Sept 1999 Photo Trip to Northern New Mexico & Southwestern Colorado (Day 5-8)
(These are thumbnails - click on the thumbnail for full-size photo)

Pagosa Junction	Pagosa Junction	Pagosa Junction	Pagosa Junction
Coming in to Durango	The observation car	The concession car	Station

Day 5: (above) This day was spent driving from Chama to Durango along a not-so-well-beaten path to see what I could find to take photos of and also to run a little errand for David Dewey. He asked me, if I had time, to go check out this abandoned narrow gauge railroad station in Pagosa Junction. After asking several locals, I finally found it. I took a lot more photos than this, but I will only bore David with them.

From Pagosa Junction, I wound my way up to Durango in time to catch some photos of the train arriving from Silverton
Below is Day 6:

Day 6: (above) This is the day for the ride on the Durango to Silverton Steam Railway. It was everything I imagined it to be, very interesting and scenic. If I were to compare the D&S to the C&T, I would say that the D&S is more like a "Knott's Berry Farm" experience - very organized - set up to handle large crowds. There were three trains departing and you could set your watch by their departure time - exactly 45 minutes apart. Whereas the Cumbres & Toltec experience is more like getting a ride with some guys who really like steam engines and would like to show them off and give you a ride. It was a lot less formal especially in the sense that you could walk around all over the yard in Chama and no one cared, in fact they encouraged it. In Durango, the yard is fenced off and there are uniformed train personnel to make sure you didn't go where you were not supposed to go. But that's ok, since the crowds are a lot larger at D&S.

The ride was very scenic and enjoyable, but there are a lot of trees that have grown up between the train track and the river and between the train track and the mountain side which blocks your view a lot of the time. This made it kind of frustrating to take photos.

I would be hard-pressed to pick one over the other. They are enough different that I would recommend taking both.
Below is Day 7:

Beautiful Scenery	Coming in to Silverton	On in to Silverton	Silverton
Red Mountain	Red water	Million Dollar Highwy	Ouray, Colorado

Day 7: (above) On this day I left Durango and drove up to Silverton and then on to Ouray. The highway takes a much higher elevation than the train so the scenery is totally different. When I got close to Silverton, I parked at a spot way above the train tracks and waited for one of the trains to arrive from Durango.  With a tripod and three cameras, I shot stills and video as fast as I could as the train went by way down below. It was a neat sight, especially with the sound. There were several hang gliders sailing way up high, I kept waiting for them to come down so I could get a closer photo, but they just kept circling around way up at the height of the mountains. Obviously they found a real good thermal.

I set up my tripod and cameras again to catch one of the trains leaving Silverton. After a pleasant 2nd visit to Silverton, I headed on up to Ouray. This section of the San Juan Skyway, I think, is the most scenic. I made very poor time because I was constantly stopping to take pictures. This is also called the "Million Dollar Highway" and it is very nice and smooth, but sometimes a little scary. As you come into Ouray, it is easy to see why they call this "the Switzerland of America" with mountains all around and this neat little town in the valley.
Below is Day 8:

Telluride	Telluride	Telluride	Telluride
San Juan Skyway	San Juan Skyway	San Juan Skyway	San Juan Skyway

Day 8: (above) Today was the second half of the San Juan Skyway drive plus the drive into Mesa Verde. Leaving Ouray was difficult because there was still so much to see and do around there. A lot of interesting Jeep Tours were available, but it was time to move on. I did spend some time viewing the Box Canyon Falls, which was spectacular but difficult to photograph because the falls were down in a "box canyon".

From Ouray, I headed west to Ridgway where I stopped in an antique store and looked at a very nice floor model Edison phonograph, circa 1913. I would have bought it but didn't see how I could fit it into my car. (well also, the price was a little high - $1,500). The drive continues to be very scenic on over to the ski town of Telluride. This is again, a neat little town nestled in a valley with mountains all around. I took the gondola ride up to the top (it was free!) and got a great view of the town from up above.

All photos © Copyright 1999 Gus Stangeland