The word Durango originates from the Basque word “Urango” meaning “water town” or “well watered place.”
Durango was formed in 1880 when the railroad was developed for gold mining. It was a 6 ½ hour drive from Castle Rock so we stopped at Colorado Grille in El Norte for lunch. I thought their soft serve ice cream was the best!
Durango has a huge abundance of outdoor recreation. There are hiking trails, biking trails, ski resorts, and a college. It is also known as one of the most dog friendly cities in Colorado.
With hundreds of miles of single-track trails, rugged downhill rides, and even multiple flow trails, the trails surrounding Durango, Colorado provide some of the best mountain biking in the state.
With wide open roads, big western skies, and spacious bike lanes, Durango is more than a bike-friendly town. Here, cycling is a way of life where you’ll find more bikes than cars and hundreds of paved miles to explore.
Connor, Lloyd, and I brought our bikes. When we first arrived, we went for a ride along the Animas River. The Animas River Trail runs for just over 9 miles along the scenic Animas River, occasionally following the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad corridor.
The original name of the Animas River is “El Rio de las Animas Perdidas”, which when translated from Spanish means “The River of Lost Souls.” The river was named after several Spanish ex- plorers were lost while traveling on the river. Their bodies were never found, and the remaining explorers, being devoted Catholics, believed the souls of the lost explorers who had not received last rites could not enter heaven and would be relegated to Purgatory. The leaves were gorgeous on this trail.
The girls swam in the hotel pool while we were biking.
After exercising a bit, we went to the Diamond Belle Saloon for dinner. The Diamond Belle Saloon makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The bar looks just like the setting of an old Western film or novel, with swinging shutter doors, a rich wood bar and even fast-talking can-can dancers straight from the Wild West.
We were exhausted after dinner and came back to the hotel for some downtime.
The next morning, we woke early to have breakfast and get to the Durango/Silverton Narrow Gauge railroad for a 9am departure.
I was in awe of the beauty of the San Juan forest. The leaves looked like a painting.
We sat in coach and were able to stick our heads out to see around the train.
They had a neat bar on the train that served drinks, snacks, and hot dogs.
There were beautiful lakes, trees, and rivers all around us.
The train had to stop to get water a couple times. The water propels the train by making steam.
The mountains and peaks of the San Juans were stunning.
We got off at Silverton and had lunch. Then we walked around for a bit. Silverton is a very small town that only had 5 students in their 12th grade graduating class.
Silverton ceased to be an active mining town in the 1990s as the demand for gold and silver decreased. While there is still gold and silver left, much of what makes Silverton attractive today is the abundance of outdoor recreational activities. In total, the town of Silverton is only around 0.8 square miles according to the US Census Bureau. It’s may be a small mountain town but it is also a site for many adventures.
Most of the restaurants were closed down but we did find one buffet restaurant to eat at.
It looked like a really neat little ski town.
On the way back, people were waving and taking pics of the train when we came back to town. I think they must wait out there to watch the train go by.
On Friday, I was supposed to hike up to Ice Lake Basin but I found out that the trail is full of snow right now.
So, I decided to go with the family on a tour of Fort Lewis college. I am glad I did because I found out so much about the college.
It is the least expensive college in Colorado with only 25k tuition and includes student housing. There is an automatic merit scholarship for good grades. The class sizes are small with a 1:16 teacher:student ratio. It is a beautiful campus with dirt trails everywhere. There are tons of outdoor activities and students get a Purgatory ski pass.
After the tour, we went to visit the SkySteps. Durango’s SkySteps officially opened in June 2017, creating a town to sky connect from Durango to the Fort Lewis College campus. The stairway, which extends over 500 steps and gains over 250 feet in elevation along the Nature Trail in Durango, makes for a wonderful walking route, commute to the college or training steps right in town.
In partnership with the City of Durango and Fort Lewis College, the steps were built entirely by Durango Trails volunteers and crews. Durango’s SkySteps are amongst various urban stairs that have been long recognized as fitness and tourist destinations and provides an amazing view of the City of Durango from the top.
After the hike, Connor and Lloyd went to pre ride the mountain bike race course.
While Connor was getting all the information about his course, I decided to go on a 20 mile ride on hwy 252. I rode from Durango to Tremble and back.
I was scared to death to go highway riding, but it is another fear that I have to get over. Up until now, I have only ridden on highways when the road is coned off for a race. During training, I either ride in neighborhoods or on trails like the Cherry Creek Trail. The problem is that trails have a 15mph speed limit and that does not help me to get faster. Since I qualified for Triathlon Nationals next summer, I now need to conquer my fear of highway riding. The scariest part for me is when big trucks go flying past me at 60mph.
On Saturday morning, we woke early to go to Connor’s mountain bike race.
Connor’s mountain bike race was called the Durango Mesa Pursuit State Championships. Durango Trails 2000, Durango high school cycling athletes and families, and other volunteers constructed a mountain bike race course for the Colorado High School Cycling League State Championships.
The Durango Mesa Pursuit hosted over 800 high school racers in October 2018 and 2019. The 2020 State Championships, originally scheduled to take place again at Durango Mesa Park, were canceled due to COVID-19.
Connor did great at this race and pushed himself real hard. He forgot his water pack so a teammate loaned him a bottle.
He finished 70th out of 156 Freshman athletes. He has a goal to make the JV team next year. He said he is learning how to pace himself better but always feels like he should go faster.
Connor had to stick around with his team for most of the day so the rest of us went to Smelter Mountain. Smelter Mountain rises over 1,200 ft (370 m) above the town, and the lower slope of the mountain was home to the Durango smelter, hence the name of the mountain. The highlight of this trip was the off roading we got to do with Lloyd’s truck. The girls were laughing in the back when the truck was throwing them all over the back seat.
Since we were nearby, we then went to Lake Nighthorse. Named for former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Lake Nighthorse was established by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Animas La Plata Project. Lake Nighthorse meets Native American water rights in the area. Today this body of water is jointly managed by the Bureau of Reclamation and the City of Durango. Lola had a blast swimming and running along the beach.
We went to dinner at Mi Ranshito Family Mexican Restaurant and had real authentic Mexican Food. Durango was obviously founded by the Spanish because so many names are in Spanish. There are street names like El Gato, El Diente, El Paso, and El Camino. There is a large amount of Mexicans and homeless in Durango.
We all absolutely loved Durango. I could easily move to Durango if it weren’t for the lower availability of jobs. Thankfully, we have a friend who is getting a house built in Durango so we will have many reasons to visit.
Comments
Post a Comment