I'm so excited, I drove Red Mountain Pass all by my little self. :)
July 6 2007 at 12:09 PM
(Login mtsrool) ( ~ & ~ ) from IP address 71.33.149.151
Note, this is the pass that all of the women in my family are scared of, so I consider it a major accomplishment, especially since just three months ago I was scared to drive on any mountain pass.
I'll admit this is a very unnerving stretch right here...
-Steve
"I always wonder what folks in frozen lands will think when they discover that hell is full of grass yards that need mowing every day and heaven is a blazing desert." - Joel Smith
Jay and another unknown guy were riding their motorcycles right in front of me. A moron passed me and was riding right on the unknown guy's rear. It was quite scary and I wonder if that idiot was trying to kill someone. At least that kept me distracted from the fear of flying off the mountain.
I grew up in Ouray. I was actually a fifth generation Ouraynian. My family used to provide the milk to all the miners around the area from the Highland Dairy which used to sit up above Black Lake.
I used to be a gold miner (late teens and early 20's) and worked in Silverton. My brothers, father and grandpa all worked in the mines: Idarado, Camp Bird, Revenue, Portland and the Sunnyside/Standard, to name a few. Red Mtn Pass was my daily commute, 12 months per year. As wild young miners, we drove that road like we were in Daytona - passing turkeys (tourists) on the inside or right side of the road on switchbacks, passing without passing lanes, all while chugging down Mooseheads.
Amazing that I'm still around to tell about it.
My mother passed away in Ouray in early '07. After her passing, my sister and my niece and nephew moved away from Ouray. Now, for the first time since the 1870's, there is nobody from my family tree living in Ouray. We sold my mom's house in late '07, but I still go back all the time. I can't help it. I was back this year over the 4th. If you've never been to Ouray for the 4th, you have to do it. You won't be disappointed.
