Creede, Colorado --- The Bachelor Loop

Roger here....  Since the last post, I drove the motor home over the Wolf Creek Pass from Durango to Creede in southwestern Colorado.  Dianne drove the Toyota behind as this particular pass was billed as one that could cause problems --- with the car unhitched it meant less weight, less chance of a problem.  The trip was uneventful (wonderful news).  The engine did not overheat.  The water temperature remained steady.  The brakes did not overheat.  I did not overheat.  It was a slow trip, but a safe one and now we are enjoying a restful return visit to one of our favorite places,  Creede, Colorado.  The photo below is the view from our lawn chairs and from our front window.  The town of Creede is nestled between the rock walls just left of the center of the photo.

Last year, we started to go up one of the unpaved roads north of town in our Toyota Matrix.  We quickly turned back, deciding that we really needed a high-clearance Jeep.  A couple of days ago, I found a nearby resort that rents Jeeps by the day, so we were all set to explore some old mines while traveling 17 miles on the unpaved mountain roads.

Our journey on the Bachelor Loop began in town.  The first leg of the journey began on Main Street, which turns into a twisty, intriguing road between the cliffs that you see at the back of this photo.

Lots of interesting and quirky places to explore in town --- another day.

At the edge of town, we passed the city fire department (totally housed inside one of the rock cliffs), and the Creede Underground Mining Museum --- both places we visited last year.  Soon thereafter, the pavement ended and the road began a somewhat steep incline.  Look behind the sign to the immediate right and you can see the ruins of the Commodore mine in the distance.  A few additional pictures appear below.

The Commodore Mine, which began producing silver from the Amethyst Vein in 1883, was one of the greatest silver mines on Earth.  It remained in production until 1976.  

During our excursion, we passed by several of the many abandoned mines in the area. You will get to see photos of many of the ruins, but I will not be identifying each one by name.

We were in a canyon during the first few miles of our trip following a small stream.













Look what happens to the road after turning the curve past the Commodore Mine.  It looks like we are headed up.

And up.  By the way, driving the jeep over the rough road was fun.  It was nice to be in a vehicle that was meant for the roads we were on.

The scenery changed a bit as we drove out of the canyon.  We found ourselves among the Quaking Aspen trees that are so common in these Colorado altitudes.  Here are a few shots from 10,500 feet:

We passed by a small stream that had been dammed up by beavers.  Look closely and you can see one of the dams (made of sticks and mud) at the back of the pond.

One of the most interesting stops along the route was at the Last Chance Mine.  The very bumpy ride down the Last Chance Mine Road was well worth the adjustments that will need to be made to my spine.

The view from the parking lot alone was worth the extra effort.

As we exited the jeep, a young man who lives on the property invited us to hear the story of how the current owner of the non-operating mine, Jack Morris,  acquired the entire property for $2900 and turned it into a tourist destination.  BTW, the guy portrayed in the statue is Jack Morris.  Another interesting tidbit --- the docent at the Creede Chamber of Commerce, who highly recommended that we visit this mine, told me that Jack played the role of an army officer during the filming of the Lone Ranger in Creede last year.  (Dianne here:  Jack Morris came roaring into camp before we left the Last Chance Mine, and I can tell you that he looks very much like the statue.  Roger and I both remember him from the Lone Ranger movie.  By the way, we both think the movie got a bad rap by the critics -- we thoroughly enjoyed it.)

You can spend the night in one of the miners' cabins that Jack reconstructed from the original frame for an unspecified donation.

The entrance to the thirteen level mine looked a bit ominous; however, the accommodations in the miners' cabins did not look too shabby.  Could be a new adventure?

Dianne and I, being amateur, amateur rockhounds (translation --- we like looking at rocks), were fascinated by the endless trays of rocks that Jack had collected from the mine and around the world.  

I thought it would  be fun to purchase a piece of silver ore from the mine.  That is, until I saw this boulder opal from Australia. $10.  Worth it for me.

