June 1--Durango

PICTURES: 1. Silverton valley; 2. Ophir Pass road washout; 3. Ophir Pass; 4. snow along the road; 5. Mineral creek (almost went). Can you find the train in picture 1?

Unbelievably, it is June, but there is still mucho snow on the mountains. They are beautiful and great waterfalls and rushing creeks, but not so good for jeeping. Many of the trails we had wanted to try are still closed and won't be open for several weeks! bummer

We drove the Lime Creek Canyon road today and it was very scenic. It followed a torrential creek and the road went from mountain top to valley floor and back up the mountain. Then we drove into Silverton and got the sad word on the closed roads. It is a nice, scenic town, compact in comparison to Durango. We tried to drive the Ophir Pass road but after a couple of miles the road was washing out in front of our eyes--crashing, muddy water that defied crossing. We turned around and tried another track on the way back to the highway. It led to a creek crossing that was tempting but wisdom overruled (or the thought of tow charges) and we turned around there also. Overall, a very fun day. Oh, I forgot to mention that we saw a brown bear on the way "home". It was on the side of the road--definitely big and definitely a bear!