The Western Slope south of Grand Junction transitions from towering mountains on the east to the Uncompahgre Plateau to the west. Our path roughly heads south along the Uncompahgre River to the town of Ridgway before climbing over the San Juan Mountains to the edge of the southwestern plains at Delores.
Heading south from Grand Junction the road crosses a broad plain before dropping down to the Uncompahgre River Valley near the town of Delta.
The Uncomapghre carves a canyon to the west while providing irrigation to the farms alongside.
The town of Montrose is the largest commercial center south of Grand Junction and here we take a brief detour to visit the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, about 15 miles east of Montrose.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison River National Park
As we leave Hwy 50 and enter the park the road climbs steeply from the valley floor. A look out the back shows Montrose hidden in the haze far below.
The Gunnison River rises in central Colorado, flowing west before turning north in the canyon towards its confluence with the Upper Colorado at Grand Junction. The area was first explored in the 1850’s by John Gunnison during his search for a railroad passage through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. Millions of years go the western slope of the Rockies was interrupted by a bulge of extremely resistant rock. Over the ensuing eons the river has carved a path through the dome reaching depths of 1,800 feet below the canyon rim. The landscape rolls towards the mountains with no hint of the chasm just beyond the bushes lining the road.
Tomichi Point is our first opportunity for a dramatic gaze into the canyon.
This is also my first opportunity to experience the crowded conditions at the various viewpoints along the canyon rim, parking the Lunch Box is going to be a problem… Driving on through the trees on this side of the canyon the hills on the other side rise in front of the Rocky Mountains. Again no clue that between the trees and the hill is a 1,800’ deep canyon.
Our best opportunity to see into the chasm is at Pulpit Rock, a thin finger of stone that juts out from the canyon wall.
Out on Pulpit Rock is the first time actually the river at the bottom of the canyon. Note that the walls on the north side are virtually sheer while the canyon walls on the south slope more gently down towards the river. This is a function of geography and weather. In the winter when the sun is low in the southern sky the snow that falls melts more quickly on the north side with little erosion of the rock. Snow on the southern side does not and so freezes and refreezes over the winter. The action breaks down the rock more quickly and thus creates the gentle southern slope.
Driving further north up the west side of the canyon virtually all of the viewpoints are full of vehicles so I can’t stop. An informal wide spot on the road does allow me to look east across the canyon to the main Rocky Mountains and then north up towards the end of the canyon and the Grand Valley nearly 60 miles in the distance.
Turning around and heading back to Montrose I pause at an interesting reconstruction of a historic Western Slope town at the Museum of the Mountain West.
Museum of the Mountain West
The entrance hall to the museum is a rather unassuming metal building that gives no hint of the treasures within.
The interior is a recreation of a frontier main street presented in a modern day “mall” format.
Each business is crammed with original items from the Western Slope. A sample of the businesses include a doctor’s office, drugstore and saloon.
Outside a walking tour of “Adobe Flats”, as the town is called, takes one around the reconstruction of a small town containing both original and reconstructed buildings from around the Western Slope.
Just as within the “mall” displays, these buildings are furnished with original items from the period (though not necessarily original to the actual building.) The General Store is well-equipped!
The sheriff’s office and jail stands on a corner across from the grandest building in town, the hotel.
A residential street stretches east towards the school.
Behind the hotel is the 1913 German Lutheran Church.
Completing the walk around the central block, a boardwalk takes us past a number of interesting original buildings, including the 1882 Montrose Train Depot.
The two buildings in this picture were built 50 years apart. On the left is the 1882 Colorow Section House, on the right is the 1938 Dick Halls cabin.
The section house was built by the railroad in 1882 north of Montrose to house maintenance workers. It also served as the first post office in the area.
This rugged land was not settled quickly, the cabin on the right in this picture was built in 1938 in the nearby mountains by a man named Dick Halls, who lived in it until his death.
The most interesting aspect of the Museum of the West was not the buildings themselves, but the incredible detailed collections of memorabilia that they contain. Truly a great example of a community-supported museum! Leaving Montrose hints of the next portion of our journey south through the Western Slope loom on the horizon. It’s all about the mountains!
