Sunday, September 8, 2019
Last night we were in a quandary regarding our activities for today. Our original plans were to drive to Telluride, enjoying the scenery along the way, spending some time in Telluride and making the return trip. The weather forecast just didn't look good for any of the San Juan National Forrest for Sunday. Our alternate plans were to go east to Mesa Verde or south to Farmington, NM. These locations appeared to be out of the bad weather zone. This morning we decided we really wanted to see Telluride so the decision made we set out on the 111 mile each way trek. We are glad we did.
We were in some light rain both going and on the return trip, as well as some drizzle while in Telluride, but it didn't hinder our enjoyment of the trip.
Telluride is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The first gold mining claim was made in the mountains above Telluride in 1875 and early settlement of what is now Telluride followed. The town itself was founded in 1878 as "Columbia", but due to confusion with a California town of the same name, was renamed Telluride in 1887.
Here is an interesting fact about the town; In June 1889, Butch Cassidy, before becoming associated with his gang, "the wild bunch", robbed the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. This was his first major recorded crime. He exited the bank with $24,580, and later became famous as a bank robber.
Well, so much for the commentary. What follows are a few of my photos from today, some with captions. Enjoy...
Telluride and Mountain Village provide the gondola ride at no charge. We walked around this beautiful, high-end skiing community and had lunch at Crazy Elk Pizza. The pizza was excellent.
The following photos are from our return trip.
Tomorrow we are taking the Durango-Silverton Railroad to Silverton. We elected to take the bus up in the morning, spend a couple of hours in Silverton and take the Train back to Durango. I chose the open air gondola on the train for photos. I hope Kay doesn't freeze!