Westward 2013 – Part 2 (8/3 – Corkscrew Gulch, Hurricane Pass, California Gulch, Animas Forks & Silverton)

After yesterday’s Jeep trip you would think I would learn not to trust Vaughan when he says we are going for an easy drive.  Today it was the Alpine Loop.  It started with Corkscrew Gulch which wound its way to the top of Red Mountain (obvious from the following pics).  The final switchback and climb brought me to tears.  When we get around to posting the video of this you will see why. Once we reached the top and enjoyed the fantastic views and my nerves calmed a bit, we worked our way thru Hurricane Pass and California Gulch then down to Animas Forks, a mining ghost town.  Lots of remnants of the mining era along this entire route. As usual there were plenty of shelf roads (I still call them cliffs) then finally down into Silverton to Grumpy's for lunch and entertainment by the local honky-tonk piano player Dale Elliott (this brings tears to Vaughan’s eyes, go figure).  Rain and thunderstorms terminated any further mountain jeep adventures for the day, thankfully.  We did have a nice dinner in Ouray at The Saloon.  I think tomorrow Vaughan will be riding his dirt bike with someone he met in the campground, leaving me a day to rest and checkout the shopping in Ouray.

Here is a link to a short video of Corkscrew Gulch - if you turn up the volume you may hear me crying and begging for my life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiXCa7tOzbU&feature=youtu.be

Beautiful view of Red Mountain.

A scary view of Corkscrew Gulch.

Scarier yet!!

Prettier Yet!!

Coming down into California Gulch.

A few old mines along the way.

A view from the top of California Gulch

A warning sign this far up?  A little late. The worst was over.

Climbing out of California Gulch was not a pleasant experience for me either.

Descending to Animas Forks.

Getting closer to the bottom.

These 2 pictures are of different old mines.

This is a new friend we made along the way - he was very curious.

This is Dale the honky-tonk player at Grumpy's in Silverton.