July 12, 2002: Colorado Trip Day 7
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For our last day, we are going to head over to visit Telluride, CO, and Bear Creek Falls. After that, we will begin working our way south towards Silverton and on home to Dallas tomorrow.

Bear Creek Falls in Telluride, CO

We checked out of the Ridgway Inn, and headed over towards Telluride, Colorado, for this, our last day of hiking and touring.

As I think I mentioned before, Telluride is kind of off by itself- at least in relation to Ouray. There are roads that go north-south through both times, but there is no good way to get east-west from one to the other, save for Highway 62 from Ridgway. It provides a link between US 550 (north-south through Ouray) with Colorado 145 (north-south through Telluride). When we are done in Telluride, we would be heading home to Dallas, but continuing south from Telluride on Colorado 145 is not the best way to go, since it continues way southwest before it connects to something that would go back east.

So we will be retracing this route later today after we've had a chance to hike to Bear Creek Falls and then walk around Telluride for a while.

We arrived in Telluride about an hour after leaving Ridgway, found a parking space (not as difficult in the summer as in the winter, I expect) and followed our directions to head off to the trailhead for the Bear Creek Falls hike.

The Bear Creek Trail is one of Telluride's "mellower" ones, and is extremely popular not only with locals but with visitors like us. It is a 4.5-mile out-and-back trail that climbs a road-grade alongside Bear Creek to a beautiful waterfall on Telluride's south side. To get to the trailhead, we followed the directions in our hiking guide to find Pine Street, a short street up the hill on the south side of town. The trailhead was at the end of the street, and the first four-tenths of a mile was on a private drive that led past three or four homes, and took us to a little map kiosk just where the road ended. The trail wass marked by a service gate and a large wooden sign explaining that community support helped preserve Bear Creek from development. An illustrated map was posted in the kiosk, highlighting the natural and human history of the area and it included details about mining, industry, and their affect on the watershed. We followed the wide path as it turned uphill to the right. Just beyond that, the path crossed a sunny, open meadow with the ever-present mountain backdrop. The mountain scenery was always present, of course- that's one of the reasons why so many people visit Telluride, Ouray and Colorado in general.

The trail climbed slowly and steadily; we would be ascending about 1300 feet from the trailhead to the falls. That may sound like a lot, but the way the topography is along the trail, we will also be descending 1299 feet from the trailhead to the base of the falls. So, even though we'll be doing a lot of climbing, the net change in altitude will be one foot less at the falls than at the trailhead!

The meadow ran out quickly and we climbed to the top of a ridge; the trail continued along that ridge almost all the way to the falls.

The View Towards Bear Creek Falls

The wide dirt path turned south, narrowed, and continued climbing above the creek (which you can see in the picture of the amazing vista ahead of us at left). But until we got well over a mile into the hike, we only got short glimpses of it- mostly because it appeared and disappeared among the boulders and vegetation. The wide, rocky trail was easy to follow, and the few wet and muddy sections that exist earlier in the summer (according to the trail guide) were all gone by now. It was also interesting that we navigated a rock-hopping stream crossing or two.

As the trail climbed, we cruised through stands of aspen, ponderosa, and open meadows. We could see evidence of early 20th century mining alongside the trail and on the far side of Bear Creek to the left. We'd see more of that in the area near the falls themselves.

After climbing above the creek, the trail finally hits the banks of Bear Creek near mile 1.5. Across the creek is a stream and scree field on the flanks of Ballard Mountain. A short while later, the Wasatch Trail broke off from our own path and led uphill to our right. We stayed on the much larger main path which continued alongside the creek. After another half mile, we reached Bear Creek Falls.

When we got to the falls, there were some other folks already there, but it was not so crowded that it in any way detracted from the beauty of the falls themselves.

Fred at Bear Creek Falls

Fred and I have been to a lot of waterfalls in our hiking careers, and I have to admit that Bear Creek Falls was neither the highest, the widest, the prettiest, possessing the greatest water volume or really any superlative. But it was quite beautiful (can a natural waterfall be anything but?) and very well worth the hour hike to get to it. So there is not much more I can say about it, but there are quite a few pictures we took while here that will do my speaking for me. Click on as many of the thumbnails below as you like to see great pictures of Bear Creek Falls:

The falls were beautiful and inspirational- what with the wide open space and the towering mountains on all sides. I can see why people would put up with the winters to be in such a glorious place in the summer.

Fred took a pretty good movie of Bear Creek Falls, and you can watch it with the player at left.

