Day 26 - Thursday, Oct 19 - Gallup, NM, Mesa Verde National Park, Ouray, CO
Starting mileage: 6444 Starting time: 8:00 am
Ending mileage: 6769 Ending time: 6:00 pm
Travel mileage: 325 Travel time: 10:00 hours
Our trip up from Gallup was through more desert-like terrain, just scrub brush and mountains in the distance. Every once and a while we would see large buttes like in the photo below. There were also areas with white salt deposits on the ground - I tasted it which was only slightly salty, probably something other than sodium chloride but fortunately, not toxic! We also saw a herd of horses with different colors and patterns, possibly wild horses.
We were going to get tickets at the Colorado Visitor Center to tour the cliff houses at Mesa Verde but they were already sold out. We were told that the schools are out in Utah this week for educational travel and many families had come over to visit Mesa Verde. Oh well, next time.
Mesa Verde isn't as "verde" (green) as it used to be. Since 1989 there have been a number of very large forest fires which covered more than half of the park so most the hills just had the skeletons of Ponderosa pine and brush coming up to take its place.
Mesa Verde was populated by the Anasazi from 200 AD to 1300 AD, first living on the top of the mesa and around 1200, started building the cliff houses under the huge cavities in the sandstone walls. It is pretty amazing that they were able to do this with the sheer walls above and below. They farmed corn, beans and squash on the mesa above. The climate must have been different then as it is hard to imagine any of those crops growing there now in the desert-like conditions. Around 1250AD they suddenly abandoned the houses they had built and moved south for reasons unknown.
From there we traveled through Durango and north into the mountains. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the aspen trees seemed to have a golden glow against the backdrop of Ponderosa and other pine trees. Different from our fall foliage but still beautiful.
We went through several passes over 10,000'. There are numerous switchbacks scissoring up and down the mountains. Many of the mountains in this area are over 14,000' had had a coating of snow. Little did we know that our destination of Ouray was famous. This was a mining town from the 1880s and most of the original buildings line the street, although instead of saloons, souvenir shops, restaurants and hotels.
There was active mining here until the 1980s, with one of the mines producing over 4,000,000 ounces of gold and larger quantities of silver, copper and lead. Unfortunately, this resulted in terrible pollution which the mining company is remediating, I expect as a result of lawsuits. The streambeds are a bright yellow from chemicals that have leached from the huge beds of tailings.
Ouray is also famous for its hot springs which were used by Native Americans until the miners arrived and drove them out. There are now large public baths where people can enjoy the hot water. This area is also very popular for hiking, rock climbing and ice climbing.
Ending mileage: 6769 Ending time: 6:00 pm
Travel mileage: 325 Travel time: 10:00 hours
Our trip up from Gallup was through more desert-like terrain, just scrub brush and mountains in the distance. Every once and a while we would see large buttes like in the photo below. There were also areas with white salt deposits on the ground - I tasted it which was only slightly salty, probably something other than sodium chloride but fortunately, not toxic! We also saw a herd of horses with different colors and patterns, possibly wild horses.
We were going to get tickets at the Colorado Visitor Center to tour the cliff houses at Mesa Verde but they were already sold out. We were told that the schools are out in Utah this week for educational travel and many families had come over to visit Mesa Verde. Oh well, next time.
Mesa Verde isn't as "verde" (green) as it used to be. Since 1989 there have been a number of very large forest fires which covered more than half of the park so most the hills just had the skeletons of Ponderosa pine and brush coming up to take its place.
Mesa Verde was populated by the Anasazi from 200 AD to 1300 AD, first living on the top of the mesa and around 1200, started building the cliff houses under the huge cavities in the sandstone walls. It is pretty amazing that they were able to do this with the sheer walls above and below. They farmed corn, beans and squash on the mesa above. The climate must have been different then as it is hard to imagine any of those crops growing there now in the desert-like conditions. Around 1250AD they suddenly abandoned the houses they had built and moved south for reasons unknown.
From there we traveled through Durango and north into the mountains. The sun was getting lower in the sky and the aspen trees seemed to have a golden glow against the backdrop of Ponderosa and other pine trees. Different from our fall foliage but still beautiful.
We went through several passes over 10,000'. There are numerous switchbacks scissoring up and down the mountains. Many of the mountains in this area are over 14,000' had had a coating of snow. Little did we know that our destination of Ouray was famous. This was a mining town from the 1880s and most of the original buildings line the street, although instead of saloons, souvenir shops, restaurants and hotels.
There was active mining here until the 1980s, with one of the mines producing over 4,000,000 ounces of gold and larger quantities of silver, copper and lead. Unfortunately, this resulted in terrible pollution which the mining company is remediating, I expect as a result of lawsuits. The streambeds are a bright yellow from chemicals that have leached from the huge beds of tailings.
Ouray is also famous for its hot springs which were used by Native Americans until the miners arrived and drove them out. There are now large public baths where people can enjoy the hot water. This area is also very popular for hiking, rock climbing and ice climbing.
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| Day 26 map |
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| Butte with salt deposits |
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| Mesa Verde cliff houses |
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| Red Mountain on way to Ouray |
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