The Ford Barn - Driving the Million Dollar Highway (Colorado)

For our 41st anniversary this year we did another big road trip that's been on our bucket list for a while - The Million Dollar Highway from Silverton to Ouray, Colorado.

We started in Cortez, Colorado, the gateway to Mesa Verde National Park. The drive to Cortez was uneventful except when pulling up the incline south of Moab, Utah the engine started to stumble just like it does with vapor lock. I switched on the electric fuel pump that usually solves that instantly. No change. So, for most of the rest of that day the engine stumbled along like it was missing a cylinder or two but only intermittently, usually when just cruising, but would go away as soon as I pushed down on the gas pedal to accelerate or climb. Then it would do fine. It was like the power valve (that I'd just replaced) wasn't working right. Then, once in a while, it would be like the accelerator pump (which I also just replaced) wasn't giving its squirt when it was supposed to.

Getting out to look under the hood to find anything wrong was in vain so we just went on with that "stumbling" totally destroying what would otherwise be a calm, peaceful, serene, drive.

Then, on one climb it got worse until the engine just slowly stumbled until it died. So, there we were, on the side of the road, wondering what was wrong. I tried starting it several times in vain so we just sat and let it rest. After many minutes I tried it again, it started right up and pulled up that hill without any hesitation and for the rest of the day was just fine. I concluded that Old Henry just had a "carburetor stone" that he had to pass and that he would now be good for the duration. Not so.

Anyway, we stayed in Cortez that night.

The next day it was off to Mesa Verde National Park. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIwSREJs-Tg From the park website: Mesa Verde, Spanish for green table, offers a spectacular look into the lives of the Ancestral Pueblo people who made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to 1300. Today the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600 cliff dwellings. These sites are some of the most notable and best preserved in the United States.

Headed up the 1,000 foot climb to get up onto the mesa:

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One of the many cliff dwellings (more on the video):

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After a few hours in Mesa Verde National Park we headed back down then east to Durango where we got on Highway 550, a spur of U.S. 50 that runs from Bernalillo, NM to Montrose, CO and eventually becomes The Million Dollar Highway between Silverton and Ouray. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewtVENBJgb4

We climbed over three high passes, the first one Coal Bank Pass at 10,640 feet then Molas Pass at 10,910 feet.

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Molas Lake at Molas Pass

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Then we headed down the mountain to the quaint little old mining town of Silverton, population 628, elevation 9,308 feet. Locals call it "Little Switzerland" because of it's Alpine setting.

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One of my favorite stories as a child was Donald Duck's Toy Train. Looking down on Silverton, that really has a narrow gauge railway coming to it from Durango, reminded me so much of Donald Duck's model railway town that the chipmunks, Chip & Dale, eventually moved into.

The sign says "A Victorian Mining Town".

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One of the steam engines that pull the narrow gauge train from Durango (the train seen in Around the World in 80 Days and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid).

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A close-up of the train drive wheels set inside of its frame, instead of outside as standard gauge locomotives are, to fit the narrow rails. And the push rod connections as close to the outside diameter of the wheels as possible to increase climbing ability.

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The train station, much like Donald Duck's:

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The original 1883 "Welcome Saloon" with a Model A parked in front.

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Then back up over Red Mountain Pass at 11,019 feet and The Million Dollar Highway, named either for the cost of building it in the 1920's or the value of the gold in its fill dirt. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM0wMwLjlk4

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Then we got into the old mining region that included the Longfellow mine and other mines from which over 6,800,000 ounces of gold (nearly 9 billion dollars in todays values) was extracted from in the late 1800's to 1959 when it was all gone.

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The Idarado mine trestle where the miners boarded the mine train to take them into the 80 miles of tunnels and drifts of the mine.

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Ruins and waste of the Yankee Girl mine, the richest mine of the region.

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This section of highway was carved out of the mountain side by Otto Mears in 1881 as a toll road. (More dramatic views on the video.)

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We then dropped down into our final destination for the night, Ouray, founded by prospectors in 1875 servicing 30 active mines with a population of 1,000 then and now. Elevation 7,792 feet. Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhjDSBmomL4 It's a much harder town to see than Silverton because it is a "Tree City, U.S.A." with lots of trees.

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The entire main street is a National Historic District and it has a lot of quaint Victorian style houses as well. This one is for sale.

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Our final destination, the old Western Hotel built in 1891 to service the miners and wealthy where we stayed the night for our 41st wedding anniversary:

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The drive home was uneventful other than the return of the "carburetor stone" disturbing my peace and the generator giving out 200 miles from home.
Also, at one point the engine was stumbling all the time no matter what I did. I couldn't stand it so stopped to take a look under the hood. Found three spark plug wires loose, not disconnected, just not snapped on tight. Squeezed all of the connections with pliers and put them back on and there was no stumbling again, for a while.

We drove through temperatures as low as 60° F on the high mountain passes to a high of 94° F on the way home.

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Still made it home fine and still had enough battery to start and drive around the next couple of days before turning the headlights on one night that killed it and had to charge it again. Haven't figured out that problem nor the "stumbling" engine yet.

Total miles 845. Good time had by all.

P.S. Where was Pepe? Home in his nice stable bed. AnnaRae wanted to go without him this time.

Previous Trips:

Transcontinental Railway Grade in May 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139471

City of Rocks, Idaho in April 2014:https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137684

Capitol Reef National Park in March 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=133018

Grouse Creek and the AAA garage in February 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130966

Grand Canyon in January 2014: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128820

Moab, UT in December 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127222

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument November 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123694

Across Nevada on US 50, "The Loneliest Road in the Country", October 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120098

Mount Evans (the highest paved road in North America) August 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115013

Canada in June 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109872

Monument Valley in March 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99523

Bryce Canyon in February 2013: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97822

Milford, Utah in December 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93137

Nevada and Idaho in November 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89080

Rocky Mountain National Park in September 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83966

Yellowstone National Park in May 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72864

Death Valley in February 2012: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62705

Pike's Peak in July 2011: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19141

Route 66 in April 2010: https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57511