2016 (Our Momma Remembrance) Colorado Trip: Day Six

Day 6: Sunday, October 9, 2016

Sunday morning started out wet and dreary. But there was nothing lackluster about our breakfast at Oscar’s Café. Ever since I read reports that their pancakes would fill an entire plate, I had been looking forward to visiting this fine eating establishment just a hop, skip, and a jump from the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Depot. According to Googlemaps you can walk from the diner to the train station in less than ten minutes. Oscar’s is just a few hundred feet from US Highway 550 N, otherwise known as Camino Del-Rio in downtown Durango. With their signature red and black-tiled floors to red swivel seats at the counter, this breakfast and lunch only restaurant, located in Town Plaza has that feel of a 50s-Style Diner. The only thing missing would be the mini-jukeboxes on the tables. To visit their website, it is www.oscarscafedurango.com.

There was a line outside the door, but at least we were under an awning, so the rain did not bother us. The wait was worth it. Inside, the atmosphere was charming. They even have an  electric train, that is a miniature version of the Durango & Silverton train, high on the wall, about a foot from the ceiling. The train runs constantly and is a sight to watch. The restaurant is small and compact, so I’m not sure how they handle seating post-Covid, but the wait and tight squeeze were well worth it. I was so happy that I did not order two of the outstanding blueberry pancakes, as the cake, did indeed, fill the entire plate. A side of bacon and hash browns completed my meal and left me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

The drive north along US Highway 550 was a little over forty-eight miles from Durango to Silverton and while the train ride of the previous day took three and a half hours, this drive by automobile would have taken only an hour and three minutes, according to Googlemaps. That is, if not for all the photo ops along the way. I don’t remember exactly how long it took to make this journey, but I can’t wait to do it again. The difference between this day’s journey and the previous one, by train was as stark as night and day. Whereas on Saturday, when we were traveling up the side of the mountain via an old-fashioned steam engine train with the east-rising sun streaming in our faces, Sunday’s journey was dampened by low-lying clouds and punctuated by periodic rain squalls. This, however, actually made better photographic opportunities as I did not have the glare from the sun. We just couldn’t see the mountain peaks very often. While I took lots of photographs, over 200, on this day’s drive, Doug took his notes about what we were seeing. I’ll let him tell the tale:

“Traveling north on US-550 from Durango to Silverton, the phrase ‘the hills are ablaze’ with color doth truly apply. Magnificent stands of aspen in all of their resplendent autumnal glory utterly carpet the mountainsides. According to comments in One Drive in a Million (page 17) which pertain to mile marker 44, ‘you are now in the Canadian life zone, which lies between 8,500 and 10,000 feet in elevation. [Here] you encounter vast forests of aspen, pine and fir. [It] is the aspen that mark the seasons in the high country. The graceful white trunks, supporting plumes of fiery reds, oranges and yellows, make autumn in the Rockies a memorable experience.’”

*** One Drive in a Million: A mile-by-mile guide to the Million Dollar Highway and the San Juan Skyway is a 96-page book by Branson Reynolds that gives a description of each mile along the 236-mile drive along the San Juan Skyway in southwestern Colorado. It was published in 1994 by Desert Dolphin, Incorporated. The drive starts in Durango, the largest city along the route, in the lower right corner, and traverses north through the towns of Silverton, Ouray, and Ridgway, before turning west by southwest to the small waypoint known as Placerville. From there, the route takes you almost due east to the city called Telluride, a magnificent ski resort. From the place that started Robert Leroy Parker, otherwise known as Butch Cassidy, along his trail to infamy (he robbed his first bank), the skyway turned southwest through Rico, Dolores, and Cortez before turning back to the east and a return to Durango. This is one of the finest drives in the lower 48, especially if you take it in the fall.

After climbing about 2,500 feet from Durango, US-550 took us to the Cascade Village, a really nice resort at around 9,000 feet. It took us a little over twenty minutes, driving time, to cover the five miles, as I did stop, along the way, to take photographs. The aspen, for the most part, were in peak color, though if you look closely at the picture below, you will notice that many are in the lime-green stage that is a precursor to the ultimate look.

The aspen foliage began to thin during the final couple of miles on the approach rout to Coal Bank Pass, a little over six miles from Cascade Village. but was nowhere nearly as sparse as the aspen stands viewed near Silverton from the Durango and Silverton Railroad yesterday.

A couple miles north of Coal Bank Pass, there was a pullout at mile marker 59, with a sign telling the tale of the Lime Creek Burn in 1879. Doug noted in his 2007 trip with our good friend Steve, that the view from this pullout was “absolutely extraordinary.” He said that he had never seen a mountain that was almost exclusively covered with aspen, and that “probably 90% of that foliage was at or near its electric gold peak.” Of course, that was almost ten years before we visited, and about a week earlier (October 3, 2007 vs. October 9, 2016). And as we had already been informed by a park ranger at the Ridgway State Park, gale-force winds had swept through the area around Ridgway and the Ridgway State Park forty-five miles to the north a few weeks before we visited Colorado. How much of that front visited this area is unknown, but there were extensive areas that had been heavily defoliated by the time we got there.

It was a little over thirty-four miles from Durango to Coal Bank Pass and another couple of miles to the “Lime Creek burn.” A few miles further brought us to the Molas Pass. As the pavement stretches higher into the sky, the “cleaner” the air gets. While Coal Bank Pass stood at 10,640 feet, the highway (US-550) climbed to 10,910 feet at the gap called Molas Pass. Doug can take it from here:

“Molas Pass (10,910 feet) is at the uppermost threshold of aspen habitat. This is squarely in the Hudsonian life zone (10,000 feet to the limits of spruce and fir forests around 11,500 feet. According to remarks in One Drive in a Million (page 24), Molas Pass is officially recognized as having the ‘cleanest air in the United States.’ In this entry, the author, Branson Reynolds, also provides the following data pertaining to the San Juans: ‘Covering more than 10,000 square miles, the San Juans are the largest range within this country’s Rocky Mountains. With 13 peaks rising above 14,000 feet, and many others only slightly less, they are the highest range in the [lower 48] (Ibid.:23).'”

