Ophir Pass, originally used as an Indian hunting trail, was called the Navajo Trail. Since then, the trail was used by Trappers, converted to a toll road in the 1880s, and is now a popular trail linking Jeepsters to Telluride.
One of my favorite Ophir stories is about the the mail carrier who left Silverton with 60 pounds of Christmas packages & letters to deliver to the snowbound town of Ophir in 1883. He was never seen or heard from again and the townspeople were sure he had stolen their Christmas. His brother continued to search for him and two years later found his skeleton, with the mail sack still around his neck.
There is actually still a town of Ophir in the valley. It was founded in the 1870s growing to a population of around 500 only to dwindle, finally being listed as one of four incorporated towns in the U.S. with NO residents in 1960. It is now populated again and home to many summer residents.
No stores, no stations, only service is a "town hall" and post office:
Headed up to Ophir Pass:
At the pass, elevation about 12,000 feet:
Trout Lake, where we picnic'd :
Private cabin on Bolam Pass trail:
View from Bolam:
I think the San Juans are the prettiest mountains in the states!
Ronny & Bonnie:
Structure from the old Graysill Mines. In 1945 - 1963, they mined vanadium & uranium here. The ore was shipped to a Durango mill where they separated the "red cake" (vanadium) from the "yellow cake" (uranium). Some of the "yellow cake" from this area was used in the manufacture of the first atom bomb!
I thought these rocks looked like a man with his head on his knee and his arms wrapped around his leg. Okay, okay, use your imagination!
Finally back out on Hwy 550 and headed home.
This is the area where the Cessna crashed on Sunday, but we didn't see anything.
It was way back into the wilderness.
Looking down on Silverton from 550.
If you knew where to look, you could see our RV:
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