Day 20: The Cabin, Silverton Museum, and Preparing to Leave...

Today is the last full day we'll be in the San Juan Mountains.  We're headed for the La Sal Mountains and Moab bright and early in the morning.  This morning I finally took a few photos of the cabin (below).

In the morning we ducked down to Silverton to visit the museum.  We'd met someone on the trail a few days ago who highly recommended it to us, saying that it was surprisingly good for a museum in such a small place.  Now that we've seen it, we'd say that if anything this fellow understated it – that museum is an absolute “must see” for anyone visiting the area.  We'll be back to visit it again, and we'll spend more time in it.

The museum is an eclectic collection of collections.  It's focused on mining and related things, but also includes all sorts of other artifacts that help you understand what it was like to live here in the mining heyday.  Lots and lots of antique tools – especially metalworking, mining, and carpentry – are on display in open cabinets or shelves that you can walk right up to and examine closely.  There are collections of telephone pole insulators, license plates, kitchen utensils, parlor stoves, wagons, schoolhouse desks and science instruments, and much, much more.  I could easily spend a couple of days in there!

One collection that caught my eye was some marvelous antique radios (early 1900s).  They're not in working order, so I left my name and contact info and volunteered to help restore them if they have nobody local who can do it.  That would be a lot of fun!  I also enjoyed seeing the old printing presses, so similar to those I learned how to run in junior high school.  They even had a California Job Case on display – something I hadn't seen for about 50 years!

Debbie was just as fascinated as I was.  She got a very good idea (for the first time) of what it was like to work in the three-dimensional subterranean world of a mine.  Gave her the heebie-jeebies :)  There is a three-story tall display in the museum that really does convey the inside of a mine very nicely.  She also particularly like the wagons and related items; there's a nice collection of those.

We walked out of the museum just delighted with the experience, except for one small event just before we left.  We'd struck up a conversation with the lady who was running the curio shop and selling tickets, and in that conversation we mentioned we were leaving California, chased out by the politics.  She immediately responded by telling us that the conservative nut-jobs were destroying Colorado as well.  Both Debbie and I bit our tongues and left without causing a fuss.  As soon as we were outside on the sidewalk, though, Debbie couldn't contain herself :)

Our home away from home.  Note the porch visible on the right; it extends all across the downhill side of the cabin, offering wonderful views...

The morning view from the previously-mentioned porch...

Insulator collection (one of several) at the Silverton Museum...

It had never occurred to me to wonder what the miners did for a bathroom.  Now I know...

Tools of the mining blacksmith's trade.  Some of these tools I'd really love to own myself!

Day 19: Stony Pass, Lake City, Engineer Pass, Sheep, and Wildlife...

Today was the last full day we could go off adventuring, and we decided to reprise (roughly) our favorite day of the trip.  This was just last Sunday, when we went over Stony Pass to the Rio Grande reservoir, then up to Lake City, and back “home” via Cinnamon Pass.  We did the same trip today, except that we returned “home” via Engineer Pass from Lake City.

We left before sunrise, and drove up to Stony Pass in low light, both of us still sleepy (not enough caffeine).  We looked for Rocky Mountain goats in the high meadows, but never saw one.  Just after we crested Stony Pass, we came across a large herd of sheep (the same herd we've seen twice before).  The shepherd's tent was there, with two border collies just outside it.  Apparently we arrived before the shepherd got up :)  The whole scene – grassy hills covered with sheep, with the tent and dogs – looked like something you'd see on a postcard.

Just a mile or so later, Debbie spotted some elk, much closer than the previous sighting.  We got a great look at a few adults.  It started to rain, never very hard but always at least spitting.  Then we started spotting deer, including fawns, and we continued to do so for the next few hours.  We lost count of how many we saw.  None of them looked unhealthy, though a few were a bit skinny.  In the same meadow where Debbie spotted elk on Sunday she spotted them again, this time a bit closer and lower in the meadow.  We had a good long viewing of them again.  At one point just after this, we spotted two does off to our right, one with a fawn.  Then on our left we flushed a fawn and a snowshoe hare.  Woo hoo!

When the road got down to the Rio Grande and we started seeing beaver ponds, Debbie spotted a roadside cross we'd missed before.  It had a little brass tag that read:

     B. R. Swindle
     8-13-2010
     "The Governor"

We searched on the web in vain for some reference as to who this cross might be for.  We don't know if it memorializes a person or an animal.

A couple of ATVs approached and passed us, and one of the guys driving stopped, pointed at our truck, laughed, and made an appreciative comment about our “Slightly Loony” sign.  This sort of thing has happened a lot on our drives, several times every day.  We've gotten lots of smiles and laughs over the past couple of weeks, making us quite happy we'd taken the trouble to make it...