From the falls, we wanted to cut across the bottom of the valley to go see some of the remnants of the old mining operations that were nearby. So we went to our left across the bottom of the falls, crossing another little rivulet that had its own little waterfall, and climbed the slope to the left of Bear Creek Falls. As we did, we got what I thought was a really amazing view of Bear Creek Falls with the towering mountains in the background. This view made me wish we had all day to spend here; those mountains looked so inviting as climbing objectives, especially since I could see routes to the top that wouldn't involve much more than carefully scrambling up rocky slopes.

Bear Creek Falls

When we got over to the area where the mining had gone on, we found ourselves on a series of talus slopes that had, now, been overgrown with vegetation. There was the occasional rusted piece of what must have been mining equipment, and we also came upon an old mining tunnel that had been walled up with stone. It was interesting clambering around on the hillside in the sunshine.

We climbed back down towards Bear Creek, crossed over the creek and back up the other side of the valley to meet up with the trail back to Telluride. We walked back down the trail, luxuriating in the mid-day sun, until we came again in sight of Telluride. This time, we paused on the trail to take some pictures with the town of Telluride down in the valley as a backdrop, and you can see Fred's picture of me here, and my picture of Fred here.

The Bear Creek Falls hike was really a pleasure, and now we headed down into town to do a little exploring.

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Visiting Telluride, Colorado

After the Bear Creek Hike, we did a little walking around the town of Telluride, and then we got up above Telluride by taking one of the ski lifts to the top of one of the sets of ski runs that surround the town.

The Town of Telluride

We took the ski lift up to the top of the mountain just southwest of town, and the views across Telluride to the Rocky Mountains beyond was breathtaking. We walked around at the top for a while, admiring the view and watching the people enjoying biking, jogging and, on one of the ski runs nearby, motocross. Click on the thumbnails below to see some of the pictures we took on this excursion above Telluride:

It was simply a beautiful afternoon to enjoy such wonderful scenery.

Fred made a movie of the gondolas going up and down the tramway and some of the beautiful scenery here above Telluride, and you can watch that movie with the player at right.

After spending some time up here enjoying the afternoon, we reluctantly headed back down to get the car and begin the journey home.

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The Drive Home: Ouray, Colorado

We'd parked the car on the street in Telluride, so we collected it and started off.

To get back to Ouray and the road south towards home, we just retraced our drive of this morning, going west and around through Placerville and back up to Ridgway. There, we picked up US 550 for the trek south and out of Colorado.

On the Road to Ouray

The drive across the passess and through the valleys and through Ouray to the Million-Dollar Highway was certainly a picturesque one, and this time we took some pictures along the way.

If you will click on the thumbnails below, you can see a couple of highway scenes along Route 62 and then a couple of pictures we took as we passed through Ouray itself:

Ouray is at the northern base of Red Mountain Pass is the town of Ouray. Mount Abrams, to its south, and the Amphitheater formation, to its east, tower 5,000 feet over the town. Unlike many mining camps, Ouray never experienced a large fire. Because of that, it has many well-preserved, historic structures, including hotels, opera houses and a courthouse.

Most believe that prospectors first arrived in the valley in 1875, traveling from Silverton to the south. Ouray incorporated a year later, and by 1880 more than 2,500 people lived there. In 1887 the Denver & Rio Grande Railway completed a line to Ouray and opened a depot there the following year.

A narrow gauge railroad excursion came to Ouray in the same year, allowing the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad to promote its “Around the Circle” tours. The route traveled from Pueblo to Salida, then over Marshall Pass to Gunnison. It then continued to Montrose and turned south into Ouray. From there, travelers rode stagecoaches up the Uncompahgre Gorge along the route of the Otto Mears Toll Road to Chattanooga at the base of Red Mountain Pass. They then rode the Silverton Railroad to Silverton. In Silverton, they changed trains and rail lines to ride the Rio Grande to Durango and continue over La Veta Pass to Pueblo. These tours became very popular over the years.

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The Drive Home: Red Mountain Pass

The next section of our trip home would be traversing "The Million-Dollar Highway" from Ouray to Silverton.

From Ouray, we climbed quickly into the mountains and then headed south towards Silverton- ascending to cross the Red Mountain Pass. Here is what the area around the Red Mountain Pass looks like from above:

The elevation at Red Mountain Pass is 11,018 ft, and it crosses the crest of the San Juan Mountains- straddling a divide that separates Colorado's Ouray and San Juan counties. The pass separates the Uncompahgre and Las Animas River watersheds, and also serves as a dividing point between the Uncompahgre and San Juan National Forests. The pass is traversed by the Million Dollar Highway, U.S. Highway 550 between Ouray and Silverton, which is part of the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway.

