In the morning, I decide that my next stop will be Gallup, New Mexico, but with a intermediate stop at the Petrified Forest National Monument. I must do the Blue Badlands trail there again, it’s a sin to be this close and just drive by. I‘ve seen about everything in this Monument on past visits, but I still feel the need to stop at half the roadside pullouts to take another look. At my age, you sometimes have to wonder if or when you’ll ever see this agin, it’s heavy stuff to think about ?
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| Great mountain background |
As I drive into Gallup, I don’t remember the city being so depressed looking, there are miles of run down looking commercial areas leading into the downtown. The old downtown area however looks improved from my previous visit I see more Indian arts and crafts shops and it’s apparent that the city is promoting the Indian arts as they should as it’s the major tourist draw here. It’s also evident that the Navajo Nation is heavily involved as they should be.
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| For the birds |
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| Navajo rugs are plentiful here |
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| Amazing stuff inside a traditional Trading Post |
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| Beautiful courthouse |
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| Public Library |
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| El Moro Theater |
I overnight at Walmart, it cooled off nicely after dark, enough to use my sleeping bag. This Walmart is quite different from our local one in Tucson, but also similar. In Tucson the customers seem to be about 50% hispanic while this store they seem to be about 80 % Navajo.
It’s day three now and I decide to hang here for another day to explore the downtown and visit the nearby Red Rock Park for a short hike. I’m impressed with how cleaned up the downtown is looking. In the afternoon, I drive to the Red Rock Church Rock trailhead where I take a 1-2 mile hike part way to the impressive Church Rock. It was full sun and pretty hot, no one else was out there and I didn’t want to overdue it. It’s a beautiful hike in an amazing slick rock canyon with great views in all directions. Afterwards, I visit the museum adjacent to the Convention Center and Rodeo arena at the park. This is an amazing venue for all kinds of activities, there is a monster truck event this weekend. There is a balloon festival here in early December that they advertise as being the second largest in the US.
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| The red sand was blowing |
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| Lots of slick rock |
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| Church Rock in the distance |
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| A beautiful trail |
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| The Convention Center and Museum |
I go to the historic El Rancho Hotel and Motel for dinner, many western movie stars stayed there back in the day. The lobby is covered with photos of the stars and I expect the rooms are equally nostalgic. Sorry but the restaurant was just average.
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| Home of the movie stars |
On day 4, I am traveling across Navajo country on route 491 north towards Farmington, New Mexico. This is wide open ranch land virtually empty with a few small houses, virtually unchanged from hundreds of years ago. I pass through one major town, Crownpoint, NM with an actual shopping center, a hospital and a college all surrounded by modest tribal prefab type houses.
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| A barren open landscape |
I then come upon an entrance for a BLM area that leads into the Bisti / De-Na-Zin wilderness area. I pulled in and traveled down the rough gravel road a while hoping for a sign or map to give some indication of how many miles it is to a a camping area or anything, but there was nothing, so I turned around. A few miles down the road there was a scenic area with incredible rock forms, I’m sure it's a preview of what would be seen in the wilderness area if I had continued down the road. I make a note of this for future investigation.
Approaching Farmington, I suddenly approach green farm fields, I suppose that is where Farmington got it’s name This is all made possible due to irrigation and water which is more available here.
Farmington has a beautiful prosperous looking downtown with a recently restructured Main street alignment with several roundabouts and no traffic signals. It seems to work well here and really improves the downtown appearance. I park and scout around taking photos as usual, many good photos, but photos that will never be seen.
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| Main Street Farmington |
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| The Totah Theater, would love to see the inside |
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| Three Rivers Brewery |
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| Crazy house mural |
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| Farmington was an oil boom town |
In the evening, I stop at the Three River Brewery for a couple of beers and have a most interesting conversation with a very friendly young Navajo man. He spoke perfect english and I learned that he grew up being shuttled between a primitive Navajo traditional lifestyle with one parent and another non traditional relative in California. It was a most interesting conversation, actually the highlight of my day.
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| Many interesting beers here |
It’s now day 5 of this adventure, as I have coffee and a muffin at Artifacts Gallery and Bake Shop, an old lumber yard building that has been repurposed into a coffee shop, art gallery and an artist workshop. The building interior is also a work of art that was most impressive.
