Today’s post is a continuation from last week’s part two. (Will wonders never cease?) According to Google maps, the drive from Durango to Silverton, Colorado should take about one hour. I scheduled an entire day for this drive, as I expected it to be a very scenic one, with much to explore along the way. As is usual with Colorado, I was not disappointed.

As you can see in the first group of photos below, the drive starts out with some decent terrain. It is scenic, but not (IMO) particularly striking. It’s pretty standard fare for Colorado…

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Then the road starts climbing. Soon, the scenery becomes more angular, more jagged, more colorful. In short, more mountainous…

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Continuing upward, I arrived at Molas Pass. The area around this pass is a truly breathtaking blend of alpine ponds, gently rolling meadows, and jagged mountain peaks. See for yourself…

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After crossing Molas Pass, the highway descends into the old mining town of Silverton, Colorado…

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There are a handful of ghost towns in the Las Animas River canyon northeast of Silverton. I had planned to spend one of the next few days exploring these towns and their surrounding mining areas. But since I still had some daylight remaining after checking into a VERY no-frills motel in Silverton, I decided to go a little way up the Las Animas to get a head start on that little activity. Here’s some of what I found…

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Back to Present-Day: My 109-pound dog (he weighed 110 pounds before neutering) needs to go for a walk, so I’ll call this my stopping point for today. Come on back next Thursday to see what more this trip had in store for me!