We have had an awesome time this summer and it's time to wind it up! William had been wanting to go on a backpack adventure. He knows that I will hike all day, but really prefer a bed at night. So, Friday he went solo to Lake Vallecito, just about an hour northeast of Durango. He hiked in about 6 miles, set up camp then headed back to meet me at the trailhead the next morning. It was rainy and pretty chilly most of the time. I cannot say I'm sorry I did not go! But, I'm glad he seemed to have such a great time. He said he used every single thing in this 30 # pack.
Here he is back off the trail and doing the big clean up. Everything got pretty wet.
We took it easy the rest of Saturday. I made a huge pot of soup. We watched the Broncos and went to bed early...because on Sunday we caught the train from Durango to Silverton. It was amazing. We really debated about doing this. I did not know how I would do with heights and the motion of the train on the old narrow gauge. I have to to say that the train ride was GREAT. NO nausea and I did much better than the four times we have driven up 550 to Silverton. There was really only one steep place, called the 'highline' and it was over in about 3 minutes. I would encourage everyone who is considering a Durango trip to take this ride. We took the narrative coach ride and had a guide who took on the character of a famous 1800 Durango local and narrated most of the trip for us. It was 3.5 hours long each way. Many people opt out of the return trip and take a bus back down for a much shorter trip of 1 hour. I am really glad we did the 'whole' thing, tho. Since I posted 3 photos on instagram, this is my outlet today for more pictures that I took. I took over 300! I got it down to about 85 that I will put in a book to remember our train trip. Here are some of my favorites!
The famous 'highline' from my window...heading towards Silverton.
The inside of the narrative coach
See the little 'transom' windows at the top? No air conditioning, but really not needed since it was in the 60's most of our ride.
We followed the Animas River for the entire route. It was a beautiful blue green color. Most of the track is built on the old toll road between Durango and Silverton. I loved the aspen groves and they are just starting to change color.
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| Animas River |
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| Aspens |
I've been to this little coffee shop 4x this summer, so knew they had great mochas. We had about 2 hours to hang out in Silverton and eat lunch, browse, etc.
William loved the ride as much as I did.
Leaving Silverton (above) and heading back down to Durango (below)
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| the beautiful Animas River at a peaceful spot just north of Durango |
I took my 'good' camera and so glad I did. Most shots came out well, just needed some color boosting. We have loved our stay here. One more week to go, then back HOME to Texas! We will probably spend our evenings this week doing our favorite little hikes around here. I'm going to finish up all the books I started...I think I have read about 7 now. Maybe one more Looonnnggg hike on Friday since William has that day off.
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