The idea was to drive to Mesa Verde National Park campground and pitch a tent for one night. From Ouray to Mesa Verde is about a 3-hour drive. By 8 am, I was dressed and ready to go. Ouray is a beautiful small town in the mountains. About 45 minutes south of Ouray is a similar but more rustic town named Silverton. Having several hours to spare, I headed south to Silverton. Hwy 550 goes from Montrose to Durango. The section from Ouray to Silverton is known as The Million Dollar Highway due to the gold and silver mines that were active in the area. The drive is beautiful but a little scary due to the hairpin turns and vertical drops.

After what was probably the most breathtaking drive of my life, I arrived at Silverton.

Now I turned around, went back through Ouray and made my way to Telluride and on to Mesa Verde. Telluride was once probably similar to Ouray, but it has a ski area, so it is a very expensive version of Ouray. The valley leading into Telluride is gorgeous. 
The valley leading to Telluride

I drove through Telluride, it isn’t very big, to see Bridal Veil Falls, which is just on the other side of Telluride. Then I turned around and headed mostly south and a little west on Hwy 145 towards Mesa Verde. This is another beautiful drive which goes through the San Juan National Forest. There are many National Forest Campgrounds in the San Juan National Forest. After a stretch, the highway follows the Dolores River to Dolores, Colorado, and then to Cortez, Colorado. From Cortez, it’s Hwy 160 east to Mesa Verde. It’s a bit of a drive to get up to the top of the mesa where the park buildings and campgrounds are located. The campground is first come first serve. I found a pleasant spot in the Taos Loop and pitched my tent. By now it was 6 pm, which left me some time to look at some cliff dwellings from lookout points .

Close to sunset, I returned to my tent to find a doe and baby mule deer.

 

Slept in a little as my drive to Ouray was supposed to be about 7 hours. From Sterling to Denver is about a 2 hour, not so exciting drive, but once you leave Denver heading west, you climb up into the Rockies. It’s interstate 70W from Denver to Grand Junction, Colorado. This is a beautiful drive through the mountains, by famous ski areas such as Silverthorne, Copper Mountain, Vail, etc.. Before getting to Grand Junction, the landscape changes quite a bit, from mountains to hilly country. At Grand Junction, I headed south on Hwy 50, passed through Delta, Olathe, and made it to Montrose. From Montrose, it was a short drive to my first National Park of the trip, The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It’s a spectacular gorge cut by the Gunnison River.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Ouray

At 5:30 am I left my home in Milwaukee and headed west to my first stop, Sterling, Colorado. From 1st through 5th grades, I lived west of Des Moines, Iowa. My route to Sterling took me within 2 miles of my childhood home.  At 9:30 pm, I was in my hotel room near Sterling, Colorado. A long first day.