Going to "the Spirit in the Sky"

After much research M & D decided to spend a day driving the entire San Juan Skyway. “In 2012, Travel + Leisure named San Juan Skyway one of "America's Best Spring Drives" for its million-dollar views.”

We did a quick drive through Historic Mancos. It’s pretty tiny. The most amazing site there was seeing a kid’s baseball game in the park. Mom loved their Historic Mancos signs, so we had to stop to get a photo. 

Our next stop was Durango, we decided against riding the train. We investigated ...”Boarding the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, a national historic landmark, for a scenic ride deep into the San Juan Mountains via steam locomotive, but once again to stay safe from possible Covid-19, we decided against it. However, we would have enjoyed:“ The canyon-clinging stretch of the byway between Silverton and Ouray is called “The Million Dollar Highway” either because it cost so much to build or the amount of gold ore that remained in the roadway’s fill.”

We did stop for some yummy, fresh, rosemary Asiago bagels with veggie cream cheese. Thanks, mom for sharing,  I can attest to how good they were! While waiting for our order, I got to enjoy some lovely emerald green grass. It’s the one thing in short supply out here. Mom ran into the Welcome Center to pick up more info about this area. Who knew you can hire llamas and go backpacking into the backcountry? Not this trip! LOL!!! 

We had hoped on coming back to enjoy one of their many, gourmet restaurant like El Moro’s Tavern. Like so many cities during this pandemic, they are taking away parking in front of restaurants, so they can expand outside. ...Very cute, with innovative temporary fencing and tenting. 

Dad said it was so much more enjoyable driving along this gorgeous highway without worrying about dragging 8,000+ lbs. behind us. (I like looking out the back window too!) At certain places along this highway they have pull off areas for those wanting to hike, fish, whatever??? Pretty cool! Since this road is around 233 miles around, we just don't have time to stop everywhere. 

Hope the sun lasts today because we have had loads of rain. Like Florida, summer is their rainy season. Dad observed that the eastern slopes of the mountains have far more trees and vegetation. It’s easy to see why people come out here and build homes. Our favorites are the log cabins or the adobes. 

As we climbed higher, elegant birches and aspen fought with the majestic pines for sunlight. These extremely curvy roads with their many switchbacks aren’t for the faint of heart or individuals prone to motion sickness. 

Thankfully, none of us seem to suffer from the later. Coal Bank Pass at 10,000+’ provided us a “take your breath away” view of this alpine valley below and the mountains above. WOW! 

Mom was frustrated because she was too far away to photograph the mountain heather in bloom. Such delicate bursts of color amidst all these stone creams, and verdant greens. Every now and then we can see fishermen on Lime Creek, far, far, far below us. 

We pulled over at Molas Pass to use the bathroom and for dad to photograph. Much to our surprise, Rebecca waved us down and asked if we could drop her off down the road at the Molas Campground to pick up her resupply. It turns out, she had hiked over 400 miles on the Colorado Trail. She has 76 miles left on the trail and this was day 27. Rebecca just graduated with her DR in Physical Therapy in Chattanooga, TN and this hiking trip was her present to herself. (We kept our social distance and had her in the backseat with the windows down to keep us all safe.)

We stopped so she could pick up her resupply box at the campground. There we met her hiking friend, Felicia. Poor girl, Pippi wouldn’t leave her alone. 

They are spending the night and day in Silverton taking a day off. She said hikers call that, a Zero Day. They think it will take them at least 5 more days to get to Durango, the end of the trail. Rebecca and Felicia have been hiking with 3 other hikers making this journey far more fun, she said. Once she finishes, she will be moving to Phoenix for the next two years with her new job. Being a Tennessee native, she’s not sure she will be able to stay away longer than that! Hope she sends us her photo at the finish; as she promised!!! 

We couldn’t believe how cute and tiny Silverton was. It reminded M & D of Skagway, Alaska. Sadly, it was the most scenic part of the trip between Silverton and Ouray we were in a downpour. This was the section, they called The Million Dollar Road. Thanks to dad’s research most of the sheer drop offs were on the other side of the road. Mom really appreciated that! 

Ouray is another hot spring area. There were so many switchbacks getting there we felt dizzy. How they were able to carve out and build this road is pretty phenomenal! Dad was happy we had a car carrier in front of us forcing the long line of cars to slow down. This town was bigger than Silverton and completely built out between the mountain valley. Driving through it, M & D both said it reminded them of a western Gatlinburg. As soon as we came out of town we started seeing red rocks like Arches or Sedona. 

Definitely, having four wheel drive or side by sides are the vehicle of choice out here; especially if you want to go into the backcountry. We are definitely seeing more boondoggling with RV’s and travel trailers staying in the middle of nowhere.  At Ridgeway, we switched to Route 62 to stay on the San Juan Skyway. Not much to be said about Ridgeway. However, when we got outside of town, the road opened up to voluptuous mountain meadows, and streams. Throw in a few cows or horses and it was quite idyllic! We even saw a mare and her goal running in one of the pastures. Lovely!!! 

Before we reached Placerville, where we take another road again; we passed through Dallas Divide at almost 9,000’ while Mom fed us a small lunch. Delicious!  

Mom and dad have on the Classic Vinyl Channel on XSirius radio and three very appropriate choices have come on during this road trip. 

First, Slowdown by Foghat came on when we were doing all those switchbacks. Now, Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit in the Sky, is playing while we are traveling this more sublime stretch. 

Dad stopped at one of the overlooks...still lovely, even overcast. Electricity’s Holy Grail, refers to the first electric power plant out here. Tesla won the argument with Edison and it had both DC and AC current. 

We took a short side trip to see Telleride. We certainly didn’t expect to see the closely packed Victorian houses. The town did a very nice job of combining newer buildings that seem to fit this funky, little town. It’s the first place we have seen where people were pretty cavalier about wearing their masks; despite all the signs and banners. (We didn’t get out of the truck.) 

  

We went over Sheep Mountain in the Uncompahgre

National Forest at 13,000+ elevation and we saw sheep? Now, what are those chances??? The next we knew, One Toke Over the Line with Brewer Shipley came on as we were at our highest elevations today. 

Dad comment, “We are looking at clouds straight on.” 

As we came down in elevation the Dolores River seemed to meander from one side of the road to the other. Our last significant song for the day is The Who’s, “I Can See For Miles. 

M & D liked that the Fairgrounds outside of Cortez had a racetrack and rodeo both... 

We have caught two different rainbows while we were staying here, but the one looked like a rainbow flame...cool!

I love it when we finish our day's driving and I get to play ball outside while they have their cocktails...

Dad was able to shoot this exquisite sunset...we had been missing our spectacular Charlotte Harbor sunsets...