Dianne here...  There was a large display of jewelry inside the museum, but since I'm not really a jewelry-kind-of-gal, I was more interested in the rock specimens like Roger was.  This is the one that I liked best.  I evidently have good taste...these apatite crystals were in the $20 tray.  This, along with Roger's opal, will be used as cocktail napkin weights on our tables in Texas during happy hour.  (It's always windy in Texas!)

The museum was authentic and interesting.  However, one of the photographs was phenomenal.  Sorry for the reflection of the sky and mountains in the background (artistic flair :-),     but get a load of the guys in this picture!  Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Batt Masterson, Butch Cassidy, the Sundance Kid, et al. with Teddy Roosevelt.  If this is real, it is amazing.

Dianne again:  It's my task to finish this blog entry, so here goes....  

Jack Morris, when constructing the little house he uses when on site, also constructed a really neat deck cantilevered out over the cliff.  The young man told me I was free to check it out, so I did:

Imagine enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the evening with a view like this!!

By the time we left the Last Chance Mine we were both hungry, so we stopped at a scenic overlook to eat our picnic lunch.  

The next stop in our $2 guidebook (purchased at the Chamber of Commerce) was the site of the former rough-and-tumble mining town of Bachelor City.  Not much remains now, as you can see by the photo below: 

There was a very weathered placard at the site detailing what the town of 1,200 miners was like at its zenith in the 1890s:

Roger made a quick read of the placard and was already half into the Jeep when I announced "I've got to walk around down there!"  He let out a big sigh and settled in to let me do my thing, knowing that this would not be such a quick stop after all.

Here and there I saw patches of what looked like tiny irises which might have adorned a home site.  Mostly what I saw were rusty pieces of tin (roofing I suppose) and a couple of old, rusty tin cans.  There was a lot of broken glass hiding in the grass and shrubbery, too.

My imagination was running wild as I walked around the field, conjuring up gun fights in the dozen saloons.  I thought of the fun I'd have if I owned that land and could go out with a metal detector to hunt buried treasure! 

 Our loop took us down the mountain and back to Creede.

We had a birds-eye view of Creede nestled in the mountains as we drove back down toward town.

 Our last stop on the Bachelor Loop led us to the old Creede cemetery.  

Roger is also not much into tramping around old cemeteries, but once again he humored me and patiently waited for me to get my fill.  

As in all cemeteries, some of the stones were very poignant...

As we drove down the hill, we passed by the picturesque church currently undergoing renovation...

Did I mention how beautiful it is here??  It is one of our favorite places in the whole U.S., so last January 1st (the first day reservations could be made for this summer) Roger was right on it and reserved a prime spot on the back row with an open view of the hills surrounding us.  When the West Fork wildfire --(Click to see an Awesome photo of wildfire) threatened Creede early this summer, we wondered if we'd have to change our plans.  When the fire was finally under control we wondered if this beautiful place would still be as beautiful as it was when we were here last summer.  We were very relieved when we arrived to see the mountains surrounding the town still green and lovely.  

Before returning the Jeep, we decided to take a drive toward Lake City to see if we could see any visible fire damage.  It didn't take long before we saw black, charred hills.  

There aren't nearly as many people here as there were last year, mostly due to the wildfire changing people's plans.  The locals are so grateful to the brave firefighters that there are signs like this one...

...posted around town.  We pass this one each day on our 4-mile morning dog walk.

We plan to spend Labor Day weekend the same way we spent it last year, enjoying the hot air balloons, ATV rodeo, and other local festivities.  

The pet photo of the day shows Tequila in her favorite riding spot as we travel in the motor home -- on my lap!  When I drove separately over the mountain pass, she had the whole passenger seat to herself in the motor home.  Roger said she sat there the entire drive from Durango to Creede, enjoying the mountain views.

Durango - Silverton Narrow Gauge Railway

Roger here...  Since we began our travels five years ago, many people told us that the Durango to Silverton steam train excursion was not to be missed.  They were right.

