I was prepared for no snow and boring blue skies, based on conditions in Durango, but was pleasantly surprised by the opposite as I drove to Silverton, then Ouray.

Tags:   Blinkagain AbsolutelyStunningScapes

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Shot from a moving Jeep (actually a Chevy truck with open air stadium seating) during Mild to Wild tour by Durango and Silverton Narrow Gage Railroad. We were bused from Durango to Silverton, then switched to the Jeeps, then road the train back to Durango. It was an awesome day!

Tags:   Fall color San Juan Mountains Animas River Mining tailings Silverton Durango Colorado

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Tags:   Mule Deer Doe Odocoileus hemionus Mesa Verde National Park Durango Colorado

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Tags:   Silverton Durango Colorado Blinkagain Sunrays+5

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There are around 5,000 sites in Mesa Verde and the Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It contained 150 rooms and 23 kivas, which are pits that were dug into the cliff, then covered with a roof that had a small hole that a ladder would fit into and allow entrance to the kiva. Visiting the Cliff Palace requires a vertical climb of about 100 feet and the use of five 8-10 foot ladders, as well as a hike of about 1/4 mile, round trip, and that's at 7,000 feet in elevation, so it is rather strenuous.

The huge fire in 2007 revealed additional sites that were previously unknown, but it will take 400 years for the juniper forests to grow back to the condition that they were in before the fire, which was caused by a lightning strike.

Tags:   Cliff Palace Mesa Verde National Park Durango Colorado Blinkagain NGC NPC

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