view of the rear cars on the train track. 

I had to be very, very careful as I held my camera outside of the train car window.

We didn't see any wildlife this trip but the outstanding landscape scenery sure made up for it.

The train puffed out a lot of smoke and cinders.  I kept the window open because it was a little warm, not long afterwards I noticed had ashes all over my clothes .

I seemed every view we saw out the train car was picture perfect.

You can see others holding their cameras out the train car windows.

Our view arriving to Silverton.  You can also see the copper-colored stain on the stream bed rocks.  That's from the Gold King mine spill.  The Conductor on the train informed us that about 600 gallons a minute were still spilling out of the mine into the Animas River.

Once in Silverton, I could get a better picture of the over-sized boiler..oh, I mean train engine.

We enjoyed our short time in Silverton however we plan to travel back to the town in our Jeep.  We have been there before and it's a very interesting town to explore.  We had a 2 hour lay over to get lunch then reboard the train for a three and a half hour return trip back to Durango.  It pored rain during our lunch so I didn't bother to take any quality photos of the town.  Silverton's roads are dirt.

The rain did stop for our return trip.  The skies were not as clear for photos so I just relaxed and enjoyed just looking out the window.

We visited the D&SNG Museum in Durango right after we purchased our train tickets in August.  It was informative and made our train ride even better.  We learned a lot of history about the area and about the operations/restorations of the trains and cars.

This Roundhouse burned down in 1989.  The rebuilt one not only provided more modern working conditions for train employees, it allowed for this museum space.

Wouldn't it neat to see the turntable in action?

All train parts must be fabricated on site.

I think we spent well over an hour enjoying this museum. It offered other exhibits pertaining to the history of Durango and the western United States.

Ron especially enjoyed sitting in the engineer's seat.  In his former employment, one of his jobs was driving the shuttle wagon.  That's a smaller version of a train engine, used to move train cars from track to track.

Ron knew all about these gauges, valves and tubes.  In his former job, he was also knowledgeable about the industrial boilers used to run the plant.

Here is the firebox, where coal is shoveled into the boiler's belly.  That's fire brick you see above the coal.

It was indeed a memorable train ride and we may do it again one day.

We are camping at the Sky Ute Casino RV Park.  It is a Passport America Park, therefore our nightly camping expense is very reasonable.

The casino and hotel are both beautiful with interesting architecture.

Their indoor pool is exceptional with a Lazy River and hot tub, RV park residents get full use of all facilities. (insert big smile here)

More later.