We've been in Silverton for 2 weeks today. It feels like we could spend years, if not the rest of our lives here. The scenery is fantastic; the weather, at least for now, is wonderful.
The Silverton-Durango Narrow Gauge Railroad didn't run for the first 6 days we were here. The night (or early the next morning) that we drove up to Silverton through that heavy rain, there was a large mudslide that covered about 100 feet of the track for about 50 feet. They send a little car up ahead of the train each day so it was discovered without incident. It was a lot of work to remove it but the train started up as quickly as possible. It was difficult on the Silverton merchants who rely on the business from the passengers.
Dan has settled into a good pace as park host for the Peaks Of Silverton RV Park. Brand new, the grass is not totally established yet but it is a nice park. We have enjoyed the hot tub several evenings after too many hours at the computer or hiking. Haven't been in the sauna yet. Mountains on all four sides so the scenery is incredible.
I look out of the RV window from my desk and look at the mountain that we hiked half way last week. We only got about 2.5 miles up last week. Still acclimating to the 9318 feet that the town is at, not to mention the additional 800 feet or so we climbed in that distance. We all had a great time, despite the hard work. Sasha loved trying to get the chipmonks that scampered along the way. We saw one marmot on the rocks as well.
We had hoped go on the back country 4 wheel tour today but the forecast was not promising. It is 10:55 and clouding up with 60-70% chance of rain. I hear that the scenery and wildflowers are incredible in the back country so I really look forward to that. Plan is to go tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting.
We have done a lot of walking here. It is 4-5 blocks to "town" and yesterday was the first time we took the truck to town. We have been walking there and back most days, sometimes twice a day. Our current mailing address is General Delivery, Silverton Colorado 81433.
Silverton is a Mayberry USA type town. 90 kids in the school system, k-12. One paved street. Everyone friendly. It is deceptive because the look is very old but there are one or two public hot spots for wireless and several of the RV parks (ours included of course) have wireless. Cell coverage in town and the immediate vicinty is excellent as well.
There is the Animas River that runs behind the park, about 100-150 yards from where I sit. The valley is only about 3/4 of a mile across. There is some new construction, some stuff falling down, and everything in between. Population somewhere betwee 350-500 people.
Enjoy some of the scenery below:
