At 52 years old I can’t do all the things I used to do like mountain bike, backpack, or hike 16 miles a day. These days the hikes are shorter and it is generally more challenging to do strenuous exercise back to back days, so today I intended to be a tourist and hang out with all the local yokels and the masses of people from all over. Their sure are a lot of people here from Texas!….I say intended because my tourist activities were short circuited by my desire to explore a bit in the backcountry.

I woke up this morning a bit sore from all the hiking yesterday so being a tourist seemed like the thing to do and I headed off to Silverton. Silverton was once a well known mining area in the San Juan mountains but today like most mines of the past it has been turned into a tourist attraction. And, tourist attraction it has become. After arriving in town I walked around a bit and took a few pictures…and…to be honest I wasn’t particularly impressed with the various shops. It all kind of reminded of the kind of shops one sees along the California Coast. The only redeeming aspect of the window shopping was the incredible mountains that surround the town. It is a beautiful place.

After putting in about an hours worth of tourist activities I headed off on my bike towards the cemetery which is located on a steep hill just outside of town. I checked out a few of the headstones before I took a break and just contemplated for a moment the fact that all of us are going to end up in a place like this someday. I wasn’t anxious about thinking this, in fact, I was quite calm and content to be sharing some space with those who have gone on before me.

After visiting the cemetery I headed over the visit the mines hoping to get some pictures of some real Colorado mines but I was initially disappointed because the mines were underground and you had to pay to go on a tour and I wasn’t “that” interested in seeing the underground mine, in large part, because I have seen one before. Besides, why go underground when there is so much incredible beauty to be seen outside. I didn’t go to Colorado to go underground or visit shopping malls.

So, after being initially disappointed I hopped on my mountain bike and headed up the dirt road to where, I had no idea. At first, I wasn’t going to go because I could hear thunder and see dark clouds looming over the high peaks but today I decided to not be a sissy about the weather. Besides, I have a really nice jacket, quick dry shorts and sandals which are all standard equipment for anyone who is going to go out into the rain. The ride up the road was incredible. I was totally out in the open surrounded on all sides by very steep 13,000 foot mountains. It was one of the most beautiful mountain bike rides I had ever gone on. One of the nice things about being in such an incredibly beautiful place is that really helps you to forget all the hard work you are putting in to get to such beauty.

After about 30 minutes up the trail it started to rain. At first, the drops were small and insignificant but that changed quickly as the story settled in on top of me. When you are prepared by for such occasions it really does take all the potential anxiety out of it and it can actually be fun which was the case on this occasion. Because I didn’t know how big or long the storm might last I decided it was time to head back to the car. Fortunately it was all downhill and what took me 30 minutes to go up took less than ten to come down. It was fun…

Tomorrow is a big day because I am headed to one of the major mountain tourist areas in the country…Telluride. I am really looking forward to spending three to five days in Telluride but am a bit anxious about getting a camp spot at the only camp ground in town. I am leaving around nine in hopes of getting to Telluride sometime around 10:30 with the hope that someone is headed back home for the week-end. I’ve done this many times before, that is, get to a popular campground on Sunday before noon and almost every time it works. So, while I am a bit anxious, I am also optimistic about my chances.