The Rascal Diaries: 7/25/14 The Million Dollar Ride

For most of the day, we rode on silver and the ride was priceless.

The Million Dollar Highway, Route 550 from Montrose to Durango, certainly gave us our money's worth. Also known as the San Juan Skyway, It was built with the overburden from mines, historically estimated to be containing over a million dollars worth of silver. Our interpretation of the name is that the experience of riding this singular road is worth well over a million.

From Montrose through Ridgeway we passed desert then farmland. Soon trees lined the road and the rugged peaks that define the Colorado Rockies began to appear. Gearing down into Ouray, the fun was about to begin. One of my favorite towns in the Rockies, it is cupped into a box canyon, insular and protected. Home to artists and writers, there is no surprise that creativity oozes from the walls of this tight little box. One can only wonder what happens in the winter when the gates come down on the roads and the residents snuggle down in their cozy town.

We crossed a dubious bridge and climbed s-curves to reach today's picnic site. Over 500 feet above Ouray, we drank wine, ate cheese and lived in the wonder of our place accompanied by the sound of a nearby waterfall. The town sat below us, seeming as unreal as a Christmas display. All it needed was snow.

But snow was not the issue. Thunder, distant lightening and dark clouds were also part of our picnic entertainment. We watched the storm track across our intended route, calmly waiting for it to pass. Why rush from heaven? Too soon the storm swept by and it was time to leave but we knew what a great ride was in store for us.

Atop Ouray and into the mountains, we leaned over unguarded cliffs and then soared up to the next dogleg that took us even higher. My gut feeling was that they should have used some of that million dollars worth of silver to put up some guard rails! At 10,222' we reached the Red Mountain Pass. Abandoned silver mines appeared sporadically along the way. Breathless we attacked the incline to Silverton. Swishing through curves, we angled ourselves to the hill and won the road evading the blossoming thunderstorms around us.

Silverton appeared as if we have ridden through a time warp. One paved road, the historic hotel and town hall define it. The thrilling antique cog rail steam train ride from Durango brings tourists here for the day and a small economy has been built around that. A stage coach and The Shady Lady Saloon can be found on a secondary dirt road. At night, they roll up the sidewalks, and dogs howl at whatever is wild. We know, because several years ago we stayed in the hotel.

Every time we have been in Silverton, it has rained. Not so today, but bikes rolling in from Durango carried riders looking like drowned rats. Again we took the challenge and jumped into the clouds. Our first test was the Molas Pass. Direct lightening and thunder pulled us to a halt as we suited up for the rain. From this height down and then up again to the Coal Bank we had successfully challenged two 10,000' passes in the rain. Every time we have ridden here, the afternoon rain is an element. Finally, we have begun to accept it as part of the picture.

Durango is always a disappointment at the end of this ride. Hot and flat, the segue to the next range, it is a large and busy city. We closed the door on our day here, glad to kick off our boots and settle in.

There are no mountains comparable to the Colorado Rockies in The US. That is why ,on our trips, we save them for last. If we rode here first, everything else would be small change. Geologically incomprehensible, they take us through formations built by eons and humble us with their grandeur. The Almighty Architect's hand is eminent at every twist and turn revealing even greater mysteries. Sublime!