Some words on Durango
| I have a second home in Durango, Colorado, USA. This picture was taken looking north in December 2003. The house is in a community called The Ranch, which is actually 10 miles north of town in Hermosa. It is at about 6700 feet in elavation so it takes a little time to get used to when I come from Newark, New Jersey. Durango, is in the "Four Corners" area, which is where the states of Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico meet. |
| Here is a picture looking outside my bedroom window toward the east in late December 2003. There are Christmas lights handing in the tree in the lower right corner of the picture. The small pond, which is frozen, is about 10 feet from the back porch of the house. They are somewhat hard to see, but there are cattle out there on the James Ranch (our next door neighbor). There had been some snow, not much by that time, but the sky really is this blue. | 
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There are many attractions in the area but if you have been there then it is probably to visit Mesa Verde National Park, a world heritage site of prehistoric cliff dwellings. I have been there several times. Here is a picture of one of the cliff dwellings that I took in October 1981. |
| And here I am at the same dwelling in May 1999. I am exiting a "kiva", which is an underground ceremonial chamber, there are several in each cliff dwelling. Another place to go is Crow Canyon. It is the site of Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) ruins where you can visit active excavations and participate in workshops. That is, you can pay to work all day in the hot sun during the summer. |
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If you are not into visiting the various ruins (and there are several sites), then you can take the train. I mean the The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. This is a historic coal-fired, steam-operated train that travels the 42 miles from Durango to Silverton (from 6500 feet to 9000 feet above sea level). Here is train number 480 steaming through the station in Hermosa, which is about a quarter-mile from my house. |
| There is a lot more to do in the four corners area such as hiking in the mountains where you can find several peaks in the immediate area above 14,000 feet. A group of us go hiking two or three times a week during the summer months. Here we are at the meadow on the hike up Engineer Mountain. We are at about 11,600 feet and we are taking a break before we turn around and go back down the trail. |
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Another thing that I need to do is rafting on the Animas River that runs through Durango. Anyway, here are some links to attractions around town.
- Fox Fire Farms (locally grown, free range lamb)
- Toh-Atin Gallery (local gallery with Navajo weavings, Hopi kachinas, etc)
- Paul Folwell (Paul is a local artist, who is less than a mile down the road)
- Music in the Mountains (annual classical music festival, which I have attend since 1991)
- Fort Lewis College (local college)
- The Durango Herald (daily newspaper)
