Somewhere between Durango and Silverton...

...or, better to say, in the middle of nowhere. Because I don't recall anything bigger than a house or a farm or a hut in between these two towns. But who cares! The road itself is beautiful and if you don't mind driving slow and are ready to stop here and there you can find some nice places to look at. The road runs through San Juan Forest and sure is nicer during the Fall time... but early Spring is a good time to explore this route too...

 

Just after we left Durang we pulled out and stopped to look at the town sitting between the mountain ridges and Animas River...

A few miles later our car just rolled to the stop while we were looking to the right, admiring a view of the fields and farm. Fresh green foliage, the grass just poking through the soil and dark mountain slopes in the background made an amazing spot, definitely worth stopping for a few minutes.

No one can pass by Pinkerton Hot Springs and not stop (or at least to slow down and snap a couple of pictures from the car window). Colorful cone, staying just on the shoulder of the road, attracts a lot of people. Let's stop and look at it too.

 

The road was winding and climbing higher and higher. It became colder too. The grass still was fresh and green but the foliage wasn't that lush anymore. Actually the biggest question I had (and still have) is why some aspen groves along the road were green and some still were naked? Same trees (assumable), growing not just close but intertwining and such a difference? Never found an answer... it remains mystical for me...

And a few more minutes and the landscape changed dramatically. Less green and more white. A lot of brown and snow... Oh, I guess I forgot to say this trip happened at the end of April so we had a nice opportunity to travel not only up and down, but also from Spring back to Winter (and back to Spring again).

The green wasn't on the painter's palette on the Molas Pass... Everything still looked like the Winter just stepped back and the Spring still didn't come. Except the air, which was fresh and promised the foliage is about to explode and to change the appearance just in a few days...

This road is called Million Dollar Highway for many reasons and one of them is how beautiful and magical it is (even though they usually refer to Million Dollar Highway as a part between Silverton and Ouray as on the pictures below). And I hope you agree with me, this is the road as no other on the map, where you can travel through time and terrain as easily as you drive for groceries to the closest mall and back...

 Finally we reached Silvertone, a small sleepy town in the middle between Durango and Ouray, but... this is a different story ;)

Pictures were taken on April 29, 2012.