Monday (5/25) We are still in Durango, CO.  We took an all day trip from Durango (6,512 ft above sea level) to Silverton, CO (9,318 ft above sea level.)  The start of the trip was a bus ride that took one and one-half hours  and went along the side of many of the mountains, some that were 14,000 ft above sea level.   Silverton gets about 21 ft of snow each year and the sole road to Silverton is kept clear by an aggressive avalanche control program.  It snows in every month of the year in Silverton and it was predicted that they would get snow in the evening on the day we were there.  Silverton has a summer population of 800 and a winter population of 350.  The entire town is on the historical register and looks much the same as it did in the mid to late 1800s.   It was a mining town in the 1800s and one of its claims to fame is that it had 32 bordellos.  Today, the only visible means of employment seems to be the tourist industry.  

We took a tour of the town's many small homes in a stage coach and had lunch in one of the bordellos. Silverton is the County seat for San Juan County because it is the only town in the entire county.

We returned to Durango on the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.   The ride back took three and one-half hours at a rate of 18 miles an hour.  The train follows the Animas River down through the mountains.  The train is from the late 1800's and rocks so much that is difficult not to fall asleep.  

What I have not spoke about is the scenery.  Well, it is just too beautiful for words.  Mountains, trees, flowers, snow and the river - it has it all.