San Juan Skyway ... Ridgway to Rico

A gorgeous weather day. A delightfully scenic drive. Should I leave today’s story at that? No, I think I’ll expand a bit on the words and include some visuals.

So, here we go with part I ... mostly because I have more than 10 photos to share from today.

Our second foray on the San Juan Skyway took us down and back a portion of the other side of the loop ... starting on CO-62 and then turning onto CO-145.

When we left the Cruiser at 8:00a, we already knew we wouldn’t be driving the entire loop. What we didn’t know was where we’d stop before retracing our route back. By the time we finished using the wi-if at the Ridgway Library, we had the answer. Rico would be the turnaround point for today’s in-out drive and the Telluride spur would wrap up our day.

Our first stop of the day was at a county park between Placerville and Sawpit. We pulled into the parking lot to find that the “lake-rimmed-by-trees scenery” I’d spotted as we were driving down the road was at the end of a short path in the park. Once we saw the view from a picnic table near the lake, we knew this was where we would be having our al fresco breakfast. It didn’t matter that the temp was only in the mid-40F range. We would just bundle up and enjoy the scenery ... with double-the-pleasure reflections on the calm lake.

We were back on the road by 10:00a. The landscape along the way was breathtaking and encouraged us to make frequent stops ... which we did. That the wildfire smoke haze had pretty much dissipated made a difference as well and the jagged peaks of the San Juans and other mountain ranges added a stark contrast to the softness of the fall colors.

This side of the Skyway certainly lived up to its scenic byway designation, just as the other side did two days ago. Plenty of fall colors remained for us to enjoy. But large swaths of completely denuded aspens stood in naked testament of just how much more amazing the scenery would be when the foliage is at its peak.

One of our favorite dalliances along the way was an aspen grove I spotted. Mui blew by it before I had a chance to ask him to stop, but he was not averse to turning around when I asked him to do so. We talk about a snow-covered landscape being a winter wonderland. Well, this grove of aspens — with leaves still on the branches as well as blanketing the ground — was a fall foliage fantasyland ... complete with a shower of golden leaves when the breeze shook the trees.

Further on, a hard-packed dirt road offered us a short detour that took us down to the South Fork of the San Miguel River. It was a nice chance to stretch our legs a bit and rest while the river sang its symphony as it trickled over the rocks.

It was 1:30p when we reached our turnaround point in Rico ... a mere 60 miles from Ridgway. We didn’t see much in town, which was founded as a mining camp in 1879. We stopped briefly to take advantage of the cell signal to check emails; photographed a music-themed mural; and did a quick look-see at the headframe of the Atlantic Cable Mine. I imagine there are trails that one might hike in the area, but that wasn’t on our agenda today.

As we retraced our route back, the clouds that had been delightful texture-elements in the mostly blue sky began to increase. As did the light breeze. Neither discouraged us from having a picnic lunch at the Trout Creek Rec Area where the 13,000+ feet high peaks of the San Juans served as a backdrop to the lake. Bundling up in our jackets, we found a picnic table in the sun and sat down to eat our meal.

Back on the road again, our plan was to drive the 8-mile spur into Telluride and wander around town for a while. Those plans didn’t quite work out as we initially intended. But I’ll leave that story for part II.Read more