The planning for this adventure actually began several weeks ago when we reserved our seats.  I am glad we planned early (for those of you who know me, big surprise, right?) because all the spaces on our rail car were occupied.  

On the day of the trip we arrived 45 minutes before boarding (big surprise, right?).  As we started to get a seat on one of the benches, a friendly conductor suggested that we check out the free attached museum.  It would have been a shame to have missed it.  The large space was filled with memorabilia (large and small) from 1881, the year that railway was completed, which was also the year that the town of Durango was founded.   The green rail car in the above photo is a replica of the car that was blown up in one of my favorite movies, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  BTW, I loved the red car in the foreground.  What was that sound?  All Aboard!

I should have counted the cars on the train, but did not.  Suffice it to say, there were many.  

Look at all those stragglers who waited until the last minute to get on the train.

Our rail car, the Silver Vista, was located one car back from the end of the train.  It was an open car with comfortable padded seats.  Oh, and it had a glass roof.  More pictures of that later.

The three-and-a-half hour trip to Silverton paralleled the Animas River.  The first leg of the journey took us through the neighborhoods of Durango and several interesting sights before our ascent.  These whitewater rafters look like they are having fun.  Dianne and I did this a few times in West Virginia and Idaho when we were younger.  I might like to do it again someday.

We passed by the Alpen Rose RV Park, our home for three days.

This dog chased us for about five minutes, very determined to stop the train.  The dog's owner (picture too blurry to publish) followed along on horseback.  The dog evidently chases the train on a regular basis.

This shot gives you an idea of the various traveling options.  There were a couple of other open cars (without glass roofs) and several enclosed cars.  All the cars had different levels of service and snacks.  I must say that we spent a little more for our car, but you get what you pay for.  It was worth it.  More on that later.  BTW, look at the picture above and notice the dark smoke hanging in the air.  Some of the soot drifts down into the train cars, especially near the front of the train.  Even at the back of the train we had the fun of dusting a little bit of soot off our clothes.  It did not stain.   The soot did stick to the sunscreen on my face :-)   They encourage sunglasses or glasses to avoid getting cinders in your eyes.

Soon after passing this pretty lake, the rocks of the canyon closed in on us and we began our true ascent.

The glass roof gave us an added perspective to the rugged beauty of the area.






As you can see in the photo below, we were allowed to mill about during the trip.  No seatbelts here.  The train did not move rapidly.  It did, as expected, rock from side to side.  The young lady wearing black and gray is Heather.  She was our tour guide, snack (delicious breakfast pastries) provider, souvenir vendor, drink provider, and bartender (full bar).  She also seemed to be best friends with everyone in the Durango - Silverton area.  She was amazing and really added to the experience.

(Dianne here:  The scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where they rob a train by jumping onto it from the rocky ledges above was filmed right here.)

I showed you a shot of the rock wall on one side of the train.  This was our view from the other side.  The Animas River was shrinking (at least for a while.

Dianne took quite a few pictures of the river gorge and mountains.  Here are a few of the best:

Remember the scene from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when Robert Redford and Paul Newman were cornered on a ledge?  The question was whether they should jump off the ledge into the water.  Redford said something like, "Do you think they'll follow us if we jump?"  Newman said, "Hell, the fall will kill ya."  Heather told us that scene was filmed along this stretch.  Does the picture below look familiar?

OK.  Enough of the never-ending scenery for a while.  During the trip, Dianne took a picture of me with a very spicy bloody mary that Heather brought, and posted it on Facebook.  Our camping buddies from Indiana refer to this concoction as breakfast juice.  It is time for me to get even.

Look!  Dianne got some breakfast juice, too.  It looks as if she sucked it right down.  

A couple more scenery shots...

Love the color of the rushing river water.

Look carefully at the photo below.  In the middle and very slightly to the left you can see a man on a zip line.  A zip line!  I want to do this.  This particular zip line park, Tall Timbers Resort, is rated number one in North America and is only accessible by the Durango - Silverton Railway. 