Memorial to Men Lost Maintaining the Pass

Prospectors first entered the Red Mountain area in 1879, establishing Ironton in 1883. In the 1880s, the Red Mountain Mining District was one of the nation's most prolific, boasting nearly 40 mines known worldwide for their silver production. The district produced a quarter-billion-dollars' worth of silver, lead, zinc, copper, and gold. The Yankee Girl and Guston Mines, both discovered in 1881, were two of the richest mines in the area.

The pass is known for being treacherous in the wintertime due to the steep 8% grade and switchbacks on the north side facing Ouray, though the entire road is paved. In addition, there are very few guardrails on this side and passing is difficult, if not impossible. Driving it in winter is not for the faint of heart; indeed, three men have died maintaining the pass, and there was a memorial to them on the roadside north of the pass. You can also see these memorials in the picture at left.

The most intimidating paved Colorado highway may well be that on the north side of Red Mountain Pass. This section of U.S. 550 is narrow and has tight curves, precipitous drops, and few guardrails. The shoulder drops 300 feet straight down into the Uncompahgre Gorge, cut through by the Uncompahgre River. It is spectacular!

The pass is named for the nearby Red Mountains 1, 2 and 3 on the east side of the pass. Their names are derived from the iron oxide laden rock that forms their slopes.

Red Mountain 3

The mountain views and the rich mining history of the area make it one of the “must sees” of Colorado. Ouray, at the base of the pass, is appropriately called the “Gem of the Rockies” and the “Switzerland of America.” The road that crosses the pass connects the towns of Ouray and Silverton. The topographic maps of the area show three Red Mountains, named 1, 2, and 3. Red Mountain Number 1 is not visible from the summit of the pass, but the other two are. Oxidized iron creates the red‑orange color of these peaks, which present stunning photo opportunities, particularly at sunset.

Before the railroad reached Ironton, most travelers going south from Ouray used The Otto Mears toll road. Mears took over the road from the Ouray and San Juan Wagon Road Company on April 1, 1880. Using techniques learned in other road construction projects, he completed it in 1884. Pack trains of mules and burros used this road to move all the supplies the town of Ironton needed and carry out the ore from the nearby mines. It was not easy. Travel on the road was tough because of steep grades, sharp curves, narrow trails, precipitous drops, and a rough roadbed.

With the advent of automobile travel in the 1920s, the 12 miles of Mears' toll road that ran south of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge became part of the “Million Dollar Highway” at great redesign costs. Cutting the road into the cliffs of the Uncompahgre Gorge was no easy task, and the project was very expensive. This part of the highway has changed little since its completion in 1924!

A ways before the summit of the road, we found ourselves paralleling a mountain stream, and it was interesting because of the colors present in the rocks and the water- undoubtedly due to dissolved minerals.

At left are some thumbnails you can click on to see some of the pictures we took when we stopped to explore the stream a bit. In the third picture, you can see what appears to be a small cave on the other side of the water, and we went across to see what might be in it.

It didn't turn out to be very deep at all. I guess we didn't expect anything more than a natural crevice or animal den.

At left are thumbnails for some additional pictures we took of this interestingly-colored mountain stream. Click on them to look at the full-size pictures.

The Million-Dollar Highway was incredibly beautiful; we learned much later that it is included in a number of lists of the most scenic drives in America.

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The Drive Home: Silverton, Colorado and Home to Dallas

From Red Mountain Pass, we continued on southward towards Silverton. Click on the thumbnails below to see some of the beautiful vistas that make The Million Dollar Highway one of America's most scenic drives:

We came out on the ridge above the town of Silverton late in the afternoon. As it turned out, we would visit Silverton again a few years hence when we took a ride on the Durango-Silverton Scenic Railway. By then I had my own digital camera, and you'll get to see some movies of the area.

But now our objective was to make it home to Dallas by late tomorrow afternoon; after all, we both have to go back to our work schedules next week.

So we continued south on US 550, passing through Durango, Colorado, and then headed east towards Pagosa Springs.

From Pagosa Springs, we worked our way southeast towards Taos and Santa Fe. We passed through Chama. There is another scenic railway there that we saw signs for- the Cumbres & Toltec Senic Railway. It looked interesting, and it was another train trip that we would return to take in the years ahead.

We stayed the night northwest of Santa Fe, leaving us the long and mostly boring drive home for Sunday. From Santa Fe, we dropped down to I-40 which took us east past Amarillo. There, we angled off southeast on the very familiar road to Wichita Falls.

Now we are retracing the route we came up on a week earlier, and we've traveled it so many times it has become very familiar. We got back to Sherman about dinnertime, so we stopped there to eat before driving on to Van Alstyne. We both had to work the next week, so after we unpacked I headed on down into Dallas.

It was a really great trip, but then I don't think Fred and I have taken a bad one.

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	July 12, 2002: Colorado Trip Day 7
	Return to the Index for Our Colorado Trip