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May 22 Day 8 Durango Silverton RRy
To my brother Chuck - please read below.
Man, did I sleep. I think I didn't wake up once all night. When I finall awakened and pulled out my ear plugs I realized that M was awake and it was 7am. We needed to get going because we wanted to be at the train station by 8:30am. Train Station you ask? Yes this is the day we take the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Rail Way from Durango to Silverton. I remember making the reservations about 2 months ago. M and I had a discussion (?) about reserving an OUTSIDE car vs. an INSIDE car. The discussion went this way: Me: Maybe we should sidt outside. M: No, I want to sit inside. Discussion ended. We had reservations for an inside car. Well, once again M's veritable wisdom is proven correct. The weather this morning is "iffy" to say the least. The sky is overcast with dark grey clouds. We are told the temp will change about 10 degrees colder as we approach Silverton. The ride is 22 miles, takes about 3 1/2 hours each way and climbs about 2,500 feet. Silverton is
about 9,000 feet with mountains above it approaching 12,000 feet.
We have tickets for a round trip, leaving Durango at 9am and returning arount 6:30pm with a two hour layover at Silverton. The options are to take the train one way and returning by bus (a 1 hour trip) back to Durango. We decided to do the round trip. "What else do we have to do this day, anyway?" said M. We are glad we made reservations because the train was almost full. We found our assigned seats and in a few minutes we heard four long toots from the engine and away we went. The engine is coal fired and the grade is always up. We can hear the engine chugging and see the soot shooting out of the engin's stack. This railway was built in the 1850's to bring the silver and gold ore out of the mountains for refining. This is, after all, and town built on mining. As I gaze up at the high mountains I can see the mining tailings radiating from the mouths of the mine shafts.
We chug our way up the gradual slope enjoying views of the Animas River swollen
to full flow from the melting snow thousands of feet away. My vast knowledge of rapid water tells me that some of these rapids are class 4 and higher. This river is moving and dangerous. My eye moves from the river to the snow capped mountains, the green forests and the nasty looking rock slides on the slopes of the mountains. It's a wonderful view. We are relaxed because we know this will go on for a while. As we left the depot there was a furious taking of pictures and video. After an hour there is much less photographic activity and we spend our time settling in and getting to know our neighbors. Everyone is very friendly and talkative.
Across the isle from us is a lady who admits to 75 years old, is very friendly, and willing to talk about her adventures. One of the things she talked about was her friend who lived in Aptos, California. She mentioned her friend was a "health nut" taking her vitamins, eating a vegetarian diet and then "only organic food." She was talking to her seat mates behind her. "Then one day she is on her way to mail her
Christmas cards and - WHAM - she is hit by a car." "That's awful" say her friend, "is she OK?" "DEAD" the old lady says, "so much for carrot juice." Well M and I couldn't hold our snickering, nor could the couple in front of us, nor the couple in front of them. We looked out the window with our hands to our mouths, literally bursting with laughter. What a scene! By the way, that old lady had driven by herself from her home in Amarillo to Durango, and way on her way to a wedding in Denver. Quite a lady.
The train chugged its way up the mountain, sometimes on a narrow shelf no wider than the train, about 1,000 feet directly above the surging river below. It was here that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was filmed. A classic scene we all remember when they jumped off the cliff into the water. We were there and saw the place.
One must be patient when riding a train. Things do not move fast. In fact, not much faster than 20 - 25 miles per hour. The scenery just slides by. You can look at the bark
on a tree if you want, or examine a mountain peak in detail. We have 3 1/2 hours to TALK about anything we want. There's not TV, no phone calls, nothing - just us and the scenery. How nice.
We chugged our way into Siverton around noon. It's a scene right out of a movie. The streets are not paved, there's a wooden sidewalk and buildings right from the 1800's. We stop and take pictures next to the heavy breathing locomotive with steam shooting outits nostils. It's wonderful! Opps, it's raining. Not hard, but it is definitely raining. So here I am, in my usual uniform, tee shirt, shorts and flip flops and it's raining. Well I do have my trusty Giants cap, so what the heck, I venture out with M holding my are as we negotiate the muddy, waterfilled streets. We go to a bank, I'm out of cash and need an ATM. While I'm getting money, M asks the teller to recomment a place to eat. "Go to Mad Mommas," she says, "they have great sandwiches." In two minutes (this is NOT a big town) we are in Mad Momma's talking to Mad Momma about her
chicken salad sandwich. "I don't give out my recipe," she says. "Tell me what you don't want and I'll tell you if it's in my sandwich." I thinks I like this lady. She tells me she was a nurse, but couldn't deal with the constant paperwork and the rules and dealing with people more concerned with the rules than the patients. "So...I opened a sandwich and pie shop." "I knew I could bake good pies and make good sandwiches." What a neat lady.
We did a little shopping dodging the raindrops until our train left at 2:45pm. We are due back at Durango before 6:15pm. The train lurches and jerks its way out of Silverton for the long downgrade back to Durango. M and I are lulled to a trance by the rocking, clicking, screetching, and banging of the train. We look up at the 12,000 foot mountains and down to the roaring Animas River - out on the green forested slopes of the San Juan Mountains. Pockets of Birch trees, their thin white tree trunks stand out from the green ground while their light green leaves wave in the slight breeze. WOW! Further down the slope we see the young Birch trees fallen to the ground, gnawed down by the beaver that frequent this area.
For another 3 1/2 hours we go down to the town of Durango, population 5,000 and growing. Two large building are going up in the downtown area and I saw two new-home subdivisions from the train. This area is called the "Four Corners" for reasons we stated in our previous missels.
Back at our hotel, we do not forget our hotel's FREE cocktain hour and get our allotted two drinks per person, plus our bowls of chips and salsa, and then retire to our room. No dinner tonight, just snacks and then night-nights. As I write this M is sleeping while watching Jay Leno on TV.
What will happen tomorrow?
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Chuck C.
non-member comment
I'm soooooo sorry
That I had the nerve to underestimate you and M. Wonderful story; not what I'm used to reading, (mostly technical details of the Mikados.) Now that EVERYONE knows I doubted you, contnue to have fun and keep all informed.