Durango Dogs and Purgatory Pups

After our 900 mile sojourn across the great, square state of Colorado, Jason and I concur: we are very glad we did not travel by wagon.

After a 6-hour drive riddled with remarkable scenery, gut-wrenching mountain curves, and the occasional uprising of my not-so-secret road rage tendencies, we arrived in Durango. I'm a sucker for a historic town, so I was thrilled our hotel on the Animas River was also only a block's walk to the repurposed liveries, saloons, and hotels of yore lining main street. We spent the cool, 70 degree mountain evening strolling arm-in-arm down the promenade and clicking away countless photos of the well-preserved western town. We relaxed while we could - commando tourist that I am, there was little time for lounging in the days to come...

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we set out for our mountain 4X4 Ghost Town excursion. Our launch point was Silverton, a handful of a town planted deep within the Rockies. From its dirt roads to the Shady Lady Saloon (notably the last functioning brothel in the area - until 1954!) it was easy to lose yourself in the history of this mining town. With the bright mountian sun blanching the landscape, we climbed into our open-air Pinzgauer Swiss army vehicle.

Popping and grinding our way up a rocky, one-lane trail road, we wove up to the top of a mountain, 40 degrees colder with awe-inspiring peaks and alpine tundra spanning a gaping stretch across the horizon. Though periodically dotted with abandoned mines and boarding homes, the real treat was the Animas Fork ghost town. Combining my love of historic and abandoned structures, this eerily intact town features ten or so homes and buildings so well preserved, you could walk on their original flooring. One home even had remnants of the original wall paper from the late 1800s! I hope we can make it back one day for further exploration - I could spend days in a place like that.

We took the historic Durango Silverton Railroad home, twisting and climbing through the mountains along the gurgling Animas - beautiful, and the soothing chugachug and gentle rocking back and forth had me dozing off and on the whole 3 hour ride! That evening we spent the 4th of July reveling in an appropriate piece of western Americana - legs dangling over a stone wall in front of the century old train tracks in historic Durango, agog at the most impressive fireworks display we've ever seen

Unfortunately, we never encountered the famed Durango Dogs and Purgatory Pups of Jason's childhood - though not for lack of anticipation.

The next day, we explored Mese Verde National Park....which at this point will need to be a second post!