Waking up in Mesa Verde National Park, we took guided tours of two of the 800 year old Pueblo cliff dwellings in the morning.
Naomi is scared of the cliffs and 30-foot ladders that one is required to navigate to reach the Balcony House dwelling. I can't help but feel it would have been pretty special to live in a home built into the cliff side like that. With our tours completed, we get back on the bikes with a plan to take some nice roads North through the mountains to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
Naomi is scared of the cliffs and 30-foot ladders that one is required to navigate to reach the Balcony House dwelling. I can't help but feel it would have been pretty special to live in a home built into the cliff side like that. With our tours completed, we get back on the bikes with a plan to take some nice roads North through the mountains to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
It gets colder and a bit rainy as we head into the mountains North of Durango, and by the time we reach Silverton, Naomi has had enough. The weather for the next couple of days shows cooler temperatures with some rain mixed in, this is not Naomi's idea of a good time. Cold and hungry, mild emotional breakdown ensues. What to do? Motel in Silverton, waking up to cooler and still rainy in the morning? Push on another hour through the mountains to our intended destination, hoping for warmer temperatures in the valley? Turn around and head back to Durango for the night, with a plan to head straight for New Mexico in the morning, bailing on Colorado? This is ultimately the idea that wins out.
While deliberating, we watch dozens of dual-sport motorcycles roll through town. Mike figures they may be on the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route, a pretty rough motorcycle trail through the Rockies that's supposed to be an incredible experience. We meet up with a group of 10 or so of these bikers at a gas station. They're in their 50s and 60s, and their eyes are as wide as saucers. They've come up from Texas, starting on the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route and continuing on with the Colorado route. They explain that the last section of trail was really rough, all large rocks, and that 6 of their group couldn't go on, had to turn around and find another route to join back up with them. We talked about our trip and our future plans for New Mexico, and one of the group provided us with a New Mexico motorcycle map to guide us.
With visions of warmer New Mexico in her head, heated jacket on her body, and many mouthfuls of summer sausage in her belly, Naomi is like a new woman as we turn back for Durango.
Rolling into town an hour later we hear the steam whistle of an antique locomotive. Naomi wants to get on that train! Durango has a narrow-gauge historical railroad that runs to Silverton. The same old-timer that we talked about the Skyline Drive in Utah with recommended this days earlier.
We find a cute hotel in the heart of the downtown area, and head out for a nice dinner. Based on the literature in the hotel room, the train seems to be one of the main tourist draws in the town. It's also a bit spendy and takes up most of the day. We discuss whether we want to do this in the morning, and by bedtime we've decided against it.
Waking up to the train whistle, I (Mike) realize we've made a mistake, and that we must get on this train. We scramble to get packed up, make arrangements with the super-nice hotel staff to leave our bags and our motorcycles with the hotel, and scramble out the door to the train station. Running up behind us is Nancy from the front desk, who's made us a bag of breakfast pastries and fruit to take on our trip! We can't say enough good about the staff of the Rochester Hotel and Leland House in Durango, CO. We arrive at the train station with just minutes to spare, buy our tickets and find our seats on the train.
It's a real-deal coal-fired steam locomotive built in the 20s, pulling period-built rail cars. The ride is 3 1/2 hours each way, at a stately 15mph. The views are at times spectacular, at times terrifying, and the experience of the steam locomotive is singularly unique.
When more coal is dumped onto a cool fire, the smell of the coal smoke is unmistakable, and reminds me of watching blacksmiths work in colonial Williamsburg as a kid. When pulling hard up hill, the engine is burning so much coal so hot and fast that the coal smoke out the stack shoots 100 feet into the air, and loads of coal cinders float back over the cars and drop into our hair. At times the train stops to take on more water from trackside tanks that are fed by mountain streams. At other times the train needs to dump water from the boiler in preparation for a change in grade, and the steam and water blast out of the sides of the engine with a roar. The train also stops at a few points in the wilderness to drop off backcountry hikers who spend a few nights in the forest climbing the 14,000 foot peaks nearby then return to the trackside for a pickup.