The train made several short stops during the trip to pick-up/drop-off hikers and zipliners.  It also stopped three times to take on water.  It is, after all, powered by a steam engine.

As we neared Silverton, several interesting things happened in quick succession:

The plant life changed from a high desert habitat to an alpine habitat as the air thinned and the temperature dropped - about ten degrees.  Gotta love those Aspen trees.

We found ourselves back at river level, and the sky started to cloud up.  Rain?  Heather said that it rains most days in Silverton this time of year.  We did bring our rain jackets, so we were good.  Heather promised to wipe off our seats if they got wet.

The tall mountains that surrounded us became more visible as we exited the gorge.

A refreshing waterfall welcomed us as we pulled into town.









We had a couple of hours to explore the old mining town of Silverton before the return trip.  This isolated county seat -- and the only town in the county -- obviously now thrives on tourism.  The only other access to the town is Highway 550 (the twisty, steep and striking million dollar highway).  We drove the Toyota on 550 out of Ouray last year, but did not make it all the way to Silverton.  Kind of a colorful place.

The main street (the only paved street) is about three blocks long. There were also interesting shops and restaurants on the dirt/gravel streets near the train depot.  Many of the authentic buildings that now cater to tourists were once bordellos.  Seems to be a trend in this part of the country.  Hmmm?  Oh, and it did rain, but not enough to spoil anyone's fun.

We ate lunch at an old bar named Grumpy's.  The food was good (I had the signature French onion soup), but the draw to this place was the Victorian/stained glass atmosphere and the live ragtime music.  Lacey sits right by the door and greets guests while she plays her piano.  She has been playing piano at Grumpy's for eight years.  If you did not notice the sign hanging from the piano, it says, "It is not a player piano.  It is a piano player."  I especially liked her rendition of the theme from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid --- something else that seems to be a theme in these parts.

Howdy pardner.  How about a whiskey for your grandpa and a sarsparilla for you?

The trip back down to Durango was much the same as the trip up, only in reverse.  So I am close to wrapping up this admittedly long and photo-intensive post.  Just a couple more things.

Notice all the people hanging out the side of the train, mostly taking pictures?   We were encouraged to do this, BUT Heather urged us to be aware of our surroundings.

Some of the rocks come to within eight inches of the train, and the foliage even closer.  The railway actually does a sweep of the tracks to pick up any lost hats, jackets, cameras, arms (just kidding), and takes them to lost and found at the depot.  I do have concerns about whether the cameras would be in working order after falling from this train.

This was an amazing day that lived up to its billing.  The train was fascinating and unique.  The scenery was spectacular.  The atmosphere was relaxing.  The weather was good (even the light rain).  Silverton was intriguing.  However, years from now, as these memories fade, I suspect that I will still remember Heather's enthusiasm, her contagious smile, her extensive knowledge, her animated sense of humor, and her kindness and attentiveness to everyone.  Oh sure, she did bring us gifts (tote bag, coffee mugs and fudge).  She did bring us drinks (water, coffee, soda, breakfast juice) --- Dianne's Dreamscicle concoction and my beer on the return trip hit the spot.  However, the thing that made her special was that she was truly a nice person who enjoyed making people happy.  Back in my school principal days, I would have hired her in an instant.  I hope that the Durango-Silverton Railway knows what a gem they have.

We are in Creede, Colorado right now for a return visit.  We are here mainly to relax, but we will try to find some new adventures to report.  The first order of business for me is to recover from a pesky bout with the flu.  This irritates me because I seldom get sick.  Making lemonade from lemons, I can't think of a more relaxing place to veg out in a lawn chair and look at the mountains while I recover.

The pet pictures of the day show that Bandido and Tequila had just as much fun as we did on train day.  We took them to doggie daycare at Healthy Hounds and Fat Cats, a facility that caters to the train crowd.  They post photos each day on their Facebook page so that patrons can see who their dogs played with during the time that they were there.  Here are my favorite shots downloaded from their Facebook page, with captions: 

Let's Play!!

What are you grinning about??  You are SUCH a brown-noser!!