Ophir, Co

[gnwatts]

Ophir, December 1990 (Sunshine Peak in the distance, our husky on our deck), the main highway in the distance below Sunshine, one of the Ophir Needles in the upper right.

In December of 1990 my 6 month pregnant wife and I moved from San Diego to Ophir, Co. I had found a job in Telluride, so we packed our 1974 Powerwagon and we moved. My wife did not at first appreciate the aesthetic possibilities of our new home, at 9700', 3 miles up this canyon, and 20 miles and nearly a dozen avalanche chutes away from Telluride. It was the only place we could afford to live though, as it was pretty pricey in Telluride. A nearly 200 mile round trip drive to Montrose for groceries and doctor visits made life a little harder. We were broke but happy.
In the winter it was an intensely private and isolated place to live, the 50 residents (and dogs) kept to themselves, except when avalanches covered the road. We were still on a party line with only a few phone lines coming in, which was inconvenient with a pregnant wife. A lot of snow, cold and wind. Several times we had to park our cars on one side of a huge slide covering the road, walk over it to the other side where neighbors shuttled us up to town. We lived here for 3 1/2 years, then one nasty spring storm drove us to move to Telluride.

I found this video of Ophir, brought back some memories, the video was shot from in front of our house:

 

[Bob]

Different world around Telluride and Ophir in the 80's .... spent a lot of time 4 wheeling that country then......to beautifulized now..

 

[Vegan.Hiker]

That's crazy. Can't believe it was safe to do that with residents at the base of the mountain. Thanks for sharing Greg.

 

[gnwatts]

You are mostly right @Bob, the original town site it is pretty much how we left it. Now they have opened up east Ophir near the old cemetery. To get to East Ophir you have to cross the biggest slide of them all, Spring Gulch. Pretty fancy houses there.
@Vegan.Hiker it was "safe" most of the time. You gotta do what you gotta do. Rent at the time was about $300/month, Telluride was double that.
Looking towards town to Ophir Pass, east Ophir over the hill, Spring Gulch just behind the town. Our house was up the road near the end on the right, about 100' from the run out zone for Spring Gulch:

 

[Nick]

WOW! That video was intense!

 

[gnwatts]

I have been scanning some family stuff, and found this flyer that was put in everyone's mail box at the Opir post office.