Day 15: Sun 6/26: Durango, CO

Day 15:  Sun, 6/26: Durango, Co:  Hiking the Dalla Mountain Trail, poker, movie night in RV

We got up and headed to the Dalla Mountain Trail in Durango to go for a short hike (3 miles max. roundtrip).  We hiked up a steep rocky trail which led to an easier path where people go bouldering.  We enjoyed scrambling and doing some mini rock climbs on many rocks along the trail.   These tall boulders (20+ feet tall) were nearly vertical and the most challenging scrambles we’ve done.   We were careful to spot the kids during their climbs.  We met a woman with her kids from New Mexico and showed them how to scramble up some of the rocks, too.  We saw several people either running, biking, or walking their dogs along the various trails that crisscross each other.  It’s great to see how outdoorsy people are in Colorado, especially the women.  Yesterday we noticed that most of the white-water rafting guides in Durango were women (so was Sarah/Sam’s fly-fishing guide), which we all thought was cool.  On the way back to the car, Ryan and Sam started picking giant dandelions and blowing their parachute-like seeds in the air.  These almost 3 inch tall x 5 inch long dandelions were everywhere and Ryan loved playing with them.  We discovered if you break off the long heavy stems and blow them, they fly a long distance!

When we got back to the campground, we iced Sarah’s foot which had started hurting during the hike.  Then Sam taught the kids how to play poker—5 card draw, 5 card stud, and especially 7 card stud.  We played poker for 2 hours having a great time as Ryan, with beginner’s luck, seriously won all of your money!  Then Andrea took Ryan to the grassy play area and kicked the soccer ball around until 2 other boys showed up and played with Ryan.  Andrea and Sam enjoyed walking around the camp and seeing the magnificent views of the red rock valley walls and seeing the old steam train go by as it toot its horn.  The big touristy thing to do in Durango is to take the 9-hour train to Silverton and back.   We’ve enjoyed seeing many of these trains go but we are also glad we did not take the long, expensive (did I say 9 hours!!!) train.  The views driving from Ouray through Silverton to Durango is magnificent and can be seen by driving (the train parallels the road for the majority of the trip to Silverton with a short diversion).  We felt it would be better to save the over $300 for all four of us to ride the train and to spend that money horse back riding next week instead J.

At night, we watched the movie Nacho Libre (Dad’s choice).  Dad and Sarah enjoyed the movie while Ryan thought it was good but weird.  Then there’s Andrea—she absolutely hated it and told us she can never get back those 2 hours of her life J. 

Fun steep scrambles up 20-30 foot faces!  Adventure!

This is way steeper than it looks.

Seriously over 4 inches wide and almost 3 inches tall!  Dandelion

Ryan blowing dandelion on 3 mile hike.