Silverton & Durango

This morning we started out with on open air jeep tour to get some history and local perspective about Silverton, the mining, mountains and history of the area. After leaving town we were winding through narrow roads leading to the old abandoned mining camps and houses the miners stayed in 100 years ago. The years, weather and snow have just about destroyed all the wooden mining cabins and mine structures. A few are still standing and there is still one cable trolley with metal bins used to haul the ore from the mine down to the mill for processing.
Then we went further up the mountains through narrow switchback roads, past 2 waterfalls, across the river where it was just a small stream that far up into the mountains. The weather started getting cloudy and it even snowed on us a little. We finally made it to the end of the gravel 'road' for our final stop at 11,400 feet. The views along the way were incredible and beautiful with nothing around but nature and the one marmot that we saw. They look like very large guinea pigs and live high up in the mountains.
Back in town we met the same train as yesterday for our return trip from Silverton to Durango. We found our room and got ready for our Durango Ghost Tour.
The Ghost Tour was just us and our local guide that has lived in Durango for over 30 years. She took us to 10 places all over town (walking since it's not too large) where gunfights, brothels, hangings and accidents have left ghosts all around town. We'll have to notice if we see any of them in town tomorrow.Read more