While deliberating, we watch dozens of dual-sport motorcycles roll through town. Mike figures they may be on the Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route, a pretty rough motorcycle trail through the Rockies that's supposed to be an incredible experience. We meet up with a group of 10 or so of these bikers at a gas station. They're in their 50s and 60s, and their eyes are as wide as saucers. They've come up from Texas, starting on the New Mexico Backcountry Discovery Route and continuing on with the Colorado route. They explain that the last section of trail was really rough, all large rocks, and that 6 of their group couldn't go on, had to turn around and find another route to join back up with them. We talked about our trip and our future plans for New Mexico, and one of the group provided us with a New Mexico motorcycle map to guide us.
With visions of warmer New Mexico in her head, heated jacket on her body, and many mouthfuls of summer sausage in her belly, Naomi is like a new woman as we turn back for Durango.
Rolling into town an hour later we hear the steam whistle of an antique locomotive. Naomi wants to get on that train! Durango has a narrow-gauge historical railroad that runs to Silverton. The same old-timer that we talked about the Skyline Drive in Utah with recommended this days earlier.
We find a cute hotel in the heart of the downtown area, and head out for a nice dinner. Based on the literature in the hotel room, the train seems to be one of the main tourist draws in the town. It's also a bit spendy and takes up most of the day. We discuss whether we want to do this in the morning, and by bedtime we've decided against it.
Waking up to the train whistle, I (Mike) realize we've made a mistake, and that we must get on this train. We scramble to get packed up, make arrangements with the super-nice hotel staff to leave our bags and our motorcycles with the hotel, and scramble out the door to the train station. Running up behind us is Nancy from the front desk, who's made us a bag of breakfast pastries and fruit to take on our trip! We can't say enough good about the staff of the Rochester Hotel and Leland House in Durango, CO. We arrive at the train station with just minutes to spare, buy our tickets and find our seats on the train.
It's a real-deal coal-fired steam locomotive built in the 20s, pulling period-built rail cars. The ride is 3 1/2 hours each way, at a stately 15mph. The views are at times spectacular, at times terrifying, and the experience of the steam locomotive is singularly unique.
When more coal is dumped onto a cool fire, the smell of the coal smoke is unmistakable, and reminds me of watching blacksmiths work in colonial Williamsburg as a kid. When pulling hard up hill, the engine is burning so much coal so hot and fast that the coal smoke out the stack shoots 100 feet into the air, and loads of coal cinders float back over the cars and drop into our hair. At times the train stops to take on more water from trackside tanks that are fed by mountain streams. At other times the train needs to dump water from the boiler in preparation for a change in grade, and the steam and water blast out of the sides of the engine with a roar. The train also stops at a few points in the wilderness to drop off backcountry hikers who spend a few nights in the forest climbing the 14,000 foot peaks nearby then return to the trackside for a pickup.
Our second visit to the mountain town of Silverton was a very different experience to our first, mostly because we were seeing it with different eyes. Eyes that weren't cold and hungry. The town is set up almost exclusively to cater to the train passengers on their 2-3 hour layover before the return trip to Durango. With dirt streets and boardwalks, it feels a bit like a Wild West town frozen in time. We pick a barbecue place for lunch as a torrential downpour starts outside, and strike up a conversation with three dirt bikers at the next table. The youngest is a guy in his 40s, the next is in his 60s, and the oldest is 88 years old.
The youngest explains that the two older men ride circles around him, that they were both very competitive racers in their younger days. They're from Texas, but they like the riding here in Colorado so much that one of them bought a cabin nearby to serve as a base for dirt bike operations, and they come up a few times a year to ride.
We talk with these guys until we have to run back to catch our return train or be stranded on the mountain. As our train won't get in till around 6, we decide on another night at the excellent Rochester Hotel, and have dinner across the street at a cute Mediterranean restaurant.