Day 3: Silverton and Durango

the original plan for today was a loop out to Lake City and back including the Alpine Loop. But it snowed last night at higher elevations. The loop we were going to ride involved four jeep road passes higher than 11,000 feet, the highest at 12,800 feet. We decided this might not be a good idea with the possibility of snow on the rocks and trails at the higher elevations.

So we came up with a plan B, which was an all pavement day, out the Million Dollar Highway, through Silverton, and then on to Durango for lunch, and then back to Ouray. It turned out to be a beautiful day. There was some rain in the morning but it stopped by the time we headed out, and as the day progressed we got more sun. There were mountainsides with amazing yellow colors of aspens. It was a beautiful ride.

Here are a couple of pictures of the Red Mountain with snow on it.

Here is the Red Mountain at the end of the day on the way back, with a lot of the snow gone.

Here are some pictures on the way to Silverton, and in Silverton. It is an old mining town at about 9,500 feet elevation.

Interesting sign in restaurant window in Silverton.

Some hot springs on the way to Durango.

Here we are back in Ouray. The sun is lighting up the peaks gold and there is a bit of snow visible at the top.