We packed up Sunday and headed North to Durango, CO.. I always get a little thrill when I cross into Colorado, it has always been one of my favorite places. We have been camped at United RV park, just North of Durango on Hwy 550. The Durango-Silverton narrow gauge train passes right through the campground in front of our bus. We took the train on Tuesday up to Silverton and back, it was a perfect day, lots of sun and had a great time. This is the 3rd or 4th time I have ridded the train, it is always a thrilling way to travel through the mountains. On Monday while we were exploring Durango I found a book with 165 4×4 trails in the State of Colorado, that brought a smile to my face. So I picked a few trails in the area and bought the National Geographic topographical maps that cover the areas. I have always wanted to Jeep in the mountains, but never had the opportunity before.
Wednesday we made our first jeep trip up the mountains to Kennebec pass. It was thrilling the pass is at 11,600 feet, it is a very rough road the last 4 or 5 miles. The jeep handled it fine, the old mining road up to the top had just been ploughed, and the snow piled up on each side of the road was about 4’ high. It was a stunning view at the top. We had such a good time that on Thursday we headed up past Silverton, and on to Animas Forks. This is an old mining town that has been preserved by the forest service. It is a ghost town and you can go into many of the old cabins, and buildings. We decided to go on up to Cinnamon Pass. We had to cross an old wooden bridge very short but looked 100 years old. We then headed up the trail. It was very challenging in places but the jeep handled it just fine. Pia was nervous in a few spots, but she was thrilled once we reached the top at 12,640 ft. We laid out a blanket and had lunch, the view was unbelievable. We stayed about an hour or so and headed back down, we got back to the bus about 5:45 just in time to see the last train go by returning from Silverton. Tomorrow we head up the million dollar highway 550 to Ouray. This is a tricky highway especially from Silverton to Ouray, many hairpin turns, and steep grades; it will be exciting in the motor home.
travels with pia.com 