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| Very interesting place, love it ! |
I then head to Aztec, New Mexico to visit the Aztec Ruins. I've been here several times but it's always remarkable. The ruins were initially constructed in around 1,000 AD are still in remarkable condition, these dates are confirmed by testing of the original wood in the ceiling beams.
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| This is the reconstructed Kiva |
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| This settlement is huge and in remarkable condition |
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| Much of this is original wood dated from approximately 1,000 AD |
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| Great mural in downtown Aztec |
I then get on route 550 north heading for Durango, Colorado, it’s a delight to see snow capped distant mountains again. Once in Durango, I park and walk around for about 20,000 steps up and down the vibrant Main Street.
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| The El Rancho is my kind of place |
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| The 11th St. Station with its industrial-chic, open air seating is not |
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| The Diner was more to my liking, but I didn't get there |
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| The Strater Hotel is a beauty inside and out |
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| The Animas River is beautiful |
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| Rafters on the river |
In any city, it’s often a little dicey finding a good, safe overnight sleeping spot. Durango discourages any parking overnight in the central downtown area with signs stating that no parking is allowed between 2 AM and 6 AM. I parked at night a few blocks away near a church in a residential area which looked fine, but then at about midnight I heard people talking and shining a flashlight across the street which alarmed me and I quickly left the area. I moved to an Animas River trailhead area that I had used on a previous pass through here and all was good except for some lost sleep.
In morning, day 6, needing to do some laundry, an internet search located a nearby laundromat, super clean with machines in good working condition. I then go to the downtown farmers market, a very ecological focused market geared towards organically grown vegetables. There was even a vender, the 4 Corners worm Farm, promoting the value of growing your worms to improve the soil.
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| Worms rule ! |
I then took the free shuttle bus across the street at the transportation center to the Animas River Days Festival at the White Water Park with river rafting, kyacting, river surfing competitions on the Animas River. The Animas River is flowing high and fast presently, caused by the usual spring snow melt from the mountains. It’s a popular well attended two day event with food, river gear and beverage vendors.
In the evening I go to the highly popular 11th St. Station to eat, have an exotic (for me) healthy bowl from one of the food truck vendors. Afterwards I happen upon the Star Light Lounge where I find the most bizarre homeless / hippie/ druggie group of people I’ve been exposed to in a long time. The following video will explain far better than I ever could. Actually I found it quite refreshing, entertaining and at the same time king of depressing.
It’s now Sunday, June 2, day 7 of this adventure, as I drive to my next stop of Silverton, Colorado. It’s a beautiful scenic ride on route 550, with non stop “Polaroid moments” for those who remember the days of film cameras. The route passes the Purgatory Ski Resort and then climbs up Coal Bank Pass at 10,659 ft and Molas Pass at 10,899 ft elevation.
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| The Aspen trees are such a contrast to the bare rock |
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| Another four miles uphill to Molas Pass Summit |
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| I come around the bend and there is Silverton below |
As I was leaving Durango I had waited at a street crossing for the Durango to Silverton excursion train to pass on its way to Silverton. I’ve taken this train two times in the past and it’s a great ride. On arrival in Silverton I saw it parked, or “tied down” in railroad lingo and about an hour latter a second train pulled by a Steam Engine arrived. The economy of Silverton revolves to a large extent on this excursion train which brings many tourists into town, who then have a couple of hours to shop and dine at the many businesses. The arrival of the railroad enabled the mines and Silverton to prosper and that relationship still continues today.
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| The downtown view in Silverton is hard to beat ! |
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| Great facade at Natalia's Restaurant |
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| The diesel train has arrived |
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| An hour or so later the Steam Engine arrives |
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| The gift shops are busy when the train is in town |
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| The Train Shop |
In the afternoon, I take a ride to the Mayflower Gold Mill and see that they have a self guided mine tour, but I am too late. I arrive just at closing time and am meet at the gate by a man who has been involved with the mine for many years, he asks where I am from and when I say Tucson he grins and says that he went to school at the U of A and lived a few blocks away from it in the days of his youth, he seemed be a character and I bet he could tell some stories about those days in Tucson.
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| A great view near the Gold Mill |
June 3, day 8, I sleep overnight on a town street with the temperature just above freezing at sun rise, quite refreshing. I feel like a hike today, there are many around here to choose from but most are long and hard and I’m looking for maybe a more mellow hike. I decide to drive about 5 miles south on route 550 to the Molas trailhead, the plan being to just do couple of miles and then turn around. The trail climbs to a ridge line and I could hear the sound of a waterfall a short distance away but trail leads away from it. In about a half mile I see a side trail heading downhill towards a creek, but once there there is mo way across with getting very wet. I turn around and start heading back, but this time I’m looking for other small side trails and see another one. I take it and the sound of the waterfall is getting louder and finally I get to the rivers edge with a beautiful waterfall view making my day a success.
