Look Ma No Guardrail – Lake Heron State Park, New Mexico 5/25

Woke up to gorgeous blue skies at 39 degrees. Thank goodness it warmed up to a balmy mid-70’s with very little breeze. We were excited about driving the San Juan Skyway and climbing the various peaks. It definitely did not disappoint. The first leg of the journey was through the town of Ridgway, which is famous for some Hollywood Westerns being filmed here. Think True Grit and How The West Was Won. The next stop was Ouray, which is situated in a tiny bowl surrounded by the San Juan Mts. This town was billed as “Little Switzerland of the Rockies”, but in my opinion – not so much. It’s lined with Victorian houses and seemed like a pretty typical mining town much like Nevada City. The best thing about the town is that it has a spring fed swimming pool located in the heart of downtown. From Ouray to Silverton things got pretty exciting. This stretch of the road is also known as “The Million Dollar Highway.” This road follows old stagecoach routes and former pack trails. It’s a very curvy two-lane road around scary slopes – without any guardrails! Seriously. Check out today’s pic – Yikes! We climbed over Red Mountain Pass at 11,008 ft. and passed several old mining operations. This stretch of the road is also known for its avalanches and we definitely saw some flattened buildings as a result. We finally pulled into Silverton, at a mere 9,318 ft. It’s a cute little mining town and we enjoyed walking around, but it’s a little too remote for me. Silverton receives over 200 inches of snow a year. I was speaking with one of the locals (the town has a population of 500) and she told me that we were lucky because it had snowed a couple of inches the day before. We continued along the San Juan Skyway, over another pass (10,910 ft) and finally dropped into Durango. I really liked this town. It’s a college town and definitely has the vibe and feel of San Luis Obispo. It was such a nice day, and after the freezing winds in Utah, we decided to take a break and have a picnic lunch in the park. It was very entertaining watching the rafters in the nearby river. Our next destination was New Mexico and we were expecting the drive to be desert and bare. (This is based on our last trip thru New Mexico, especially near the town of Farmington). Well, what a pleasant surprise. This stretch of the road for the next couple of hours– at about 7,000 ft. – is beautiful alpine meadows and valleys. Spring was definitely in the air and we enjoyed the deep green pastures. We also entertained ourselves by singing some great Cowboy songs in preparation for Vic’s big 60th party. We finally arrived at our destination, Lake Heron State Park, and are camping in mesa conditions with pinion trees and scrub bushes. Still we have a great campsite, tucked away among the trees and very secluded. We checked out a map of the campground and decided to take a “short” bike ride to a nearby bike path that has a suspension bridge. Well, after 5 miles of mostly uphill (I was dying!) we finally reached the path. It consisted of a two story staircase down to a hiking path – ha! So, we turned around and headed back. The good news is the ride was much more fun on the way back! (Josh I maxed out at 38 mph on my bike, not in your league, but I thought it was respectable). Yes, I’m now back at the campsite enjoying a mojito and Ned’s putting steaks and corn on the grill. Life’s good.