Getting into a Durango state of mind

As we awaited the arrival of Karen, Jo, and Bunny, we wanted to check out the Animas River to see what it looked like after the big mess at the Gold King Mine.  The EPA caused a massive spill of over 3 million gallons of mine waste into Cement Creek above Silverton that ran into the Animas which goes way down into New Mexico.  The Animas River goes right through the heart of Durango and is a focal point for bikers, walkers, fisherman, rafters, and even swimmers.  This spill devastated their tourist season for awhile.  Now the official word is the fish were hardly affected and the water is perfectly safe to go into again.  Having said that, we have seen very few people in the river or fishing in the river.  We went to a rocky viewpoint north of town to take a look.

The river itself looks good, but you can see the tell-tale
orange staining at the water line and in the shallows

We will visit this topic later.  The three gals showed up right on time and got settled in their site, but mother nature had other plans, so instead of visiting and eating outside, we opted to stay inside while it poured and blew.  But a good time was had by all.  We had to wait until the next night so we could try out the new fire pit, and I have to say it was a huge success.  Now I just have to work out a way to use the large LP tank on the motorhome as my little portable bottle won't last very long.

The "test" light and waiting for the whole gang

Karen explaining the facts of life to Jo, Bunny, and I
at our first fire

The next day we wanted to go up to visit Silverton and push up into the mountains to Animas Forks and maybe beyond.  We headed north, walked around for awhile while Jo scoured the antique stores, and after lunch we went further north towards Animas Forks with the two trucks.

Some mining remnants along the way

An old mine ruin in Animas Forks

One of the restored homes

Looking back down the valley

 We decided to continue up through California Gulch towards California Pass, Lake Como, and Hurricane Pass.  It was rough and rocky, but the scenery is killer.

Our greeter at the base of California Pass

Another sign of an old mine

So with much trepidation by Bill alone, we opted to go up and over California Pass.  Funny, I thought I was getting better with the heights, but maybe not.  We cut down by Lake Como, back up the shelf road to Hurricane Pass, and back down towards Silverton.
Once over Hurricane Pass the views are stellar, as if they hadn't been before:)

Like a picture postcard

Sensational!

Awesome!

I'm sure you're tired of my superlatives by now, but even these great pictures just can't do it justice.  Now as we worked our way lower and lower, we were wondering if we'd see the site of the spill down the Animas River, and sure enough we came around a bend and there it was, and to our surprise, as we thought they had stopped the breach, it was pouring out vile looking water right down into the Cement Creek.  Turns out this mine alone, no telling what all the hundreds of other mines are doing, spews hundreds of gallons a MINUTE into the river!  

The site of the spill

The catchment areas

Take a close look, that is water just pouring out!

The tell-tale coloration

We were amazed it was still happening, it seems that a certain amount of leakage is "normal and accepted".  No, I don't have an answer, but boy something needs to be done, it is truly disgusting.