Silverton

Last summer when we were camping in Durango, we made a day trip up to Silverton to visit the old mining town in Animas Forks. The scenery was amazing and the history of the area was so interesting. It was our first jeep road experience, and we all really enjoyed it. So, this year we decided to spend several days camping in the Silverton area to explore more of the mountains and to visit some of the other old mines and ghost towns. We had originally planned to camp in Ouray, but we read about a dispersed camping spot just north of  Silverton on the river, and decided to check it out. The only problem was the road to Silverton from Ouray. It's known as "The Million Dollar Highway" (if only we could still build roads for a million dollars!), and it has lots of steep drop offs and very few guardrails. I'm super afraid of heights, but my parents assured us the road was safe for the motorhome (they've driven it often on their motorcycle trips), so we decided to go for it. 

We safely made it up the mountain, and were rewarded with a beautiful campsite on the river. Even though it's a dispersed campground area (dry camping with no modern conveniences), the campground was quite full and we got the last site on the river.  The kids immediately went to explore the river, and they were both excited when a new friend came out to explore with them.  

We happened into a great group of campers who have been camping in this area together for many summers. Most of them are retired and enjoy spending their summers in the cool Colorado mountains. A couple of the families had grandkids visiting, and Big Sister and Little Bud had so much fun playing and exploring with them. Every morning we would check out a new jeep trail and then head back to camp in the early afternoon so the kids could play with their new friends. I'm sure if you ask our kids, they'll tell you this was the highlight of our trip. 

 

The river in front of our National Forest campsite. The river is about 45 degrees and the warmest day while we've been in Silverton has been 70 degrees. The elevation here is nearly 10,000 feet. The cold hasn't kept the kids out of the water though, even Little Bud has enjoyed playing in the frigid waters. 

 

There are crazy mushrooms everywhere!

 

Old Hundred Mine Tour - the kids loved going up into the mine!  

 

  

Little Bud lost his first tooth 😢. He was so proud. He thinks he's basically a grown up now!  (and  he chose to wear his pajamas inside out for some crazy reason)