The Molas Pass overlook, just seven miles shy of Silverton, is the highest point on the San Juan Skyway, between Durango and Silverton. In his book, John Fielder’s Best of Colorado, 4th Edition, Fielder offers this synopsis of the area surrounding Molas Pass: “The 3 miles along [US 550] on either side of the pass afford some of Colorado’s greatest roadside views. Peaks abound in all directions: Engineer Mountain (12,968 feet) to the southwest, Twin Sisters (13,432 feet) to the northwest, Sultan Mountain (13,370 feet) to the north, Whitehead Peak (13,259 feet) to the east, and the Needles Mountains of the Weminuche Wilderness to the southeast” (John Fielder’s Best of Colorado, 4th edition, page 370).

Coming into Silverton. Winds had been particularly harsh on the aspens in the area around this portal to another time. Once again, we would eat lunch, and since we would not be rushed, Doug and I had time to walk around and explore a bit of the town. Along the way, we got to see some history.

The Grand Imperial Hotel is a Victorian-era hotel in the heart of Silverton. With the ambiance of a bygone era (the late 1800s) this relic of the past would make a fine place to spend the night. We weren’t interested in staying, though, as we stopped for lunch in the hotel’s restaurant. It was a great experience, one that I would recommend to anyone visiting this city of historical fame. If you happen to be there during the second or third weekend in October, you just might be in for a treat.

During our brief sojourn to Silverton, we were treated to some nice ambiance in addition to an excellent lunch, Bison burgers and fries. I’ll let Doug tell it: “We had lunch at the Grand Imperial Hotel, which was built in 1882 and entertained, among others, JFK and Marilyn Monroe. The restaurant had a pianist who entertained us with the ‘Tennessee Waltz’ and ‘Rocky Top.’ The historical ambiance of this facility was enhanced by multiple ‘Bat Mastersons’ and ‘Wyatt Earps,’ who were then in attendance. Note: Silverton annually sponsors a ‘Step Back in Time’ event on either the second or third weekend of October, depending on how the dates fall in a particular year.”

We left Silverton in mid-afternoon, and though there were still plenty of clouds, the rain had pretty much stopped for the day. It was roughly ten and a half miles to Red Mountain Pass, which at 11,018 feet was the highest point on this day’s journey and one of the country’s most treacherous avalanche-prone mountain passes. Coming down from the pass, which took us the last twelve miles, brought Doug and I to the town of Ouray, which sits in a beautiful little bowl, barely a quarter mile wide by half mile long and surrounded by mountains on three sides. The Home Rule Municipality, which sits at 7,792 feet, is the county seat of Ouray County, and was named for Chief Ouray of the Ute tribe, an indigenous group of native Americans who lived in this area.

It was this last stretch of twelve miles, however, that gave the highway, US-550 the name, “Million Dollar Highway.” Ouray’s climate, natural alpine environment, and scenery has earned it the nickname, “Switzerland of America.” The city’s population was a little shy of 1,100 as of this year. Though we didn’t get to see many mountain peaks, the entire drive up from Durango was spectacular, and halfway through this last stretch brought us to “one of he most beautiful stretches of highway in North America, the descent into the Uncompahgre Gorge. Along the way we passed through Commodore and Champion Gulches, at 10,410 feet and 10, 164 feet, respectively.

Doug described the area between Red Mountain Pass and Ouray, or the area more commonly referred to as “the Million Dollar Highway, during his 2007 trip with our good friend Steve:

“We crossed Red Mountain Pass (11,018 feet) into Ouray, CO. According to the mile-by-mile guide to the San Juan Skyway, the term ‘Million Dollar Highway’ refers specifically to the 12-mile stretch of road between Red Mountain Pass and Ouray. However, more colorful origins for this name have also been advanced, one of which attributed building costs at $1,000,000 per mile. According to another story, a female passenger ‘told a stagecoach driver, after having ridden a short distance south from Ouray, that she wanted to walk back, saying that she wouldn’t travel the road again for a million dollars.’ The truth of the matter is more mundane. During a meeting in the early 1920s, a comment was made about ‘this million dollar highway’ and, apparently, it stuck. During the dedication ceremony in July, 1924, it was officially designated as the ‘Million Dollar Highway,'” (One Drive in a Million by Branson Reynolds [1994], pages 31-32).

It’s right at twenty-three miles from Silverton to Ouray, our final destination for the day. We would spend the next three nights at the River’s Edge Motel in what has been referred to as “the Switzerland of America.”

From my TripAdvisor report: We spent 3 days at the River’s Edge Motel while exploring the San Juan Mountains (especially the Dallas Divide area). The motel was great, price very reasonable, plus a good breakfast thrown in for free (they had a do-it-yourself waffle maker). Although the eating area was a little cramped, there was nothing cramped about our room. And, what can I say about the bathroom? The shower was the best I’ve had since home. It had a real bathtub, so there was plenty of space. It had hot water, relaxing hot water, not the kind you get at a Motel 6 (and for the record I do like Motel 6), but a gently soaking, relaxing stream of hot water. It came complete with a sitting area, television, mini-refrigerator, microwave and even one of those small, one-cup coffee makers. We will definitely stay at the River’s Edge Motel if in Ouray.