After a blissful sleep I spent the morning packing up the car and rearranging my belongings. I had let everything become quite a mess with various items spread out and not put away, along with the fact that I had quite a bit of stuff shoved into my tent as well. After slowly eating my breakfast I began to reorganize all of my equipment into the 240sx as I was unhappy with how it had been. With everything neatly packed up into the 240sx it became much easier to grab what I needed.
Things were much more travel friendly now.
Packed up and ready to head out.
Before I headed out I talked to the campsite host for a bit. Through our conversation I learned that the forest service road went about 20 miles in, with it being a dead end, this was the only way in and out. She also mentioned there were difficult parts to cross that required a 4x4 vehicle. So being a reasonable person I decided to see just how far my car can make it down the road, besides I did bring my mountain bike with me as well.
I crossed over one water stream and a rock garden that my car was thankfully narrow enough not to get stuck on the various rocks jetting out from the ground. Inevitably I came across terrain that was impassable in my car, but I was able to make it much farther than I had anticipated.
A shovel always come in handy. Some rock removal was necessary to cross the stream.
This was no problem really and one of the main reasons that I brought my bike. I simply pulled off onto the side and parked under the shade of a tree. I took the parts of my bike out of the car and began the assembly. Afterwards I was able to continue further on down the forest service road.
From where I parked I went about another five miles down the road, it was a shame the terrain was impassable with my car as after the rough section it was back to smooth roads that posed no problem for a lowered sports car. There are hiking trails that lead off the road and I stumbled across one that climbed up the side of a mountain. I was really wishing I had a better gear set on my bike, as the small 26” wheels and large gear ratios made climbing exhausting. Turns out mechanical advantage wasn’t in my favor, so I just walked my bike up the trail. After hiking up on the trail for about 10-15 minutes I turned around and headed back down. Downhill was far more enjoyable as I could just coast down the entire hill, even with the questionable stopping power that my measly bike brakes had to offer.
After my hike and bike up and down the mountain I was getting hungry and headed back to the car for lunch. Once I had the bike put away I pulled out my food supplies and ate soup along with some snacks along the side of the river. By now I had become sick of soup and had an intense hunger for a real substantial meal.
I left the forest after lunch and headed westwards towards Silverton which is along highway 550. A 45 mile mountain pass that summits three times; Coal Bank Pass(10,640 ft), Molas Pass(10,970 ft), and Red Mountain Pass(11,018 ft). The weather was nice and the drive was amazing with a very dynamic landscape. In bad weather? Well that’s another story.
While driving through Pagosa Springs I stopped at an antiques museum. When I had passed by the previous day it didn’t look like it was anything special. Not wanting to judge this place on my first glance, like my mother always told me not to, I decided to stop in and check it out. I am glad that I did too as the museum held a wealth of history primarily focusing on the town of Pagosa Springs. I found out that Wolf Creek Pass was initially a 2 day trip, not a 2 hour trip like today. The pass was also only one lane, and physical fights would often solve confrontational negotiations should you encounter a car attempting to drive the opposite way.
This 19th century camera was quite a surprise to see. The museum was packed with tons of artifacts, and is free to visit as well!
The town is known for its hot springs, however it was quite commercialized and being late in the day I decided to pass on the hot springs. However I was going on day four without a shower and I could use a bath by this point...
Thankfully I have a gym membership to a national chain and there was one that just happened to be on the eastern outskirts of Durango where I was able to unwind and enjoy a nice hot shower.
Well after that nice break I hopped back into the car and continued on my way. There was festival going on that day too but I still had quite some ground to cover and it was already in the late afternoon by this point.
It wasn’t before long I came across a sign I didn’t know I was looking for: Warning mountain pass. Oh yes that is the kind of sign that gets me excited about driving! Now the fun started on the mountain pass of highway 550. Steep grades that go down as quickly as they go up and no guard rails to protect from the multi hundred foot drops of the cliff face.
The campground I had found via my phone app was still closed due to snow. My Texan brain cannot comprehend the mass amount of white stuff closing everything. I had passed by an over look, that was at the summit of Molas Pass and offered a spectacular view. I asked around to see if anyone knew of near by areas to camp. I got some advice and headed back south in hopes of finding a forest service road marker. Worst case scenario there was another manicured camping area on Lake Molas as a backup option but I was looking for something off of the beaten path. Not before long I found the sign I was looking for a small brown sign reading “Old Lime Creek Road” and turned off. Unlike the East and West fork roads this road was far from maintained, thankfully there was a path near the entrance that I was able to drive across, although it almost was too rough for my car and there was a good chance of getting stuck. The plus side was I was right off of highway 550 and could flag someone down if such a thing happened. I lucked out and only had one neighbor, who was about 100 yards away and my site was surrounded by trees and had a firepit built by previous people camping in this spot. You couldn’t even tell that highway 550 was so nearby. Secluded enough you feel like you're in the woods by yourself, close enough to the highway emergency help wouldn’t be hard to get. I lucked out on this spot as this was my first time doing dispersed camping, and alone too boot, perfect.
After setting up my camp I headed into Silverton for dinner. I was really afraid that everything would be closed by then as it was approaching 8pm. Thankfully Silverton is a tourist town and accommodates as such. I found a restaurant called Brown Bear Cafe that was open until 9pm on a sunday night. Score!
I ordered a grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables along with chicken dumpling soup, which I didn't realize came with the meal. When I had order the soup I was instantly thinking that I should have gotten the vegetable soup instead. I’m used to really mediocre chicken dumpling soup. However I was quite surprised and had one of the most authentic version of chicken dumpling soup that I have ever had, it was hearty yet light. Quite the surprise and I gladly slurped it all down.
The main course was on par with the soup, the vegetables were fresh and firm the chicken was moist and tender and the mash potatoes had been made only minutes before. I ate everything and was far too full. The appetizer was bread that had been pulled right out of an over. The cafe was slow that night, myself being one of no more than four customers. The food was fresh and didn’t taste like it was left over from a dinner rush. It hit the spot in all the right ways and I left with a larger stomach.
With my craving for “more than soup” satisfied I headed out from the cafe. I drove back to Old Lime Creek Road, going through Molas Pass to get to my campsite. I noted that Molas lake had a beautiful view and made a mental note to stop back for sunset photos before I left for my next camping spot.
Once back at camp I made a campfire to finish off my long day. My campfire skills already improving I was able to start this one in under five minutes.