Road Trip #5 - Day 5, Riding the San Juan Scenic Skyway Colorado

August 23, 2011
Colorado, USA

Today, we slept in a little... I guess we needed that after riding Mesa Verde, roaming through cliff dwellings and ruins, then walking two miles downtown, dancing with Indians and walking two miles back to the motel. We do not do the clock-thing when we are on v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n unless we have an event scheduled.

Anyway, we rolled out mid-morning heading east on Hwy 160 to Durango. The idea was to ride at least part of the San Juan Scenic Skyway, the part that includes the Million Dollar Highway. We thought about stopping for breakfast in Durango, but did not see a restaurant that interested us so we gassed up and headed north on Scenic Hwy 550 toward Silverton. What a beautiful ride. Like Mesa Verde, we have not ridden this stretch of road in ten years and the last time was in a cage. Again, that cage trip cannot compare to a motorcycle trip.

Along the way, we looked for signs of the train (Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad) which runs along the highway for a while but never caught so much as a plume of black smoke. We rode the train ten years ago and loved it. Engineer Mountain (12,927 elevation) dominates the landscape most of the way while the road winds over Coal Bank Pass (10,640 elevation) and Molas Divide (10,910 elevation) just before riding up on Silverton, CO. Again, we thought about stopping in Silverton for breakfast, but the morning was fine and we were not starved and so far the skies were mostly clear. By this time we were thinking we might get to ride the whole 236 miles of the San Juan Skyway without riding into storms.

San Juan Scenic Skyway - Hwy 550 CO

So, we rode on. The Million Dollar Highway is typically defined as the 25 miles between Silverton and Ouray, CO although some refer to the whole stretch of road between Durango and Ouray as such. It travels over Red Mountain Pass (11,099 elevation) through the Uncompahgre Gorge. The 12 miles or so of road from the summit of Red Mountain Pass to Ouray is actually the stretch of road that gives the highway its name. Legend has it that the name Million Dollar Highway is derived from the idea that it cost a million dollars a mile to build in the 1920s, and that its fill dirt contains a million dollars in gold ore. The Million Dollar Highway is notorious among travelers because the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to traverse by vehicle, mostly because the road winds via numerous hairpin S-turns beside steep cliffs (sometimes close enough to touch), narrow lanes, and a decided lack of guardrails. Notorious or not, riding up to Ouray was a blast and we were tempted to ride back down it and back up again -- just for the fun of it.

By the time we rode into beautiful downtown Ouray, the rumble in our stomachs told us it was way past time to eat. We parked the ride and strolled down the street a couple of blocks before we spied Maggie's Kitchen. When we stopped in front of the place to look it over a little better, an elderly gent said C'mon up - it's the best place to eat in town. He said he'd been eating there for as long as he could remember and they had not killed him yet. Well, we laughed and told him that's all the persuasion we needed. As we mounted the stairs, he told us to go on in, straight to the order window in the back and said tell them Gilbert sent you.

We strolled in and paused about half way back just to gawk a minute. The entire place, every inch of wall and ceiling is signed by the people who have visited Maggie's. Amazing! Otherwise the decor was low key, mostly galvanized tin and wood - our kind of place. We told the girl at the order counter that Gilbert sent us in with the highest recommendation. The girl giggled and said - Yeah, that's my Grand-Dad. Tim ordered a monster bacon cheese burger with fries. I ordered a smaller version of the same. The place was busy so we grabbed our drinks, and yes - signed the wall, then found a small table on the street side patio out front and got a kick out of watching Grand-Dad Gilbert work the crowd of hungry tourists strolling by.

The burgers. Speaking quite literally - Oh My Goodness! They were cooked to perfection, juicy and tasty! Loaded with wonderful cheese (definitely not your standard slice)! We are still trying to remember when and where we have had a better burger.

Bacon cheese burgers - Maggie's Kitchen - Ouray CO

Slide show of the ride between Cortez and Ridgway, CO or part one of the San Juan Scenic Skyway which includes the Million Dollar Highway (75 photos):

Riding north out of Ouray under partly cloudy skies, we were soon through the small town of Ridgway, CO. In the past, we have always continued north at this point. Today, we turned west on Highway 62 and immediately wondered why we have not traveled this stretch of road before. This stunningly scenic ride travels over the Dallas Divide (8970 elevation) about halfway between Ridgway and Placerville, CO over and around gently rolling hills and through lush, green valleys. Before long we reached Hwy 145 and rode the few miles into Telluride. The ride into and up to the city limit sign of Telluride was great. What I assume was Bridal Veil Falls was a trickle down the mountain at the end of town. It is a beautiful, busy, Victorianesque town but, cruising main street of Telluride was like riding a cattle trail... Seriously. We have ridden through cone zones that were better. We could not help but wonder, with all the money (movie stars, rock stars and so on) purportedly living in the area how the streets could be so bad. We did not linger, cruising in and back out of town pretty quick although cruising implies something other than the bumpy ride we experienced.

We missed a turn coming out of Telluride and rode north a few miles before discovering our error. We did not mind it - this part of the road was nice if a bit busy. Before turning south on Hwy 145 just outside of Telluride, we stopped at a scenic pullover and had a cup of thermos coffee.

The Ride, near Telluride, CO

Highway 145 travels over Lizard Head Pass (10,222 elevation) between Telluride and the tiny almost ghost town of Rico, CO. This is a beautiful, easy ride through some gorgeous terrain. Rounding a bend, just past Lizard Head Mountain we realized we would not finish the day in the dry. We stopped, pulled on the rain gear and rode through rain between Rico and Dolores, stopping just shy of Dolores to come out of the now steamy rain gear.

As we were riding through Dolores, I spied the Galloping Goose which I had read about in a travel brochure at the motel.

The Ride with Galloping Goose #5 - Dolores, CO

Here's a brief history: The 160 mile Rio Grande Southern Railroad was built in the early 1890s to accommodate travel between Ridgway, CO to Durango, CO running through the towns of Telluride, Rico, Dolores and Mancos. It served the silver and gold mines of Telluride, Ophir and Rico, hauling tons of precious metal ores and passengers, its success thwarted only by the Silver panic of 1893. After the stock market crashed in 1929, the railroad almost failed until a new type of rail vehicle was conceived that could haul freight, passengers and the US Mail. These vehicles (I believe there were 7 of them) became known as the Galloping Geese (apparently the horns on these vehicles or motors sounded like a flock of geese). Galloping Goose number 5 (sitting at the Depot in Dolores) was originally built using a 1928 Pierce-Arrow limousine body and running gear. By 1953 when roads were built in the area and the US Mail did not renew its contract, the RGS became defunct. The historical society that maintains Galloping Goose #5 has plans to build a section of track between Dolores and Mancos to give tourists a taste of its colorful history. Sounds like fun to me!

The rest of the ride into Cortez was pleasant. The view of Sleeping Ute Mountain was good from this perspective. For once, we got to ride dry through the town and into the motel. After the great burgers at Maggie's, neither one of us were hungry so we snacked and had a beer, lounging in front of the room speculating on where tomorrow would take us.

Slide show of the ride between Ridgeway and Cortez, CO or part two of the San Juan Scenic Skyway (50 photos):

The day's mileage = 358 miles. Tomorrow we leave Cortez - thinking maybe Gunnison as we are trying to stay out of the path of storms rolling up from the south and some huge bicycle event going on in the state.