And He Was Right
Early in my motorcycle wanderings I was traveling with my good friend Bill. We stopped in Walden, CO for lunch (where they told me I couldn’t handle 6 Mango Habanero wings – they were right). On the way out of the restaurant Bill started chatting with another motorcyclist traveling about Colorado. It was this gentleman’s opinion that the most scenic stretch of road in Colorado was the stretch heading south out of Ouray on highway 550. Given this opinion was coming from an individual with no discernable extra clothing, raingear, etc., it was an opinion I didn’t give a lot of weight. Well, I traveled that stretch of road today and he may just be right. I did it from south to north and coming from the north may even be better.
Leaving Durango, CO this morning I was shocked by how many hotels there are on highway 550 on the north end of town. It felt like almost every other building for a while. And then the next thing that struck me was the disparity in the types of housing/neighborhoods. It would be ritzy, gated communities across the street from neighborhoods of modular and mobile homes. The amazing scenery and outdoor opportunities (and narrow track railroad) will definitely keep bringing people here.
The topography leaving Durango is about 10 to 15 miles of open valley before you start climbing up into a higher elevation with exposed cliffs of layered sedimentary rocks on the west and tree covered slopes on the east. The sedimentary units are dipping shallowly to moderately to the west (30 degrees?).
As you continue north the geology remains the same but the road gets much more exciting. Or it would be if there wasn’t a steady stream of tourists heading to Silverton with an antiquated DOT truck interspersed.
And they aren’t kidding about the steep drop offs and narrow shoulders (sometimes roughly one foot). What they don’t tell you is, that there isn’t a guardrail in many of those places with steep drops and narrow shoulders. Definitely need to pay attention to where you are driving.
The first of the three passes you cross between Durango and Ouray is Coal Bank Pass at 10,640 feet and the geology becomes more complex. The package is still sedimentary but shales dominate with lesser thin sandstone interbeds and there is considerably more evidence of deformation. Beds in this area are steeply dipping to the northeast (70-80 degrees) and the dips are less consistent.
Prior to reaching the second pass (Molas Divide at 10,918 feet) I stopped at the Andrews Lake day use area. This is free to use recreation area with a trail that circumnavigates the lake as well as other trails that head off into the wild. I did about a mile into the wilds before heading back to the head around the lake. The air is definitely much thinner than what I’m used to in Seattle! Gorgeous views however.
Many birds were seen and heard on my walk but no new species were added to my lifetime list.
Leaving the day use area you quickly cross Molas Divide and start heading downhill into Silverton. The geology has changed once again and the units appear volcanic. But this is also the area of one-foot-wide shoulders and no guardrails so not a lot of time was devoted to confirming my suspicion.
I’m not real fond of tourist traps so I opted to pass on visiting Silverton. Maybe a mistake but…
Silverton is located in a bit of a bowl and as you leave town you quickly start climbing again. The mining history of the area is evident with a number of old headframes or mining structures as well as waste dumps present along the road. As you continue climbing towards Red Mountain Pass extensive hydrothermal alteration is evident and there was once a quite large underground mining operation in the area until 1978 (copper-lead-zinc).
Idarado Mine Infrastructure and Waste Dump
As you continue downhill towards Ouray, the geology changes once again and is, at least in part, quartzite (I was actually able to pull off the road at one location and take a peek). My guess is this is younger than the sedimentary package on the south side of Coal Bank Pass. Bedding was definitely not uniform either. But, regardless of geologic origin, the views were stunning. Unfortunately, hard to capture in photos.
The weather was stunning at the higher elevations and I was reluctant to come back down. But eventually I did and finished the day in Montrose, CO.