Pigeon, Turret and Eolus

Three mighty peaks of the Needles Range as seen from Highway 550 north of Durango.

Sultan Mountain

Looking down the Mineral Creek valley to Sultan Mountain, which stands tall above Silverton, Colorado

West Needle Mountains

Glacial Scour

Looking North toward the heart of the San Juans. Highway 550 lies below the glacially scoured Hermosa Cliffs.

Purgatory...

Doesn't look so bad.

Engineer rises above Columbine Lake in Purgatory, north of Durango on Hwy 550.

Driving into Ouray

A beautiful morning coming down as my brother and I arrive in Ouray, Colorado; The "Switzerland of America"

Bear Creek Falls

This panorama shows the Bear Creek and the new bridge which was completed this summer. This spot is on the Million Dollar Highway, only a few miles south of Ouray. Driving on this road is quite an experience. The scenery is outstanding, but it is hard to concentrate on that if you happen to be the driver. It's white-knuckle for most, as there are large drops right off the road and there are no guard rails.

View from Castle Rock

Looking south from the top of Castle Rock, 10,441 ft. Electra Lake, Hwy 550, and the Hermosa Cliffs can be seen

The View from Molas Pass

Molas Pass is on Highway 550 between Durango and Silverton. It is actually the second pass one must cross over to get to Silverton from the South. The Elevation here is 10,910 ft./3325 m. This area is actually a city park, owned and maintained by the City of Silverton. It is breathtakingly beautiful up here and serves as one of the best playgrounds you could ever find.

Molas Lake is sittin' pretty in the middle right and the town of Silverton is out of view in the very large, sun-drenched valley in the upper left

Million Dollar Highway

Here's a good picture of The Million Dollar Highway south of the town of Ouray. You can see how the road is just shoved in against the cliffs and has no guard rail. As you can imagine, this road is terrifying to drive in the winter. If you are wondering why there is no guard rail, it's because the Highway department finds it easier to plow the snow off the edge as there is little room elsewhere for it to go.

Silverton

This is downtown Silverton, Colorado. The history of Silverton is tangled with Durango's. Most of the ore mined in the mountains around Silverton were taken to Durango by rail to be processed by the smelters that came to define Durango for a long while. Silverton is located in the heart of the San Juan Mountains and can be tough to get to. The Million Dollar Highway is the only paved road in and it summits two high mounatin passes on the route from Durango to the south ( Coal Bank Pass at 10,640' and Molas Pass at 10,910') and one from Ouray to the north ( Red Mountain Pass at 11,018'.) During winter, avalanches are frequent along the route and the town is sometime shut-off from the outside world as an effect.

Needle Mountains

As viewed from Highway 550, The two peaks in view are Pigeon on the left and Turret on the right. Behind them is Mt. Eolus, the highest of all the Needle Mountains at 14,084 ft (4,293 m).

Hermosa Cliffs

This is a small section of a very large cliff band that is north of town. A bit dull looking in this photo, but with the right light they are very beautiful, especially during Autumn when all the Aspens leaves are golden. They can be seen from the Million Dollar Highway, US 550.