Drive through Ouray and onto Silverton via 550

Today we drove over to Silverton via 550 through the Red Mountain Pass. Absolutely no snow anywhere. See the October 7 post for pictures of snow that accumulated in just a few days. We saw a lot of the old mining activity from 50 years ago along 550 and some areas being reclaimed as well.

Aspens loosing their leaves

On 550 near Ironton an old mining area

Picture of a 2006 Allegro Bus heading south on 550. We have a 2005 with same chassis and engine. Not a drive I would take with the motorhome, saw a lot of on coming traffic crossing into our lane in the hair pin turns. I got a chance to talk to him briefly at a pull over and he said they had never driven the road but they had driven plenty of other tough roads so they were not concerned. I guess they made it.

Energy efficient house.

There are minerals in the soil here that causes this creek and pond to appear yellow.

Aspens just north of Silverton

Ouray at the northern edge of the city

Ouray looking south, notice no snow in the Mountains, but this changed a few days later

Ouray further into town still looking south

Ouray overlook from turnout just above the town.

Ouray overlook wider view

No snow here, but a few days later there was snow here. This is on 550 and we are heading south to the San Juan National Forest

Durgano-Silverton train with passengers all aboard and ready to return to Durango.

Different kinds of cars are available as shown above. See their web page for more details.

Downtown Silverton

Grand Imperial Hotel in Silverton. They have nice rooms, check out their web site. Apparently this is a popular place to stay