Super 8 Durango

The train / bus trip to Silverton

by rebibi

"A trip to Yesterday" is written on your Souvenir Ticket. We bought the ticket 1 day ahead for the bus ride to Silverton and back by the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad.
The bus has to go over 2 passes. The first one called Coal Bank Pass (10'650 f), the second one the Molas Pass at 10'910 f. The landscape is really very pretty: rocks, forests, beautiful homes, many aspens, small waterfalls and deep blue lakes. The very cold lake Molas (near the pass) with only 34° F is well known by the fishermen!

Durango is a mountain bike...

by rids

Durango is a mountain bike mecca. The March 2001 issue of the magazine Mountain Bike said that, *For any mountain biker who believes in heaven, Durango is it. It simply doesn't get any better.* (Just thought I'd let all you bikers out there know this.) July 13-15, 2001 was the 30th anniversary of The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, one of the longest continuous running races in the United States, with a consistent participant number of 2,000. More information (970) 259-4621 or check their website.

The Engine on the traverser

by Martinewezel

A unique spectacle!
While we were visiting the museum, one of the engineers announced that he would ride a steam engine on the traverser.

The scene, the sound and even the smell were marvellous. Only this experience already was worth the visit of Durango!

Durange to Silverton Railroad

by TimDaoust

"Lots of scenery but lots of soot too."

One of the more fun excursions on our out west tour of '89, this train ride took us from Durango to Silverton, a 90 mile round trip excursion that lasts the whole day. Some of the best scenery in Colorado, too but we came out of it with soot covered hands and faces. Having been only a kid when we did this I can't say much more than that it was loads of fun. And I got to wear a brakeman's hat. Another fun thing we were able to in Durango was to get all dressed up in cowboy digs (the entire family) and I have our photograph taken. Maybe I'll try and scan that one in for laughs.

FOOT Trip

by John195123

Near Durango, in the heart of the San Juan Range, is Colorado's largest tract of wilderness. It is also the wildest land in Colorado. And the most beautiful. My Freshman year at Colorado College, we chose a section of the west to visit on what was know as a FOOT Trip. These trips were designed to welcome us to college, and let us get to know a group of people with whom to start out our college career as friends. We all decided to sign up for Weminuche. After a long van-ride down south from Colorado Springs,stopping on the way to see a waterfall, we arrived in the Weminuche Wilderness area, where we parked and got out. After stretching a bit in the frigid night, we rolled out a long piece of plastic, and laid out our bags. We slept there that night in the gravel parking lot, sandwiched between two sheets of plastic. I slept on the end to allow others to stay warmer.

"Day Two: Up the trail"

We woke up to the sun, and began preparations to leave. After everything was set, we started walking along a field blocked off from our path by a fence. The going was fast and flat. Once we started going up, our pace slowed little. We had about eight miles to go that day. We stopped for lunch in a little clearing by the side of the trail. Lunch, as well as all our stuff we packed in and out on our backs. The trail's beauty didn't change, except for the better. We hiked on until around six, then set up camp. We made dinner and got our water from the crystal streams. We slept under the stars, plentiful in the clear Colorado mountain sky.