San Juan Skyway
The main Rocky Mountain Range splinters in Colorado, with various mountain ranges heading off in a maze of different directions. As we head south up the Uncompahgre River Valley the mountains rise on both sides and in front of us with numerous peaks well over 10,000 feet piercing the sky.
The highway loop that beings at the little town of Ridgway and roughly draws a loop around and through the mountains is one of the most stunning drives in the United States, if not the world, known as the San Juan Skyway.
At Ridgway Hwy 550 heads directly into the mountains through a narrow canyon directly in front of us.
Multiple peaks rise up in sheer walls from narrow canyons. Experience tells me that I do NOT want to drive the direct route from Ridgway to Durango, a very narrow two-lane road hugs the side of 10,000 feet mountains over the pass with little shoulder on the cliff side and jutting rocks on the mountain side. A beautiful drive but not for the Lunch Box! Instead we are going to traverse the western side by Telluride so at Ridgway we turn west and travel along the northern side of the San Juan Mountains.
A sharp turn to the south takes us through a narrow canyon formed by the San Miguel River until suddenly a box canyon opens up to the east.
A box canyon is a canyon that is surrounded by mountains on three sides with only one way in and out. The narrow canyon where the town of Telluride sits is guarded by 13,000 and 14,000-foot tall peaks on all sides.
Gold and silver were discovered in the mountains around Telluride in 1875 and a town named Columbia was established along the San Miguel River on the valley floor in 1878. A gold town with the same name was flourishing in California at the same time so the Colorado town was renamed Telluride in 1887 after the gold telluride ore found in the surrounding mountains. Rich mines dotted the hillsides above the canyon and more than $360 million dollars in gold was pulled out of the area. Butch Cassidy, famous outlaw of the West, came to town in 1889 where he began his illustrious bank robbing career by stealing $24,580 from the San Miguel Valley Bank in Telluride. Mining continued in the area until the 1950’s when most mines closed and Telluride deteriorated into a sleepy ghost town. Snow, the bane of the miners, became the savior of the town. In 1972 the Telluride Ski Resort rose on the south mountainside above Telluride and the development of Telluride into a year-round vacation paradise began. About 2,500 people are now year-round residents in the area but the population explodes during prime vacation seasons. Because Telluride is in a box canyon there is only one way in and out, Colorado Avenue.
I have been to Telluride before and know there is no chance of finding parking for the Lunch Box. Fortunately there are cross walks at every intersection so when I have to stop I can take pictures out the window! The Victorian village of Telluride is only about 8 blocks wide and 14 blocks long with Colorado Avenue passing up the middle. The avenue is lined with restored buildings from the late 1800’s. This is a pretty exclusive resort and both sides of the avenue display trendy shops, restaurants and bars. I drive through town, turn around and now face west as I drive out of the box canyon.
Colorado Avenue turns residential at the west end of town. These cute little Victorian cottages now cost over a million dollars…
Obviously 2,400 people can’t be living in this small town so where are the rest? Turns out that the majority of the residential area is at the European-styled ski village up the south mountain at the ski resort. A free gondola service connects the ski resort up the mountain with the town in the valley below, allowing vacationers to move back and forth between the pleasures of downtown Telluride and the relaxation of Mountain Village Above. The gondola station sits right at the entrance to downtown Telluride.
This is a pretty remote area and as I leave Telluride and head south towards Cortez the San Juan Skyway travels through stunning mountain scenery. Again, many of these peaks rise more than 12,000 feet into the sky.
After crossing Lizard Head Pass at 10,246 feet our path begins to descend towards the southwestern Colorado plains around Cortez. For most of the road down we follow the canyon formed by the Dolores River.
Near Delores the canyon widens and the characteristic cliffs of the area begin to show on either side as we near the small town of Delores, entrance to the southern plains.
Out of the canyon and dropping down to the southwestern plains initially juniper forests cloak the land, Sleeping Ute Mountain dominates the horizon on the far side of the Cortez area.
Next up: Trail of the Ancients
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