August 18, 2019 - San Juan Skyway Roundtrip

Driving the San Juan Skyway was the agenda for day and we did it – 285 miles round trip!We started from Montrose and headed south. Our first stop was at Box Canyon Falls just outside of Ouray. The admission for seniors was only $4.00. We walked back to the falls and followed the metal catwalk to see the falls. They descend 85 feet and the sound was amazing! It was difficult to get a good picture because of the steep, narrow ravine, but the water was gushing!This is a video of the falls. https://youtu.be/lZC42IwqobQWe didn’t take the upper hike to the catwalk over the falls – that is a bit high for me!Back at the entrance we spent a little time watching the chipmunks and birds that were hanging out.We continued south on Hwy. 550 enjoying the beautiful scenery. Ouray calls itself the Switzerland of America, and the mountains that surround the town are definitely beautiful.We made several stops along the way to marvel at the scenery. As we got closer to Silverton, we stopped at the Idarado Mine overlook. There were several signs telling about the Durango-Silverton Railway and the construction of the Idarado Mine. It was interesting to read that below us, there was a 5-1/2 mile tunnel that that connects the Idarado Mine with the town of Telluride!As we were looking at the scenery, we happened to notice several emergency vehicles parked up the road with their lights on. That’s when we saw the car that had gone off the road and flipped on the hillside. Once we were on the road, it was one lane traffic going by the crash site. It made me be even more cautious than I already am when driving!Another mine along the road.Next stop on the agenda was Molas Pass. We had a beautiful view of Molas Lake with the mountains behind it.The wildflowers were everywhere and provided a nice contrast to the mountains.We had a picnic lunch stop in Durango before heading on to Mancos and Rico. Rico is tiny and many of the buildings seemed vacant. Heading north from Rico we made a few more stops to take pictures of the mountains. This is Sheep Mountain below. These are near Sheep Mountain.Carolyn spotted a deer near the little creek, but I didn’t see it.Our next destination was Telluride. We drove through town then back to the Gondola Station to take a ride up the mountain.The views going up the mountain, then back down again were breathtaking!This is a view of Telluride from the San Sophia station right by the Coonskin Black Diamond ski trail. It was definitely steep! After riding the gondola (which is free!) to the top and back, we spent some time walking around the downtown area. It is a cute town and I can imagine how busy it is during ski season! At 5:30, we knew we needed to get back on our way to Montrose. The road is much wider and not as winding as the route down to Durango, so we made better time. We did stop one more time before we got to Ridgway to take more pictures. While the mountains here are beautiful, we decided the other side of the route is much more dramatic.After a dinner stop in town, we headed back to our condo for the night. While the map says 6 hours, 16 minutes, it took us 11 hours and 30 minutes. It was a good day with lots of beautiful scenery and memories!