It’s only a hundred thirty miles. How hard could it be?
We usually go over lizard head pass, or out and around by Naturita to avoid the highest passes, but since we hadn’t been the Durango route recently, we decided to go that way. Cortez to Durango, Silverton, Ouray, and Ridgway. A three-humper, not counting that little one between Cortez and Durango. Three big humps, Coal Bank, Molas, and Red Mountain Passes. Nine thousand, ten thousand and eleven thousand feet. A lot of 15mph winding and grinding in low gear, both on the way up and on the way down. A fantastic drive. And hardly another car on the road. We never collected more than two or three at a time, and then only for a few minutes before we got a chance to let them by.
The fall colors are on the ground now; ground blizzards of color swirling up behind as we pass. Hundreds of waterfalls; foamy intertwined ribbons of white cascading down the mountains in every direction. And now, one more day at Ridgway.
