Silverton & Ouray

IntrepidXJ · Jun 19, 2014

Saturday, June 14, 2014

The desert has been heating up recently and I've been looking to start getting up into the mountains soon. The first reports of roads opening up in the San Juan Mountains have been coming in, so I decided to head up towards Silverton and Ouray to see just how fast the snow was melting this year so I could start planning some mountain hiking trips. Much of Colorado's high country got a lot of snow this year, so trails and roads are opening up later than they typically would. There is still a lot of snow up in the mountains, but it appears to be melting fast.

We started our day out by driving through Silverton and then up the Animas River to Animas Forks so Diane could visit this little ghost town for the first time. We made the short drive up to Cinnamon Pass, which was one of the first roads plowed open in the area, and then headed back down to Silverton for an early dinner at Handlebars. I didn't take my camera out all morning and afternoon, but decided to finally take a few photos when we reached Red Mountain Pass on our way back to Ouray.

The Yankee Girl in the spotlight near Red Mountain Pass.

Yankee Girl Spotlight by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

End of the line...

End of the Line by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A view towards Brown Mountain and Ironton Park.

Brown Mountain by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Red Mountain #3 framed by the tracks.

Red Mountain #3 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Closer look at the Yankee Girl.

Yankee Girl by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Trico Peak across the valley.

Trico Peak by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Nice light on Red Mountain #3

Nice Light by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking down the Uncompahgre Gorge from the Bear Creek Falls view area. The Million Dollar Highway is carved into the mountain on the right.

Million Dollar Highway by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking the other way towards Abrams Mountain.

Abrams Mountain by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Shadows in Canyon Creek from along the Camp Bird Road.

Shadows by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Stopped by a large snowfield along the upper Yankee Boy Basin road.

End of the Road by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Potosi Peak towers above.

Potosi Peak by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Driving back down after being stopped by the snow.

Yankee Boy Basin by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I stopped in Yankee Boy Basin to take a few photos of this waterfall before continuing back down to Ouray.

Sunburst & Waterfall by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Cascade Detail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Falling Water by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Veil of Water by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Teakettle Mountain above Yankee Boy Basin.

Teakettle Mountain by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

While I never took out my camera earlier in the day when we were at Animas Forks and Cinnamon Pass, I did take a few snapshots with my iPhone that I'll share below.

Beautiful view from Animas Forks.

Animas Forks View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

View from the top of Cinnamon Pass. It was very windy up there today.

Cinnamon Pass View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We battled the wind for a little while to get in some hiking up near Cinnamon Pass and found this old mining structure nearby. Burrows Park lies below at the base of Whitecross Mountain.

Cinnamon Pass Mine by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Mountain View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Headed back down Cinnamon Pass Road towards Animas Forks.

Down Cinnamon Pass by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Panoramic image from the Frisco Mine looking across to Treasure Mountain.

Frisco Mine View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Inside the Frisco (Bagley) Mine.

Frisco Mine by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Frisco Mine 2 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

My Jeep under Cinnamon Mountain.

Jeep & Cinnamon Mountain by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Cinnamon Mountain by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

California Mountain still has plenty of snow on it.

Snow & Clouds by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Just an old truck...

Old Truck by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

...with a great view out the back window!

Window View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Diane poses in the engine compartment.

Engine Compartment by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr