Ophir Pass and the Million Dollar Highway

About twenty-five miles north of Durango US 550 begins to climb into the Rocky Mountains on a section of the road referred to as the Million Dollar Highway from south of Silverton to north of Ouray. 

Going Up!

Andrew's Lake

Molas Pass Summit - 10,910 feet

The views were outstanding.

We started up the Ophir Pass Road just north of Silverton. This is a four-wheel drive/high clearance vehicle only, ten-mile "shortcut" over to Telluride.

 Looks pretty easy from here.

Approaching the summit.

The scenery was beautiful.

We made it to the top. 

With four-wheel low engaged, we were ready to go down the other side.

The road got pretty rough on the west (desent) side.

This little marmet was warning us - "it won't be easy!"

The steep shelf road was one lane, but two directions. We sure didn't want to encounter anyone coming up.

After the pass, the surface changed from one lane gravel to one lane loose boulders. At one point, Virginia had to get out and spot for Kurt because of a drop-off on one side and a large boulder on the other.

We made it to Ophir. The road improves after here.

Here is the shelf road down the west side of the mountain.

Aah, back on pavement.

Made it to downtown Telluride (elevation 8750 feet) by lunchtime.

Following our loop through Ridgeway, we then passed through Ouray.

Ouray sits in a bowl at 7800 feet, we had to climb out of it.

Finally passing through the 13' 7" tunnel we were warned about all day. No problem for the Ranger.

Bear Creek Falls in the Uncompahgre River Canyon.

The Yankee Girl was one of the most valuable silver mines in the United States.

The Yankee Girl Shaft went nearly straight down, 1200 vertical feet.

Here we are back at Molas Pass on our way "home" to Durango.

Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep National Monument

Canyon of the Ancients National Monument

The Canyons of the Ancients National Monument (CANM), run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) covers over 170,000 acres of high desert in the southwest corner of Colorado.

The Anasazi Heritage Center, a very modern visitor center and museum, is in Dolores, Colorado.

The Visitor Center has elaborate gardens surrounding it.

Lowrey Pueblo at CANM 1060-1170 AD

Thousands of archeological sites have been identified in CANM. We chose to visit the Lowry Pueblo because it was easy to access (about 3 miles on gravel) and well developed.

Lowry Pueblo was named after an early 20th century homesteader.

Peek a Boo

The Great Kiva, 47 feet in diameter, is the largest kiva found in the area. It is believed that the masonary work in the floor of the kiva represents the different seasons, summer and winter.

We had our picnic lunch at Lowry Pueblo and proceeded on to Hovenweep.

Hovenweep National Monument

Our loop tour through Canyons of the Ancients included going through the southeast corner of Utah into Hovenweep National Monument.

Rim Trail Loop, a one-and-a-half-mile trail begins behind the Visitor Center.

Twin towers, one of many ruins along the Rim Trail, originally had sixteen rooms and was built above the bedrock on the canyon rim.

Holly Unit

There are five outlying units beyond the Visitor Center, all accessed via unimproved dirt roads. We had time to visit three of these.

The roads start out as smooth dirt and then become large rocks. We were glad for our 4 X 4 high clearance Ranger.

Holly was built at the head of Keeley Canyon.

Holly Tower perched on a tall boulder in the canyon, was apparently built from the inside, one floor at a time.

Tilted Tower was built atop a large sandstone boulder that shifted sometime after 1300 AD. The upper stories tumbled into the canyon.

Horseshoe & Hackberry Unit

Kurt took an unofficial side trail to overlook the canyon and found himself in a field of boulders.

It is believed this was an observation or signaling tower.

The tower overlooks Hackberry Canyon.

The two towers stand on the rim at both sides of the cliff dwellings below.

During our tour of the outlying units, we did not encounter another visitor. 

Cajon Unit

Cajon Canyon is small and the buildings here are clustered together with a panoramic view of the plains below.

More dwellings exist below the canyon rim close to the spring.

These reddish-brown nodules in the sandstone are naturally occurring, hard masses of iron oxide and calcium carbonate that were deposited as mineral water moved through the sandstone. They are called concretions. We saw many examples of these, some even looked like old iron pipes and others appeared solid.

Mesa Verde National Park

After driving 53 miles north from New Mexico, we arrived in Durango in time for our 45th wedding anniversary. We had a very nice dinner in downtown Durango at The Roost to celebrate. 

Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde was created as a National Park in 1906 to preserve the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people. This National Park sits atop and around a huge flattop mesa. Mesa Verde is Spanish for "green table".  It had been a long time since we had visited here, so we thought we would spend another day exploring the area. We actually visited sites that we didn't have time to see previously.

If you look closely, you can see the park road as it climbs and curves to the top of the mesa.

We took the Mesa Top Loop as well as the Wetherill Mesa Drive.

Spruce Tree House 1200-1278

The Spruce Tree House is the third largest and best-preserved cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde.

This pueblo was named for the towering fir trees that were mistaken for spruce trees.

Square Tower House 1200-1300

At 27 feet tall, Square Tower House is the tallest remaining structure in the park.

Pit Houses 550-750 

Before the cliff dwellers, the first Ancestral Pueblo people lived in pit houses.

This pit house was reconstructed in 1960.

Cliff Palace House

This is North America's largest cliff dwelling, with over 150 rooms and 21 kivas.

Step House Trail

We took a mile and a half self-guided hike down to Step House. Fortunately, the approaching thunderstorm veered to the south.

This is the only cliff dwelling you can visit without reserving a ranger guided tour.

Step House is at the end of the Wetherill Mesa. 

Two villages from two different time periods occupied this area. The pit house builders during the late 500-600 and the cliff dwellers who occupied this area in the 1200's.

Petroglyphs under the cliff and chipped into the stone are still visible today.

One of the kivas of the Step House pueblo.

Park Point Fire Tower

Park Point is the highest point in Mesa Verde at 8,572 feet.

Distant isolated afternoon thunderstorms made an interesting sky.

The fire tower is still staffed, but not as much now due to modern technology.

View of Sleeping Ute Mountain.