Plan B Rocks!

Since our plans to visit Mesa Verde fell through (thank you, &^*#$%^ politicians), (I just love doing that), we proceeded to plan B, which was to take the San Juan Skyway.

The San Juan Skyway is a 262 mile highway loop north from Cortez, CO, through several small towns: Dolores, Rico, Stoner, and along some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.

The fall foliage is in full display in these parts, and we couldn't drive a mile without seeing another picture that had to be taken.

We had to stop and take a look at Lizard Head Peak:

Which is at Lizard Head Pass, elev 10,222 feet!  They do grow 'em tall out here!

We made a quick side trip into Telluride, just to see out the upper crust lives.  This is the valley where the town is located; the ski runs are on the mountains around the town.

Beautiful valley, but we didn't even get out of the truck there.  Just drove through and waved goodbye.

Our next stop on the Skyway was a little mining town named Placerville:

A neat little town stuck in the 1890's, albeit with an operational Post Office.  The outside of the building is like most of the buildings in town, weathered and worn.

Our next stop was along the road near Ridgway, CO, where the view of the mountains was perfect.  A nice couple from Grand Junction took our pic, and told us that the land was owned by the Double RL Ranch, which is owned by Ralph Lauren, of clothing fame.

After making the "turn" at Ridgway, we drove to the old mining town of Ouray.  Ouray is tucked into an Alpine valley, and is, without a doubt, the most beautiful area we saw today.

The climb out of Ouray was very steep and crooked, and Donna covered her head and talked to the dog for about a half hour! We made our way to Silverton, Colorado, which is another town just like Telluride, where the mining and history are still there, but everything has a glitzy, shiny, touristy facade.  Not our cup of tea.

South on 550 to Durango and then west to Cortez completed our days journey.  A long day, yes, but one filled with hundreds of memories of mountains, trees, historical sites, and quality time together.  We went over 3 tall mountain passes, the highest of which was Red Mountain Pass at 11,075 feet.  We checked out the remnants of any number of old mines and learned that hundreds of millions of dollars in Silver were taken from these hills.  The southern Rockies are spectacular!