The drive from Durango, Colorado via US 550 to Silverton and Ouray has to be one of the best road trip drives in the U.S. with magnificent mountain views, many sharp switchbacks with slow speed required to safely navigate those sharp curves. The road is often on the very edge of steep drop offs.
There are prominent red top mountain peaks that can be seen for miles along this roadway. Somewhere between Durango and Ouray, I pulled off at a dirt road going into the forest to get a few shots of red top mountains with the typical afternoon storm clouds gathering above them.
Red TopRed Top and CloudsRed Peak and CloudsRed Pate
After photographing an abandoned mine mill near Animas Forks, CO, we drove back along a 4 wheel drive road towards Animas Forks, keeping an eye out for an abandoned truck we had been told about.
We soon spotted the truck a short distance up a spur road.
Final Resting PlaceBelow PeakNo Delivery TodayForlornRIP
Wildflowers and clouds seem to be trying to comfort this old, rusting, abandoned truck in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains.
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,
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
As I was shooting the triple arch of the previous post, I noted an old tree on the sandy ridge below the arch. Readers will already know that I have a fondness for gnarly old trees.
This one reminded me of a weird looking creature crawling along the ground. After taking the photo above, I noted some interesting features of the tree that reinforced my impression that this looked like an unusual creature.
Tree Creature Eyes
This feature looks like eyes of a mysterious creature.
Tree Creature Eyes – Black and White VersionTree Creature Face
