What a great day yesterday turned out to be! We started off thinking it would probably be cloudy and snowy all the way from Mancos to Buena Vista. As we were approaching Hesperus (about halfway to Durango), the clouds cleared and there was bright sunshine on the fresh snow. There were times of snow and cloudiness as we were approaching and going over Wolf Creek Pass, but it was beautiful most of the day. (Can't figure out how to turn off the underlining!)
The first picture was taken along Lightner Creek, going into Durango from the west. The fresh snow on the rocks and trees was gorgeous. We stopped to look at the damage from Friday afternoon's fire in downtown Durango ... at least three buildings destroyed and one side of a block on lower Main closed for business. (See durangoherald.com for details)
As we approached and ascended Wolf Creek Pass, the clouds hung over us, giving a dramatic, brooding look to the landscape, and then we were in them, with shifting light patterns. The ski area on the east side of the pass was packed with cars. There was a cow elk just north of the highway at one point on the west side.
The sun came out again while we lunched at the Hungy Logger in South Fork, one of my favorite hearty eating places. We stopped briefly at the Organic Peddler, on the west end of Del Norte ... an indescribable mix of Mexican crafts, Far Eastern/Hindu/Buddhist mysticism, off-beat coffees and teas, offbeat cards, hippie "stuff," holistic tinctures and scents ... you name it. Plus a restaurant/teahouse in the back. It's a trip!
The San Luis Valley is hellaciously cold, or hot, depending on the time of year. I just read that it's the largest intermontane valley in the world ... hundreds of square miles of flat land, 8,000 feet high or more, surrounded by a coronet of, at this time of year, snow-capped peaks. It's old Spanish ... more part of Colonial Spain and Old Mexico in its origins than the US that most of us know. It was part of the Far North, which was settled long before the Far West was, and it's still culturally an extension of northern New Mexico.
East of Alamosa, we turned north to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, which is now about 150,000 acres. When I last visited it, 42 years ago, it was a smaller national monument. Beautiful new visitor center, with lots of interactive exhibits. And the dunes!
The telephoto picture of people about a quarter-mile away gives an idea of the immensity of the dunes. We've gotta go back there! (When it's warmer!)
Back west across the valley to Highway 17 and then north to its connection with US 285. It's called the Gunbarrel Highway, and the last picture of one of the sections (looking south, with Blanca Peak in the distance) shows why the highway got that name. Desolate, but dramatic!
It was after dark (about 6:30) when we made it into Buena Vista. Quickly went out for supper (Mother's Bistro again, with meatloaf for me and macaroni for Sandy, next to a gas-fired, ornately chrome-plated old wood stove ... good food, good ambience) and then back to the motel for a dip in the pool. Downloading the hundreds of pictures from the day was a quick reminder of all the beautiful things we had seen during the day.
Off to Denver today, probably via Leadville. TV
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