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San Juan
Mountains Train & Trail Ride Adventure
::Continued::
Once in the valley, the weather appeared to be
moving out, so we decided to check out some of
the trails to the North west side of Silverton,
so we headed several miles up Highway 10 to Hurricane
Pass, which once again took us up to nearly 13,000
feet in elevation.
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| With
the snow clouds moving out, we had some
incredible views from the top of Hurricane
Pass |
The top of Hurricane Pass overlooks Lake Como,
which is in the Poughkeepsie Gulch, and the mountains
views up top were absolutely breath taking with
a fresh coating of snow and the sun peeking out
from the clouds.
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The view
from the top of Hurricane Pass & the
mountains were covered with a fresh coat
of snow
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We rode down to the banks of the Lake Como before
turning around and driving up over the California
Pass, which took us past several other remote
ghost towns and mines as we headed back down to
the valley to Animas Forks, which was built in
1873 and by 1876 it was a bustling mining town. The
town continued to grow and prosper into the late
1800’s. At its peak it was home to almost 50 cabins,
a general store, a post office and printed its
own newspaper, the Animas Forks Pioneer.
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| We
passed through Animas Forks ghost town and
mine, which was a bustling mining town in
1876 |
In the early 1900’s mining profits began to decline
and by 1917 the mill was dismantled and it was
almost the end for the boom town. By the 1920’s
Animas Forks had become a ghost town. After checking
out the Animas Forks ghost town, we had a smooth
drive back to Silverton on Highway 2, which completed
our loop ride.
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We once again
passsed through the town of Howardsville,
CO on our way back to Silverton on Highway
2, which is a very smooth dirt road
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The weather was much better for our second ride,
and the scenery was absolutely breath taking especially
with the Aspen trees glowing yellow with their
fall foliage along with a fresh coating of snow.
Our guide, Doug Bogart, said, “Once you are here,
you’ll never want to leave. The scenery is fantastic,
and we have something for everyone, and if there
is something that someone wants to see, we will
go find it for them from fall colors to spring
flowers, ghost towns, mines, and beautiful vistas,”
and we agree with him!
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The fresh
snow paired with the fall foliage was
absolutely amazing, and we highly suggest
making a trip out to San Juan Mountains
region because it one of our top ten places
to ride
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Even though we were hit with an early season
snow storm, which limited some of vista views,
we still couldn’t get enough of riding in the
Silverton, Colorado mountain trails, and the San
Juan Backcountry Rental’s crew provided us with
a great adventure that we will never forget.
ATVriders.com thoroughly enjoyed our adventure
in Durango and Silverton, CO. We loved the picturesque
views from the train and the thrill of riding
through history with the San Juan Backcountry
Rentals, and we highly recommend this trip to
anyone that enjoys beautiful country, history
and riding!
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