14 August, Friday

SILVERTON, nestled in the San Juan mountains at 9305 feet. Bustling town in the summer and nearly closed in the winter as they get feet of snow not inches. Had planned to leave for some off road trails at 0830 but the clouds and fog delayed us until 0900. Headed North to Animas Forks, an old gold mining district. From there we took California Gulch to the West, On this trail we pass over California Pass (13,273) and Hurrican Pass (12,790). We then joined Corkscrew trail, still heading west. This continues to go up and down and crosses a pass at 11,970. Finally we reached the main highway and turned south towards Silverton. We decided to take U.S. Basin trail, a short diversion on and back on to the main road. It started to rain while doing this and the road was slippery in places.

Relaxed after returning to home base and then headed to the Brass Band Concert. This is the 28th year that the Great Western Rocky Mountain Brass Band has performed in Silverton. The members are volunteers that come from all over the United States just to play here. They practice for a week and then give 3 concerts, Fri-Sat-Sun. Expecting a home town band atmosphere, we were totally shocked. The concert lasted for 3+ hours, playing lots of patriotic songs and giving a salute to Abe Lincoln. The program only showed 9 selections, however there were at least double that if not more. It was a great evening.