Determined to find an old abandoned truck, that we had been told about, along a 4 wheel drive road, we continued on past Animas Forks.
We had been told that the old truck was just beside the road about a quarter of a mile past Animas Forks. Yet we drove much farther than a quarter of a mile, passing the old mill we had been told about, too.
At some point past the old, abandoned mill, we decided that we had either missed the truck or that it was much farther along the roadway than we had been told. We turned back and stopped to photograph the old mill. As I was getting my camera out, the retired photographer, who had told us about the truck, drove up and informed me that he had been mistaken about the abandoned truck being right next to the road. Instead, it was up on a hill at the end of a short spur road. He even pointed to the truck that was barely visible in the distance.
I shot a few photos of the old mill, before back tracking to the old truck.
We finally arrived in Animas Forks, where we did not intend to linger for long, since we still had to drive back to Silverton, then on to our lodging in Ridgway, CO. and the day was slipping away.
Plaque
One of the best remaining old structures in Animas Forks is the old home of William Duncan. This site was completely covered by an avalanche a few years ago and I was curious to see how it had survived.
Old Home Interior
Water damage to the old wood structure is evident. Maybe some of this was there before the avalanche, but I do not recall seeing such damage the last time I was here.
Ceiling BoardsBare Walls
For its age this old home is in remarkably sound shape.
Registration
Of course, many visitors have to scratch their names and initials into the wall boards, which have a nice aged patina.
Who Does Windows?ChimneyWindow and CeilingWall BoardsWho’s Been HereMountain View 1
The inhabitants here had magnificent mountain views.
Mountain View and StreamMountain View 2
As we were getting back to our vehicle to begin our return trip, the couple we had met on the road at a waterfall, drove up and we chatted again. I learned that the driver was a retired photographer, who was happy not to have to continue making school photographs. He told me about an old mill nearby that his dad had made a painting of many years ago and also about an abandoned truck just a short distant past Animas Forks.
My wife was reluctant, having had enough of this rocky road, but relented to allow me to try to find that old truck.
Since we were in the neighborhood, I made a spur of the moment decision to take a 4 wheel drive road to the ghost mining town of Animas Forks.
I’d been to Animas Forks with my oldest son a few years ago, accessing it via other 4 wheel drive routes. I thought I recalled the route from Silverton being very easy and suitable for even regular passenger vehicles and it is a well maintained gravel road for the initial few miles out of Silverton. However, where it begins to climb into the mountains, it becomes rocky and rough. This route is still classified as an easy 4 wheel drive route, but it is not safe for regular passenger vehicles. But we did encounter a young female driver in a low clearance small passenger vehicle, returning towards Silverton. She was either a skilled driver, crazy or stupid. A bad move could easily result in undercarriage damage or a punctured oil pan, punctured gas tank or high centering on rocks.
This was the first 4 wheel drive road that I have taken in my 4Runner TRD off-road Toyota. I still have road tires on this vehicle, which are only a couple of years old with low mileage, so I was not overly concerned about the tires, but knew I needed to exercise more care in driving than if I had more suitable tires for such roads.
Waterfall and Mountain StreamConvergence
This mountain road, like all here, is scenic with great views of mountains, mountain streams and waterfalls.
Mountain StreamStreamingRocks in the StreamDown Hill RushDownstream Rush
Just after shooting at this waterfall, another driver pulled in behind my vehicle. He was “local”, being from the Durango area and knew this area well. We had been driving for awhile, making slow progress and I had no idea how far we were from Animas Forks, but he assured me we were not far away now.
After departing Santa Fe, New Mexico we headed to Colorado, stopping for a couple of nights in Durango.
I had anticipated spending most of our time in downtown Durango, allowing my wife to shop to her hearts’ content; but she was not interested in shopping here.
Our motel was near the Animas River, with a walking/bicycle path along the river. We checked out that path, but discovered that it was not a great walk at this location, being completely open with no shade and it was warmer in the sunshine than we expected. There was a pedestrian bridge on this path with good views of the river and that was as far along this path as we ventured.
We drove a few miles into the downtown area, intending to have dinner at one of the many restaurants there, but we could find no available parking. After a number of circuits through downtown, we abandoned it and finally found a decent Mexican restaurant in a small shopping center off of the main roadway between our motel and downtown. We enjoyed our dinner at outdoor seating at that location and judging by the number of Hispanic customers, it appeared to be a popular restaurant with the locals.
There are numerous parks in Durango and long pleasant walking/biking paths along the Animas River, which we checked out the full day we had in the area.
Animas River 1, Durango, CORiver RocksAnimas River 2, Durango, CORiver Floaters
I noted that the two youngest kids in the front of this raft were more interested in me than the river. It must have been the phone camera that I pointed at them.
KayakersModern Art
There are modern art work pieces in the parks.
Modern Art
We drove around the local area to check out the countryside, driving up into a national forest and along numerous backroads. Along one of these roadways, I spotted a large rafter or flock of wild turkeys, maybe a couple of dozen.
Small, rural towns across the U.S have experienced dramatic economic downturns as the agrarian industry evolved from one that required much manpower to one that relied more upon mechanization (machine labor).
I see much evidence of this in my road trips, occasionally taking time to photograph the abandoned businesses and homes, either in small rural towns or those scattered across rural farm and ranch lands.
Fading Facade15170
The title for this photo is taken from the street number that is hanging upside down on the post to the left of the door.
