Day 6 - Over the mountains - Part 2

From Durango, we continued up (literally) US550 into the San Juan Mountains, where the highest peak is Mt. Wilson at 14,246 feet, the highest one we saw was Engineer Mountain at 12,780 feet. Quite a change from Florida where the average elevation is perhaps 15 feet! We traversed four passes. The first was the Coal Bank Pass at 10,640 feet. The second was Molas Pass at 10,899 feet, the third was Lizard Head Pass at 10,242 and the last was Red Mountain Pass at 11, 075.

All the approaches and descents became increasingly more difficult and twisty as we progressed from one to the next. The descent from Red Mountain Pass was the most harrowing. It was extremely "twisty" with some hairpins requiring a speed of no more than 10 miles per hour and a "peg scraping" lean angle. Virtually all the turns kept you under 25 mph. I think this four pass stretch could give the famous "Tail of the Dragon" in the East a run for its money. All the while, we were passing abandoned mining sites. In the middle was Silverton, which is being rejuvenated as a tourist and ski area.