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| The way a hike should look |
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| The waterfall was great |
In the afternoon, I drive back through Silverton onto a gravel road that leads to several old mines and the remains of old mining towns. This is premium ATV and Jeep country with miles of trails. I don’t know why these outdoors enthusiasts must drive their ATM’s, Jeeps and pickup trucks at breakneck speed with bellowing dust clouds in their wake, but I do know why, they’re assholes ! Just maybe they could see some wildlife or enjoy the scenery if they slowed down. On second thought, on my next time here I'm going to rent an ATV and raise hell on these roads !
Afterwards, I stop at the Mayflower Gold Mill again, it's open now and I take the self guided tour which is far more amazing than expected. It was built in 1929 and operated under a few different companies until 1991. Somehow, a fortunate deal was made with the owners to turn it over to the historical society intact with all its original equipment. It appears that on the the last day of operation, they shut everything down, walked away and amazingly the building and all its original equipment were left intact and still remain. It also has one of the only remaining aerial cable trams that was used to transport the ore from surrounding mines to the mill, it is also is mostly intact. The Mayflower Mill is now a registered National Landmark and really a sight to see ! The old man (my age) who I had talked to yesterday, wasn’t there, but his son was and he seemed to be as cool as his dad, we had a good conversation about the mines history.
https://sanjuancountyhistoricalsociety.org/mayflower-mill.html
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| A long run for a gold Mine |
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| The ore was delivered to the mill by a cable tram system |
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| Lots of spare parts remain |
In the evening, I go about 4 miles north on route 550 to the Kendall US Forest Service dispersed campground in the forest adjacent to South Mineral Creek. The creek is running high and overflowing its bank in places and the mountain views from the forested large open campground are beautiful, it's a perfect base camp for this area and you can stay free for 14 days, that’s a deal !
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| Great open parking area with fabulous view |
It’s now day 9 and I need to keep moving, my time is winding down, I’m continuing north today on route 550 towards Ouray and Ridgway, Colorado. Route 550, also known as the million Dollar Highway, is extremely scenic especially approaching the Red Mountain area which was one of the largest mining districts in the west. Most of the shaded or northern slopes of the mountains still have pockets of snow and the lush green of the Aspen leaves is magical.
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| The Yankee Girl was one of the largest |
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| A pano view |
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| Old mine workers houses |
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| Old railroad trestle |
I made a brief stop in Ouray, Colorado to walk the downtown area with its beautiful Victorian buildings against a scenic mountain backdrop.
I then continued on to Ridgway, Colorado where I basically do the same thing. Ridgway is another amazing, charming high quality of life town with many restaurants, stores and a beautiful town park and library. In the center of town is the historic original stone fire station which is being rebuilt as the center piece of a colossal town center building that must be costing several millions. I went into a nearby cowboy clothing shop to look around, they had a line of great shirts, but I just don’t think there are many "real" cowboys that are willing to buy $150 dollar shirts.
I thought about staying in Ridgway for the night, but there was nothing exciting going on so I continued on to Montrose, Colorado where I found a car wash to hose down the van (that's exciting) and do some shopping and explore Main Street. It was late afternoon by then and I decided that it was enough action for one day, I’m staying over here. I ate at the very popular Colorado Boy Pizza, it seems to one of the highest rated Pizza restaurants in this area and I would have to agree, but I still prefer basic old Tomato Pie back in New Jersey. I searched for a nearby dispersed campsite for the night but found nothing, as a result it was another Walmart.
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| Bull Whackers and Mule Skinners, very interesting |
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| There was a good title for this, I think it was; A bad idea |
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| Looks like an interesting brew pub, but I've never been here when it's open |
This is as far north as I’m going, it’s time to start heading back to Tucson. I have two alternatives, an eastern route or a western route. The eastern route takes me back through the same areas that I had taken to get here. I don’t want that, I want to return on a different route, so it will be western route even if it is longer. If I had 4 wheel drive there would be more direct mountain road alternatives, but I don’t.
Stay tuned for the return leg of the trip ...
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