Pinkerton Hot Springs And The Cute Old Silver Mining Town Of Silverton, Colorado

 

Pinkerton Hot Springs And The Cute Old Silver Mining Town Of Silverton, Colorado

It was snowing lightly on the morning we left Pagosa Springs. The road was clear and the drive to Durango was easy.

In Durango, we had a very good breakfast at a French bakery and cafe that has existed here for over fifty years.
Like they do all over France, they serve freshly squeezed orange juice and a variety of French breakfast options.

From Durango, we drove towards the old mining town of Silverton, where we had booked an overnight stay at a bed and breakfast.

Along the way, we stopped to admire the Pinkerton Hot Springs.
It is a small hot springs bubbling up from the earth by the side of the road.

A sign said that there are numerous such natural hot springs spread out across the San Juan wilderness, that could only be accessed by hiking in the mountains.
Most of them are undeveloped, although the Pinkerton Hot Springs was discovered in the 1800s by the explorer James Pinkerton.

The Pinkerton family transformed the hot springs into a resort and a tourist attraction for all to enjoy.
Back then, hot springs were believed to possess life-changing healing powers, with properties that are great for the skin, arthritis, emotional healing and even as a way to increase longevity.

In the nearby Durango hot springs, we saw black and white photos of Marilyn Monroe, who made visits to soak in these healing waters when she was a young starlet in the fifties.

The Pinkerton hot springs was not the only source of income in this rural part of the country, which was hard to access with horse and carriage.
The Pinkerton family, who owned it over two hundred years ago, made a living from selling butter and cheese, which they produced from their dairy cows, and then sold at farmers markets in the area.
In a good year, they managed to sell 116 pounds of butter, at a dollar a pound.

After admiring the colors of the minerals in the hot springs, we continued on to the skyway to Silverton, which rook us over two mountain passes, the Molas pass and the Coal Bank pass.

Jules drove carefully and slowly, and we arrived in Silverton in the early afternoon.
Since it was too early to check in, we sat in a small and very lovely cafe.

Silverton is a very small town, tucked away on a flat high valley in the middle of the Million dollar skyway, which is often closed because of avalanches and rockslides.

But surprisingly, Silverton has a fair amount of accommodations, shops and places to eat.
This is because the Silverton mountain and the surrounding high mountains, are considered to be outdoorsmen’s and sportsmen’s wonderlands.

In the winter, skiers and snowboarders come here to ski off piste or out of bounds runs.
They climb up the mountains in their ski boots, carrying their skis on their shoulders, and then they ski down the powdery snow between trees and over cliffs.

I feel great admiration for those expert skiers, although getting buried by an avalanche is all too common.
Just this month, three out of bounds skiers from our area, lost their lives in an avalanche in Silverton.

We had a good and simple brick oven pizza dinner at a brewery in town.
Their beer sampler included five kinds of small beer glasses for only $7, and all of them were very delicious.

Our very friendly B&B owner told us stories about the area, and how in the summers, the tiny town gets flooded with 2000 visitors per day, who come on the scenic mountain train from Durango.
Some spend a few hours in town, while many stay the night.
She also told us that people come here to snowmobile in the parks, and in the summers, people bring their ATV vehicles and spend the whole summer here.

The next morning, after a fabulous breakfast prepared for us by the owner’s husband, we continued our drive over the Million Dollar Skyway.

The owner of our B&B mentioned to us that this skyway is considered to be the second most dangerous highway in the USA, after a famous and dangerous highway in Alaska, that is often foggy, crosses Tundras and rivers that are often frozen or flooded.

The Million Dollar Skyway stretch of US Route 550 traverses three 10,000-foot mountain passes, and winds across steep cliffs and hairpin curves, all without guardrails.

The road also contains multiple areas where the lanes are very narrow, with slippery steep grades.
The reason it is not possible to add any guardrails to this road, is because there is no space to anchor them, and the road is often blocked and damaged by many rockslides and avalanches.

Jules drove carefully and we crossed over the mountain passes into Ouray without incident.
From Ouray the road flattens and is much wider, and we enjoyed the sunny day as we drove back to Grand Junction.

If there is one motto that I could offer you, it would be: “Live Life Abundantly, Joyfully And Fearlessly!”

It is SO important to know that the grandness of LIFE is expressing itself through your uniqueness.
Please allow your own beautiful soul to shine right now and wherever you are.
Do it without worrying about the opinions of others, not even those who are closest to you.

Live this life as if you are indivisible from the God Consciousness within you.
Live your life with respect towards others who are ONE with you, and know that in Truth, you are truly invincible.
You are ETERNAL and NOTHING can truly harm you in any way, and not even illness and death can effect the magnitude of Spirit that is your essence.

It has been a fabulous eight day winter road trip.
We loved the scenery and really enjoyed all the historic hotels we stayed at.
We adored soaking in the hot springs, sipping tea in cool cafes and dining in surprisingly yummy places.

Sending you love and blessings and a Happy Lunar Year Of The OX,
Tali