After breakfast in the Palmer Hotel on monday morning we walked over to the beautiful historic Durango Railroad Station, where a special railroad trip was arranged for us. Before boarding the train we got a brief tour in the adjacent railroad museum, where the real "beauties" – steam engines, cars of all kinds and other railroad relicts – were to be admired.
Durango was founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1879 and the line from Durango to Silverton (almost 60 mi) was accomplished in 1882. The line was constructed to haul silver and gold ore from the San Juan Mountains, but passengers also soon realized that the view was spectacular and started to enjoy the train rides. The historic train has been in continuous operation since 1882, with original cars of different kinds pulled by vintage steam locomotives.
Our trip on the D&SNGRR's 1880s train (as an exception with a diesel engine instead of the regular steam engine) was similar to the regularly offered winter trips, which go only half-way to Silverton. Our group of 10 people, reps from the railroad company, from the local tourism office, from hotels and attractions were with us on the train, consisting of four different cars – from very fancy to "economy class". Also, two re-enactors, a gentleman and a lady, both representing passengers of the very first years of the railroad operation, narrated the trip and Bloody Marys and coffee, cheese and other snacks were available in the fancy parlor car all the time.
The trip to Cascade Canyon took about two hours, followed by a break for the hot lunch buffet on the train (see pic) and back to Durango, winding through spectacular and breathtaking canyons in the remote wilderness of the San Juan National Forest, passing waterfalls, canyons, majestic peaks and creeks, only sparsely covered with snow, even in higher attitudes. Everybody in Southern Colorado was complaining about not having had much snow yet (which will influence the water situation in spring and summer and ski tourism, too) and everybody was enthusiastic when on our way back to Durango, there were a couple of snow flakes in the air ...
Back to Durango in the afternoon we departed by bus to Cortez (an easy 1/2 hour drive), main hub for visitors of the Mesa Verde NP. Freshened up a bit and then had another fantastic dinner in The Farm. The winemaker of Sudcliffe Vineyards (see pic), the local representative of Osprey backbacks (made in Cortez for over 40 years!), the manager of the local cultural center and the owners were interesting company and we enjoyed winetasting and Yak-Burgers, salad and dessert in a pleasant, modern atmosphere. We were treated very well in Cortez, got gifts like wine and other local goodies and were now looking forward to our trip to Mesa Verde National Park.
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