It will take you back into the history of the days when life was hard, really hard. There were no 4 x 4's and manual labor was really “manual”. The work performed in this harsh country when mining was a dream business is almost inconceivable to us today. Mules and men and sometimes women carried heavy loads up narrow roads, sometimes in freezing cold weather. The nitroglycerin wagons were known as “the widow makers.” Often the average work span for a man hauling nitroglycerin was less than two months. He either quit or was killed hauling such volatile product over such rough terrain. Few men realized their dreams. For most is was just hard work. Some made enough to live on.

Today the road up Engineer Pass is reminiscent of a life-style gone by. Now there are air-conditioned SUV’s that travel some of those same hard working roads used by our hard working ancestors.

Engineer Pass is part of a mountain road called the Alpine Loop. You will see the evidence of old mines, the beauty of the Alpine Tundra found only in the Rocky Mountains, jagged mountain peaks, wild flowers, and the beauty of small lakes formed from the melting snow. There is usually some snow on the mountains all year long.

You’ll want to visit Animas, the old mining ghost town on your way to Silverton if you started from the western side of the mountain just outside of Ouray, Colorado.

I like to take the California Gulch route out of Animas and go over Corkscrew pass rather than going straight into Silverton. This route will take you back over Red Mountain and onto highway 550 south of Ouray just a few miles south of where you began.

I hope you enjoy the pictures. If you would like a print of any of these photographs please contact me at alvance@charter.net. All images on my site are for sale.