Colorado 2006

Friday, Sept. 22 -- Silverton to Durango

Canyonview Motel in Silverton (elevation 9,318 feet)
.

We walked to
Mobius Cycles & Cafe for breakfast burritos.
.
We admired the picture of 19th-century cyclists.

Durango Wheel Club, 1895, at Baker's Bridge

We woke up to several inches of heavy, wet snow, and it was still coming down.

We knew we couldn't bike in these conditions over the two mountain passes, both higher than 10,600 feet, that stood between us and Durango.

Click to enlarge the elevation profile.
.
Luckily, we could take the train:
Durango & Silverton
Narrow Gauge Railroad

We checked out of our motel and sloshed a few blocks to the railroad ticket office and freight yard. We got tickets for the 2 p.m. train to Durango and permission to leave our bikes in the building for a few hours while we checked out Silverton on foot.


We strolled up Main Street and went to the San Juan County Historical Museum, next to the courthouse.
The train gets water for the steam engine.	We biked a few blocks to board the train.

The train follows the Animas River
through the San Juan National Forest.

The 45-mile trip takes 3 ½ hours.
.
We had seats in a closed passenger car,
but we moved to an open car for better views.

In Durango, we had one mile to bike
from the train station to our motel.
We needed the movement to get warmed up.

Silverton freight yard

Part of the museum is in the former county jail building, which also held the sheriff's living quarters. The museum is filled with mining and railroad artifacts from Silverton's early days. Check out the skis at the top of the jail cell..

By the time we boarded the train,
the sky was clearing.
.

Views from the train

At the motel, the bikes went back
into the boxes that we'd stored
in the rental car. We drove
back downtown for dinner.