After we'd completed all the challenging parts of the road, and we were down alongside the Rio Grande reservoir, a pickup approached us and stopped, window down, to chat.  The cab had a whole family: husband, wife, and a kid or two.  The husband was driving, and all had big smiles and looked excited.  He called over to us to let us know that the road ahead would be challenging, and asked about the road we'd just traversed.  This left Debbie and I nearly speechless.  We know this road well; we've been on it quite a few times over the years, including just three days earlier.  We knew darned well that the part the pickup had just traversed was practically paved it was so easy, and that the part we'd just traversed was an order of magnitude more difficult.  As gently as I could, I let the driver know there were lots of challenges ahead of him.  Either he was joshing us, or he's an incredibly inexperienced offroader who was in for a big, big surprise in a few miles.  The long wheelbase of his pickup was going to make the skinny, twisty, stony road ahead of him quite challenging even for someone who knew what they were doing.  We're still wondering how they made out...

By the time we hit the paved road a few miles later, the hour was late enough that we didn't see nearly as much wildlife the rest of the day (though we did spot a few deer, including one buck in downtown Lake City).  We zoomed over Slugmullion Pass to Lake City, where we reprised our previous meals of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches and sweet-and-sour cole slaw.  The next stop was Mean Jean's for some coffee, and then we were off up Engineer Pass.

Once over the pass, we ran across the begging marmot again, and again he came right up to the FJ.  This time we tried him out on some trail mix, and the little beggar loved it.  He was brave enough to allow me to approach within three feet or so for some photos (see below).  He had some pink on his snout we hadn't noticed before, probably because we weren't quite so close.  He seemed to especially like the dried fruit in the trail mix, and Debbie had a great time dribbling out treats for him. 

A little further down the road, between Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass, we came across a large flock of sheep.  The sounds from them were delightful: tinkling from the few belled ewes, the high pitched baaaing of the lambs, and the lower-pitched, variable baaing of the adults.  It was postcard-beautiful to see the sheep spread out all over the flowered meadows.

Just after we spotted the shepherd's trailer and horse (with a purple halter!), we got to Denver Lake – a perfect dog swimming spot, with grassy banks and some nice deep water for Race to swim in.  We had a great time there, playing with the dogs.  We tuckered them right out, and left with wet, panting, tired dogs in the FJ...

We have no idea WTF this is (seen near Rio Grande reservoir)...

The begging marmot of Engineer Pass turns out to like trail mix...

Dried pineapple may have been his favorite...

But he was ok with the dried mango, too :)  Note the pink on his snout – that's not a photo artifact, it was really there...

A herd of sheep on the saddle between Engineer Pass and Cinnamon Pass.  There were several hundred animals spread across a square mile or so of ground.  Bells were tinkling, and the sheep were baaaaing.  We found the shepherd's trailer and horse staked out below all the sheep.

A couple of lambs, wondering about the orange FJ monster approaching them...

At Denver Lake, Miki tries to steal the ball from Race.  He never succeeded...

Joyful, bounding dogs running to get the ball – the most important thing in the world...

If you could plot the three-dimensional intersection of their gaze, you'd find it was the geometric center of the ball that Debbie was getting ready to toss.  Total focus, total concentration – nothing else exists for these dogs...

Day 18: Late, Slow, Yankee Boy Basin in Decline, and Playing Dogs...

After a couple of long days, we decided to sleep in this morning. It was approaching noon by the time we crawled down off Blair Mountain and into Silverton.  Debbie had an appointment in Ouray at 6 pm to get her nails done, so we headed off to Yankee Boy Basin (where the flowers were so wonderful two weeks earlier) to enjoy some offroading until then.

Yankee Boy was still pretty, but had faded to the point where Stony Basin was a superior wildflower experience.  Dodging mining trucks, tourist trucks, and inexperienced offroaders, we made our slow way up to the very top of the Yankee Boy Basin road, up around 12,500'.  There I found some alpine areas on knolls, but even they were now past prime, with very little in bloom.  It was a pleasant day, but not nearly as spectacular as our first visit, and we couldn't help but compare the two. 

The day's highlight was a second visit to the pond at 12,200' where the dogs had enjoyed themselves two weeks earlier.  This time we had it all to ourselves, and the dogs had a great time chasing the ball into the water or up a nearby hill.  We played with them there until they were panting and moving much slower :)  Then we loaded 'em up in the FJ and got a blanket on them, as they were wet and cold.  Even Miki got wet!

Then it was off to Ouray, where Debbie and I had a good, but not memorable meal at the local Mexican restaurant.  Then I dropped Debbie off for her nail appointment, and the dogs and I did a little exploring through the parts of town where tourists don't generally go.  There I ran into a couple of interesting things. 

