Just over 35 years ago I made the decision to settle in southwest Colorado in the foothills of the spectacular San Juan Mountains. I hope I never have to leave this beautiful place. I’d like to share some of my favorite high-country photos and touch on a few aspects of life up high.
I’ve never been a “peak bagger” and this one the only one I’ve climbed – twice. Engineer Mountain is the feature image above and this photo is me and my first dog, Hades, after summitting in the late 1980s.
Besides hiking and mountain climbing, there are many activities going on in the high country. We’ve gone backcountry skiing a couple times, though usually we stick to lift-accessed terrain.
Taking a breather after skinning up Minnehaha with alpine trekking gear (too heavy).Purgatory Ski Resort and another view of Engineer Mountain on the left.
Ice climbing is popular in Ouray, but that is something you won’t find me doing! Though a large swath of the San Juans is protected as the Weminuche Wilderness, there are many roads in the National Forest and on BLM lands, so 4-wheeling is a major outdoor activity.
UTV rentals can be found in Silverton and Ouray.Known as Velocity Basin, the slopes in this box canyon have seen record speed-skiing runs. The Olympic snowboarder Shawn White built a private half-pipe for training here one winter.A less common activity is hot-air ballooning. I took this photo of the Animas Valley on my very first balloon ride during the Snowdown Balloon Rally.
Things aren’t always happy in the highlands. There are many risks as well. A couple of local men perished recently in an avalanche. The roads can be as treacherous as the backcountry.
Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray is occasionally the scene of a car plummeting into a canyon. Not a pretty sightAnd we’ve suffered some devastating wildfires. We were returning home from a camping trip when we spotted the early stages of what became the enormous Missionary Ridge Fire in 2002. We had another large burn in 2018.This grave near Creede is a memorial to the children who perished on the trail to Oregon and California. It’s a reminder of the difficulties of crossing the Rockies in the 19th century.I think this must be one of the scarier airports in the world. Telluride Mountain Village in the foreground.
The high peaks of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado are important as a primary source of fresh water in the west. The continental divide splits the state down the middle and serves as headwaters for the Colorado River flowing southwest, and the Rio Grande flowing southeast.
Headwaters of the Rio Grande near Creede.
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The San Juan Mountains, like much of Colorado, has a history of mining. There are ghost towns and the remains of old buildings created to serve the mining industry.
Why did they build these boarding houses in such precarious places? That’s where the mines were. Rocky, treeless slopes provide easier access to mineral wealth, despite the steep terrain.
I could share many stories, but I’ll just leave you with a couple more slideshows to showcase the beauty of the land I call home.
Astonishingly beautiful! Thanks for that, Eilene. Fantastic!
(By the way – are those aquilegia flowers? We have hundreds in our garden (yard) each year and they do look very much like them.)
They’re beautiful flowers, they always cheer me up. (And where we used to live, they wouldn’t grow at all. Here they self-seed in explosions of colour.)
Amongst others, I also love some of your water photos.
Thanks, Val. I also enjoy them when they bloom in profusion. They do re-seed all over the place and I let them go, mostly. The yellow ones get a bit aggressive and I have to pull some.
I remember being at Purgatory one summer for a visit. We were camping in the Colorado City campground for the month of July. I certainly miss views like that . . .
I grew up in Chicago suburbs, trading them for Indianapolis. So we’re talking a lifetime of cornfields . . . I almost ended up starting high school in Rye, but a land sale dragged through court for 5+ years, changing history forever. Our stop at Purgatory would have been in the early 70s–a lifetime ago! Beautiful photos, sparking memories . . .
My, but you live in a gorgeous area! We’ve driven through there many times and have overnighted a few times in Ouray. We have lots of good memories of our trips there.
Nice to come across your blog and these stunning vistas. I particularly like the yellow trees. Are they birch trees? I heard the name Minnehaha from TV but didn’t know what it referred to. Now I do.
I can understand what makes you say you don’t want to leave this area.
Myricopia 
Thanks for the tour! It most certainly is an amazing place to live!
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I do love it!
