Today we finally left Durango. We left just before 10am and started the climb to Silverton which was at just over 9000 feet. Then we just kept climbing to 11000 feet. There was snow all around and it felt like a winter wonderland but in Spring!

It was such a pretty drive today. The million dollar highway is renowned as being a dangerous drive with hairpin turns, no guardrails, and sheer drop offs. I was a little nervous us parts, knowing our brakes had failed the other day, and some YouTubers were follow had their brakes fail going over there.

But all was good, and Mike barely used his brakes, opting for low gear instead.

The million dollar highway ended at Ouray which is a charming old gold mining town. If you’ve ever watched The Ranch on Netflix, it’s the town showed on the intro.

After the million dollar highway we followed the upaweep-tabegauche scenic byway. We found an amazing free spot to camp overlooking a river, complete with table chairs and fire ring. We’re not far from the ghost town Uravan where uranium was mined in the 1800s for luminescent on clock dials. Later on the uranium was used for the first atomic bomb (Manhattan project.) should have bought wacky backy in case we start glowing!