First was an aging hippie out walking his yellow Labrador Retriever and a giant yellow tabby.  Both were off-leash, and both were following him closely.  As I drove slowly up alongside him, he called them both to him – and they both came up and sat down.  I stopped to chat, and the cat jumped up into his arms.  He told me that he'd trained the cat some ten years ago, and now these walks were their twice-a-day routine.  I can't even imagine any of our cats doing this :) 

The second interesting bit was a scene right out of Southern California.  A modular home sat in a small yard, with a tall fence on both sides.  This made a yard that was private except for the street.  About 15 feet from the street was a hot tub, and in it were three people: two girls and a guy, all nude (as evidenced by the pile of of bathing suits beside the tub).  One of the girls was shy, and covered herself with her hands as I drove (slowly :) by, the other had her arms spread out along the tub's edge and gave me a sunny, knowing smile as she displayed a choice pair of mammaries.  Later I related all this to Debbie, who seemed to think I shouldn't have noticed anything.  Silly girl :)

Debbie emerged from the nail salon with fingers outspread and hands carefully not touching anything – nail polish drying.  I buckled her seatbelt for her, and we headed for “home” in our little cabin, where we rested up in preparation for a long day tomorrow...

Miki in the water!  This is an amazing thing for us, as before this trip he wouldn't even dip a paw in.  Now he'll even get wet!  Race, of course, just plows in after the ball...

Chasing the ball on a hill over the pond, two happy mutts...

Just before snagging the ball in the middle of the pond.  Check out the “bow wave” he's kicking up as he powers along.  That's one strong dogly swimmer...

Day 17: Meeting a Relative, and the Durango and Silverton Steam Railroad...

Today we met up with my cousin Mike and his wife Diane, something we planned several months ago and actually managed to pull off.  We left our cabin at the crack of dawn for the hour-and-a-half drive down to Durango.  First stop was the doggie day care we'd checked out last week, where we left an excited Miki (wagging his tail like mad and loving all over the folks there) and uncertain Race (who watched us leave with an uncertain look on his face).  Then we got lost as we tried to find the railway station parking lot; a nice fellow we met on the street set us right. 

As we entered the parking lot, I got my electronic receipt for the parking fee and prepared myself for a challenge getting acceptance of it (Mike had the actual ticket).  It turned out to be no problem at all – Mike had been their first, and had made a memorable impression upon the clerk.  Once she heard our name, she instantly knew who we were, knew we'd paid, and just waved us in.  Nice!

We walked over to the train station and undertook the next challenge: locating Mike and Diane.  You might think this would be easy, but not so – we've only seen them once in the past 50 years, and I in particular am really bad at remember faces, so we just wandered around looking for someone else looking.  Finally Diane approached us (after we'd walked right by her), as she recognized my beard :).  Once we found each other, all was well.

I've never ridden a steam powered train before, so in addition to the beautiful scenery and the pleasure of spending time with some relatives, I also had a new experience!  The bad parts were the smoke and grit the coal-fired locomotive spewed.  The good parts were the sights and sounds: the chuffing driver pistons, the steam whistle, and the hissing as the over-pressure vent let off steam.  There was also some squirting of water out the side, perhaps for fire suppression.

These steam locomotives, it turns out, start quite a few small fires if you aren't careful.  Someone we met in Silverton told us that at times of high risk the train was sometimes followed by a firefighting helicopter!  No such problem today, but we were followed by a little tiny locomotive with two men on it.  On the way from Durango to Silverton (uphill) they concentrated on fire suppression – the locomotive was working hard, and there were embers spewing.  On the way back (downhill) they mostly picked up litter that train passengers dropped.  I saw them pick up several things, so I know that was true.  Sometimes I don't like my fellow humans all that much.  Actually, that's most of the time...

The ride took much longer than I was expecting.  The drive (which is longer and follows a different route) takes almost exactly one hour.  The train ride takes three and a half hours each way – because the train averages just 12 to 15 miles per hour.

The train's route follows the Animas River quite closely.  Most of the time we were in a valley of varying width, from miles to just a few hundred yards.  For perhaps a quarter of the trip, though, we were in a very narrow, deep, rock-sided gorge that was quite beautiful. 

The highlight of the whole day, though, was getting to spend some time with Mike and Diane.  They live in Denver, and Diane had ridden on this train something like 30 years earlier.  She told us about the big changes in both Durango and Silverton since then; both had grown enormously.  We talked about all sorts of things, but most especially about various family memories.  Mike is about 10 years older than I am, and remembers some things that I can't, such as my mom and dad dating :)

When we got back to Durango, we scooted over to the doggie day care and retrieved our mutts.  They were fine, but boy were they happy to see us!  Then we drove back to Silverton and repeated our dinner at Stellar – soup and a pizza again, and just as good as the first time.

A long day, but fun...and very different than what we've been doing!

Along the Animas River, on the way from Durango to Silverton...

In our open train car, Diane (cousin Mike's wife) on left, and my lovely bride on the right.  My photo of cousin Mike made him look so demonic that I couldn't bring myself to post it :)

Water tank, unused today but formerly was used to replenish the water supply in the steam locomotive.  This was of interest to me because of the construction: vertical wooden “staves” with iron hoops tightened with turnbuckles.  We had a tank much like this on the farm I grew up on.

Closer to Silverton, along the way...

One of the three steam locomotives (not ours) used on the railroad...

Animas River gorge, as seen from the train on the way back to Durango...

Closer to Durango on the return trip...