The return trip to San Diego

1987 Our lives in America»July 1987 US Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska
July 19, 1987   We say goodbye to our friends in Wyoming and head south. Wyoming is one of my favourite states. It has a population of 580,000 in 2019. Forrest Canyon overlook in the Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is located approximately 55 miles NW of Denver within the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Mount tops in the park reach up to 12,000 ft. We travel down through the park along US 34, along I70 for a bit and then down US 24.
We stay overnight in a little Colorado town called Leadville which is a former silver mining town. In the late 19th century, Leadville was the second most populous city in Colorado, after Denver. Leadville is notable for having multiple 14,000 foot peaks viewable from the town. Next morning, Monday July 20, 1987 we leave Leadville and go to Monarch Pass. Here, we take a cable car to the top of Monarch Mountain. Monarch Mountain is located on the Continental Divide and is 11,300 ft. Look closely and you can see the cables of the ski lifts. There are four lifts on this SW side of the mountain. On the NE side of Monarch Mountain. You can just make out the cables for the cable car from the roadway to the top of the mountain.
The cable car with US50 below Somebody must have taken this picture. This was in the days before "selfies". Monarch mountain seems to be a popular ski area, although it's hard to tell right now. There's still a little snow on the mountain tops - on the North side away from the sun.
This Ouray in Colorado, named after a Ute Indian Chief. Ouray's climate, natural alpine environment, and scenery has earned it the nickname, "Switzerland of America". Yeah right. The entirety of Main Street is registered as a National Historic District with most of the buildings dating back to the late nineteenth century. We climb up out of Ouray and head farther south.
This is Silverton CO which was established shortly after the Utes ceded the region in the 1873 Brunot Agreement. The town boomed from silver mining until the Panic of 1893 led to a collapse of the silver market, and boomed again from gold mining until the recession caused by the Panic of 1907. The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad is a 3 ft narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi of track between Durango and Silverton. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark This picture is from the railway's web site. The scenery looks wonderful and the railway still uses steam powered locomotives to this day. From here we head for home. It is dreadfully hot, the air conditioner stops working and I get booked for speeding by a Colorado Police patrol car. This is the last photo I take.
The end of this segment