We first took a quick trip into Montrose to their Saturday farmer's market, but there weren't many vendors. But, when we got back to the campground, my new camera had been delivered from Amazon! My old one has been doing some strange things off and on, so I was getting afraid to trust it.
Today's trip wasn't long, but was very scenic. We drove back down to Ridgeway and stopped by their visitor center again to see if they had weather forecasts for the mountains. We could see ominous clouds over the peaks. We decided to go ahead through Ouray to Silverton, hoping to do the drive before the storms got too bad. As it turned out, we had drizzle on our way south, and it cleared up some for the return trip.
This trip was over the "Million Dollar Highway", which was originally built in 1883 by Otto Mears as a toll road. Today, there are no railings, and there are steep drop-offs to the canyon below. There are the remains of abandoned mine buildings all along the route
We ate lunch in Silverton before we started back. After we got back to Ridgeway, we went through their train museum.
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| First picture with my new camera! |
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| Storm clouds ahead |
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| Getting worse! |
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| Chipmunk wanted to go into the visitor center! |
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| Snow shield over the road |
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| Red Mountain....aptly named! |
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| Old mine building |
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| Trestle at one end of a 5.5 mile mine tunnel to Telluride |
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Abandoned house.
Look at the painted windows! |
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| Hairpin turns |
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| Warnings! |
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| Golden mantled ground squirrel |
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| Looking down on Silverton |
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| Pretty red mountainside |
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| More abandoned buildings |
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| This one has a "for sale" sign! |
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| The pass elevation |
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| Starting to clear a bit |
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| Love those red mountains with snow! |
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| Bright green aspens |
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| Snow-caps in the distance |
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Yellow-bellied marmot...
He is BIG! |
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You can see the road on the mountainside
to the right. |
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Bridge over the waterfall.
This is where Otto's tollbooth was, and no one
could get by without paying! |
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That's the platform that sticks out over the waterfall.
It has an open metal wire floor,,,,,can't look down! |
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| Looking down at Ouray |
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Box Canyon Falls...
Waterfall coming into a slot canyon.
It was LOUD! |
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| Main street in Ouray |
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Galloping Goose....
Automotive train car |
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