Montrose to Durango

Sunday 19th June

Our first mishap costing money occurred last night when Bob slipped getting on the bike and it fell onto the side of a parked car causing a weeny bit of damage. Bob found the owner, a few dollars changed hands and everyone was happy.

We’re fortunate this is the first unplanned expense. A while ago I left my bum bag on the back of the bike and rode off. Fortunately Craig was behind and saw it bounce along the freeway (it holds my passport and camera amongst other stuff). It'll be a miracle if we get through the trip without other mishaps.

Our ride today was on Highway 550 from Montrose to Durango which is mostly in the mountains.

As you can see there are no crash barriers on parts of this road and there are some very steep drops. It makes one a little more attentive.

People came to this area in the Gold Rush and the most towns along this route sprung up from that period.

This was the Iarado mine, one of the largest in the area with over 100 miles of underground tunnels. It closed in the 1980’s

There’s me saying I don’t need my heated clothing any more and here we are at 11000 ft. It was a bit chilly after enjoying recent temperatures in the 90's.

Bob’s electrical problems resurfaced so we stopped at Silverton and checked over the wiring again. Has it been fixed this time?

Silverton is very much a tourist attraction with old steam trains ferrying holidaymakers the 50 miles from Durango .

Most of the buildings date back to the gold rush days including the brothels, saloons and jail house but they are all now catering for the tourist as café’s, restaurants and gift shops. Although history doesn't go too far back here, it's fascinating nonetheless because it's what we watched as kids in the old films.

Heading down to Durango

Just waiting for the bandits to attack the train and then for the Lone Ranger and Tonto to ride up to save the day.

Tomorrow we're heading for Cortez.