Echoes of the Southwest

Tuck inside the Colorado Rocky Mountains in San Juan County is a quaint little town known as Silverton.   The tiny settlement is an incorporated municipality with roughly over 530 residents.   Silverton started as a silver mining camp.   Today, it is not an active mining town and survives on tourism.   It has a historic district in its main section of town.   It is connected to Durango by way of the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.   You can also take the scenic drive on US 550 from Durango and reach elevations of almost 11,000 feet at one point of the drive.   The views are astounding.   To attract more visitors, they opened an intense skiing mountain nearby called Silverton Mountain. While in Colorado, my family and I dropped in on Silverton twice.   The first time was on the train ride.   Since we didn’t have much time to shop, we drove to Silverton a few days later.   We were glad we did because th...

Just 26 miles north of Durango, CO, and in the San Juan Mountains, lays Purgatory Resort.   This family friendly ski resort offers the best skiing in the winter and fun activities in the summer.   The place started in 1965, and has 1,360 skiable acres, 88 trails and 10 ski lifts.   They even offer a six-person seat known as the “Flying Couch” or “Six Pack” along with a high speed quad lift.   Each year Purgatory can get around 260 inches of snowfall and usually about a fifth of the mountain have artificial snow.   Those brave enough to start at the top with an elevation of 10,822 feet hit a vertical drop of 2,029 feet. The resort has many amenities including condos to rent, a nightclub/bar, shuttle to Durango, ski school, urgent care clinic, restaurants, shops and many other activities. Not only is Purgatory a great place to go in the winter, but the summer as well.   They offer many family activities for all to enjoy.   Activities such as s...

In 1871, under the direction of William Jackson Palmer, the Denver & Rio Grande Railway began construction.   They started by laying 3 feet narrow gauge rails south of Denver.   They chose the narrow gauge because of the tall mountains and steep valleys it will be running through.   This was cost efficient and would increase sustainability for this railroad.   They enhanced the additions of the tracks to embrace the mining towns in southwestern Colorado. It was on August 5, 1881 when the Denver & Rio Grande Railway made its way to Durango.   Then on July 10, 1882, the tracks reached the tiny town of Silverton.   Right after that they started carrying passengers and cargo.   The railroad had its challenges.   It was met with yearly snow slides and floods, but managed to survive.   After World War II, the railroad started to see a surge in passenger traffic on the train to Silverton.   In 1950, with only four passenger ca...

When my family decided to make Durango, CO as our 2017 vacation destination, my daughter found a house big enough for all of us.  She found a house called "Trappers Ridge" about 25 miles from downtown Durango and just 5 minutes from Purgatory.  The house is three stories and sits next to a small lake and stream.  The view was amazing.  We entered on the first floor through the garage.  On that level was a bedroom, bathroom with huge shower, the hot tub and a game room.  My son and his family stayed in the room on that floor.  Up one level is where the kitchen, living room with fireplace, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kids room was located.  There were lots of large windows to enjoy the views from all angles.  On the top level was the master bedroom suite, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  Every room was full. It was a short walk down to the water's edge to fish.  Our fishing area was next to a beaver damn which wa...