Monday 4 September 2006
This was an extraordinary day as it was the day we heard that Steve Irwin had died.
Dick woke early in the morning and decided to put on the computer using the Verizon card. He clicked on to the ABC News site and there was a report about Steve Irwin. We could not believe it. We then turned on our phone and received a text message from Hayley and an email from James. We put on the satellite TV and it was the lead story on all the news. The minute we started driving that day every American who saw us and discovered that we were Australian, mentioned how sad they were to hear about Steve Irwin. There was no doubt that he is incredibly well known in the United States –greatly admired and hero worshipped. Everyone was as sad as we were. Dick had spoken to Steve on the phone a number of times and Pip had met him. Our friends, Judi Bailey and John Stanton, were the producers of his shows. It is all incredibly sad – especially for Terri, Bindi, Bob and Steve’s Dad.
We departed at 9.10am and drove back from the Telluride township and up to the Mountain Village. This is the commercial, modern side of Telluride. What an extraordinary place! Literally hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent in creating one of the most modern and deluxe ski areas and villages that you could ever imagine. The wealth is almost impossible to believe. This is going to be a contrast to when we get to Russia!
We parked in one of the parking areas and caught a gondola, first of all the wrong way, and then down to Telluride and back up again. It’s a free trip so didn’t matter when we got into the wrong gondola!
We purchased a coffee at the local coffee shop and sat and discussed Steve’s death. It was all so sad. How could such a thing happen to a naturalist who loved all animals?
We then jumped into the Earthroamer and drove back down the road and headed onto Highway 145 towards Ophir. Just before we reached Ophir, there was a sign that mentioned Ames and the Ames Power Station. Dick couldn’t get over it. His hero is Nikola Tesla – the man who ‘invented’ alternating current, or more to the point, had it accepted.
Below us was the Ames Power Station. We drove down a dirt road and parked in front of the station. Dick even managed to take a photo through the window’s security grill looking in at the old alternator. The notice said “Ames Power Station. World’s first generating station to produce and transmit AC. Spring of 1891. 3,000 Volts, 133 Hertz, 100 Horsepower, Westinghouse alternator”. “Following years of controversy by engineers who said AC would never work, Nikola Tesla set the pattern for worldwide generation of electrical power.”
We then headed up the short eastern road towards the town of Ophir. Now this is an interesting road. It turns into a narrow four- wheel drive track that crosses to Silverton. Dick had wanted to do it from the other direction – we are now glad that we hadn’t. We headed up the road in four-wheel drive to a point where we decided it was a good place to stop. Coming in the other direction were lots of four wheel drives and quad-bikes. We parked the vehicle in a beautiful area on the tailings dump of a mine – there are mines all around this area – and then walked for about an hour up towards Ophir Pass. It’s interesting that Ophir, being clearly a gold mining area (the Gertrude Mine was nearby) has the same name as Ophir in Australia, where gold was discovered. Both locations obviously named after the biblical country from where King Solomon was supposed to have received his wealth.
As we walked up the track it got narrower and narrower and more exciting for the four-wheel drivers that were coming down. At one stage a four-wheel drive arrived with a canoe on the top. It appears that the driver lived in Silverton and was delivering it to a friend in Telluride – rather than doing the long trip around via Ridgeway, he decided to come over Ophir Pass. This is only possible if you know the route, have a four-wheel drive and the weather conditions are perfect. We looked up at the switch back and decided that one day we should come back to Silverton, hire a Jeep and do some of the exciting trips.
We headed back down the road to Highway 145 and then up towards Lizard Head Pass and stopped to take photographs of beautiful Trout Lake.
This area is called Little Switzerland and is very similar to Switzerland. If you took a photograph looking up the valley of Ophir you would almost swear you were somewhere near Sion in Switzerland. At Lizard Head Pass at 10,200 feet, we stopped for a quick cup of tea and toast. It was 66°, warm and sunny. This road is one of the famous American Scenic Byways, and it sure is that!
We drove through the small mining town of Rico with its beautiful old buildings, and as we dropped into the area towards the Four Corners (called this because four States meet) we were surprised at just how green it was. The aspens were turning gold beside the Dolores River. Remember, this is September and its autumn, or fall as they would call it in the USA.
There is farmland on either side of the road and hay bales. Of course all of these hay bales have to be stored because the cattle would be kept under cover in the winter and hand fed for four or so months of the year. You just wonder how these farmers could compete with Australian farmers and graziers where feed is normally available 365 days per year.
We took photos of the Hovenweep National Monument – a big mountain by itself. We then headed along towards the Four Corners Monument, which is run by the local indigenous population, the Utes. We paid $3.00 per person to enter the area and there were lots of little stands selling hand made jewellery made by the local indigenous people. It was good to see the Ute Indians actually creating an income for themselves.
Four Corners is the only place in the USA where four states actually meet. Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico.
We drove back along Highway 160 to Junction 41 – this is a dry and arid zone. It’s amazing how quickly it goes from beautiful greenery near the town of Cortez to an arid, almost desert area – similar to what we have in outback Australia around Coober Pedy.
As we drove north west along Highway 41, we dropped into Utah. We were now in Navajo country. Of course aircraft enthusiasts all know about the Navajos, the Chieftains and the Apaches.
The communities that we drove through were sadly similar to our Aboriginal communities. There were lots of little buildings with enormous amounts of rubbish around. It was pretty obvious that there is not much work around, however the Navajos have one advantage over Australian Aborigines in that this is oil producing country. We stopped and looked at one of the oil pumps. It mentions very clearly that it is located on the Indian community and it’s obvious where the royalties would go – which is good.
The rocks and the hills just before Montezuma Creek were similar to what we have seen in the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. Isn’t it sad that the indigenous people end up with the worst land everywhere in the world? However, it is interesting – with oil here the Navajos may be the last ones to laugh.
We turned right towards the town of Blanding via some huge red rock cliffs as the sun was slowly dropping.
At Blanding there was a huge reservoir of water and lots of irrigation areas.
It appears that the local mountain to the north has snow on it in winter and the melting snow is used for irrigation at Blanding. It was 83° outside when we stopped at 6.21pm. We drove through the town and noticed American flags were flying on the street posts, possibly to commemorate Labour Day. We stopped at the friendly Blue Mountains RV Park at 6.50pm after a really interesting day.
336kms today 7,769km total
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