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Thank you for sharing the beauty of the place you call home, Eilene!
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Glad you enjoyed it. Come see it in person someday!
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It was very interesting – seeing a part of the world I’ve never been to. It reminds me of the John Denver song!
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Yep, Rocky Mountain High, I am. 🙂
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What a beautiful place to call home. I’ve not been yet, but hope to visit one day.
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Do visit. It is beautiful.
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Stunning! That mountain you climbed looks daunting.
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It has one bad section, but the rest isn’t too difficult. I am not likely to do it again, though. Fine for when I was younger!
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Many things I did when younger that I wouldn’t do now!
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What a beautiful part of the country! I certainly understand why you’d never want to leave.
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Astonishingly beautiful! Thanks for that, Eilene. Fantastic!
(By the way – are those aquilegia flowers? We have hundreds in our garden (yard) each year and they do look very much like them.)
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Yes, they are. The blue columbines are native to the mountains here. We have a lot of them and other varieties that grow in our yard.
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They’re beautiful flowers, they always cheer me up. (And where we used to live, they wouldn’t grow at all. Here they self-seed in explosions of colour.)
Amongst others, I also love some of your water photos.
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Thanks, Val. I also enjoy them when they bloom in profusion. They do re-seed all over the place and I let them go, mostly. The yellow ones get a bit aggressive and I have to pull some.
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Haha – I shall keep an eye on our yellow ones in the future and be stern with them if they get out of hand…!
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amazing pictures…OH.to be young enough to venture out and hike the trails in distant lands. =^_^= thank you for the tour… loved it.
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Thanks for visiting, if only in a virtual sense.😊🤗
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Breathtaking captures, Eilene.
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Thanks. Hard to take a bad picture in the San Juans!
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Thanks for the virtual tour! This was wonderful! ❤️
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Come visit my corner of the state next time you head to Denver!
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I would love to do that. It looks beautiful!
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I remember being at Purgatory one summer for a visit. We were camping in the Colorado City campground for the month of July. I certainly miss views like that . . .
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We like to visit the ski area in the summer, too. They now have some great downhill mountain biking trails. What sort of views do you have?
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I grew up in Chicago suburbs, trading them for Indianapolis. So we’re talking a lifetime of cornfields . . . I almost ended up starting high school in Rye, but a land sale dragged through court for 5+ years, changing history forever. Our stop at Purgatory would have been in the early 70s–a lifetime ago! Beautiful photos, sparking memories . . .
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Be sure to jot down those memories for posterity🙂! I finished high school and college in Ohio, so I know the Midwest well.
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My, but you live in a gorgeous area! We’ve driven through there many times and have overnighted a few times in Ouray. We have lots of good memories of our trips there.
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Do say Hi if you ever head this way again!
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Will do! 🙂
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Looks like a beautiful place, Eilene, I can’t wait to start travelling again once this pandemic is through>
JIM
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I think we’re all in that boat! Have a happy New Year, Jim!
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And a belated Happy New year to you too, Eilene. Good luck with all your writing projects, sad to see The Slide Years series end!
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I think my future series will fill the gap with similar material. See you later this year!
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Gorgeous photos, Eilene. I visited a friend in Durango once and did a little hiking in the San Juans. Would love to do that again.
Enjoy your blogging break. Happy New Year! Brad
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Well, I don’t need to sell you on southwest Colorado then.😉 Have a great year, Brad!
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People had been always fascinated by mountains 🏔💜 awesome share/photos!
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“Because they’re there!”
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Nice to come across your blog and these stunning vistas. I particularly like the yellow trees. Are they birch trees? I heard the name Minnehaha from TV but didn’t know what it referred to. Now I do.
I can understand what makes you say you don’t want to leave this area.
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Hi! The yellow trees are cottonwoods. Glad you enjoyed the vistas, too. Cameras can never truly capture what it’s like to be there.
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Indeed, they can give you an idea, but to see, hear and smell in the flesh is an exhilirating experience.
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I hope you have a beautiful place to get outside where you live.
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Oh I do. I live in an idyllic spot near the beach in Australia.
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