That whole region, the Uncompahgre Wilderness and San Juan mountains of SW Colorado, is probably the most awe-inspiring beauty I've ever been in. They basically stretch from Durango north to Ridgway (just north of Ouray). To allow me to go off on a tangent (there is a point I suppose), do you 'member the song Convoy by C.W.McCall? His real name was Bill Fries, Jr. and after his music career waned, he became the mayor of Ouray. He became so enamored of those mountains, as I did, that he put together a multi-screen (~12 - 15) slide presentation, called the San Juan Odyssey, going through the 4 seasons in the mountains. It had a soundtrack of Aaron Copland music by the London Symphony Orchestra, with him narrating over it. It was stunning. Here's (narrowgauge.org) a transcript of that narration and conveys the beauty he saw and felt of those beloved places.
I may be a little biased as I've spent many a summer jeeping those jeep trails, from Ouray, Silverton, and over to Telluride. I've never felt such peace and connectedness with nature as those times.
They have an excursion steam train that goes up from Durango to Silverton and back, through the mountains away from civilization. Uses the old tracks put in for the mining around the turn of last century. Their old slogan is "Up from Durango, bound for glory". My father in law was so enthralled with the area, that's on his headstone.
I'll share one last video with you (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTT9qy-qFnY). This is Black Bear Road, from Silverton over the mountain into Telluride. This makes it look a lot tamer than it feels driving it. It will cause you to have white knuckles on many of the switchbacks (those tight turns). They're called "poisonous turns" - one drop will kill ya. This (google.com) is what some of them look like.
C.W.McCall even wrote a song about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzWyZ-jM9Is
That whole region, the Uncompahgre Wilderness and San Juan mountains of SW Colorado, is probably the most awe-inspiring beauty I've ever been in. They basically stretch from Durango north to Ridgway (just north of Ouray). To allow me to go off on a tangent (there is a point I suppose), do you 'member the song Convoy by C.W.McCall? His real name was Bill Fries, Jr. and after his music career waned, he became the mayor of Ouray. He became so enamored of those mountains, as I did, that he put together a multi-screen (~12 - 15) slide presentation, called the San Juan Odyssey, going through the 4 seasons in the mountains. It had a soundtrack of Aaron Copland music by the London Symphony Orchestra, with him narrating over it. It was stunning. [Here's](http://www.narrowgauge.org/4x4/cw_pages/html/sjo_narration.html) a transcript of that narration and conveys the beauty he saw and felt of those beloved places.
I may be a little biased as I've spent many a summer jeeping those jeep trails, from Ouray, Silverton, and over to Telluride. I've never felt such peace and connectedness with nature as those times.
They have an excursion steam train that goes up from Durango to Silverton and back, through the mountains away from civilization. Uses the old tracks put in for the mining around the turn of last century. Their old slogan is "Up from Durango, bound for glory". My father in law was so enthralled with the area, that's on his headstone.
I'll share one last video with you (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTT9qy-qFnY). This is Black Bear Road, from Silverton over the mountain into Telluride. This makes it look a lot tamer than it feels driving it. It will cause you to have white knuckles on many of the switchbacks (those tight turns). They're called "poisonous turns" - one drop will kill ya. [This](https://www.google.com/search?q=black+bear+road+switchbacks&rlz=1C1ASUT_enUS508US508&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwik64PX7f3gAhUNSq0KHcONCXkQ_AUIDigB&biw=1455&bih=723#imgrc=in97CD_tlqlZMM:) is what some of them look like.
C.W.McCall even wrote a song about it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzWyZ-jM9Is
(post is archived)