Wild Horse School
In spite of the obvious economic hardship indicated by numerous abandoned homes and businesses in one small community, this old school seem to be well cared for.
Out to Pasture
Old farm machinery rusting away in this farm field, may have been some of the initial machines that started the economic downturn in this small community.
Alone on the Plains
This lone tree in a vast, post harvest farm field, beneath the wide open sky caused me to pull over for a photo.
Until the next adventure and/or desperate need to photograph something overcomes me,
As a side trip from Capitol Reef National Park, we decided to hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls in the Escalante National Monument. The trailhead to this waterfall is just off of Utah Route 12 near Boulder. We traveled this route numerous times going to and from Torrey and the southern portion of Capitol Reef National Park.
The trail to the falls is only about a mile one way, but it is very steep over slick rock for the first portion, before becoming moderately level, then moderately steep just before the base of the falls. It is so steep that not only is coming back up the trail strenuous, but going down the trail takes some effort to avoid slipping and falling. There were a few places on the trail that required big steps down and up.
The information we found for the trail says the grade is 14% at the top and my son’s trail app showed as much as 20+% grade over some portions. Anyone reasonable fit can do this trail, but care is advised.
We had planned to make the round trip to the falls in about an hour. When we signed the trailhead register, we noted that the two previous hikers had taken hours on the trail, which gave us pause to consider whether much of that time was due to the strenuous nature of the trail.
Anyway, we proceeded cautiously down the trail. I knew the trip out would require me to stop to take periodic breathers, but I had no doubt that I could safely navigate down and back.
Due to the steepness and strenuous nature of the trail, I elected not to carry the weight of my heavy DSLR and lens. So the few photos in this post are via my iPhone.
Upper Calf Creek Falls and Pool, iPhone PhotoUpper Calf Creek Falls, iPhone PhotoUpper Calf Creek Falls, iPhone Pano
We took time at the base of the falls for photography, snacking and hydrating, before heading back to the trailhead. Our round trip time was 90 minutes, 1.5 times as long as we had anticipated. The additional 30 minutes was mostly due to the strenuous nature of the trail both going down and coming out.
We had done the trail to the Lower Calf Creek falls years ago. That trail is three times as long, but mostly on flat, sandy ground along the creek bed.
Staring at this old tree I see what appears to be a fierce guardian of the hills, rising up from the desert sand, spreading its tentacles and roaring from its upper, dark center. (Viewing on a large screen can help viewers see what I see, or else maybe I’m off my tree).
ContortionistTwistedBentonite Hills 15Rest Time
This concludes the Capitol reef portion of this trip. I’ve just got a few other miscellaneous items and experiences from this trip to share.
Bentonite Hills 1, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree
On the final day of our time in Capitol Reef National Park, we photographed around some of the many bentonite hills in the northern portion of the park and/or along the roadway into Cathedral Valley. The area where we photographed may actually be outside the park boundary on BLM or private land. We had driven past these hills numerous times during out trips into and out of Cathedral Valley.
Bentonite Hills 2, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old Tree
There were a number of old, gnarly trees in this area, so I used those and other desert vegetation as foreground for photographs of the colorful hills.
Bentonite Hills 3, Desert, Bentonite Hills and Old TreeBentonite Hills 4, Desert and Bentonite HillsScrubby Desert Vegetation, Rocks and Bentonite HillsHard Rock Desert and Bentonite Hills, Early Golden HourBentonite Hills 5, Bentonite Hills Golden HourBentonite Hills 6, Bentonite Hills Golden HourBentonite Hills 7, Bentonite Hills Golden HourBentonite Hills 8, Bentonite Hills Golden Hour
Heading northwards along a dirt road in the northern portion of Capitol Reef National Park (actually, this is probably outside the park boundary, maybe on private land or BLM public land), is this abandoned drilling rig. I think it was a water well rig. It reminds me of the old cable tool rigs used in the very early days of oil well drilling, with its wooden mast and wooden flywheel.
Desert Grafiti, iPhone Photo
The old truck body has been used as an artist canvas and for target shooting by someone or someones.
There was a watering facility near this old rig for a local cattle herd. Some of the cattle watched me as I watched them to be sure none of them took exception to my presence.
One never knows what one might find in the great open spaces of the western U.S.
Desert Overlook, Capitol Reef National Park, iPhone PhotoDesert Overlook, Capitol Reef National Park, iPhone PhotoPainted Hills, Capitol Reef National Park, iPhone Photo
My readers have already seen many photos of some of the fantastic, massive geological features in the Cathedral Valley portion of Capitol Reef National Park. The long loop road through this area passes many such features. We did not have time to explore around all of these and certainly not time to visit each area for golden hour sunrise or sunset photography.
But we did stop and walk around at some of the more easily accessible areas near the roadway. Often, I would use my iPhone camera to capture the scenes, rather than lugging around a heavy DSLR and lens.
Magic Seeker, iPhone PhotoDesert Vortex – Sky and Earth, iPhone PhotoRock Power, iPhone PhotoCommander/Tower of Power, iPhone PhotoDesert Sentinels/Commander and Sidekick, iPhone PhotoCathedral Valley Scene, iPhone PhotoSky Partitioner, iPhone PhotoDesert Sun, iPhone PhotoSerpent Sky, iPhone PhotoHalo, iPhone Photo
