Calvary 4-Wheelers, based in Broomfield, a northern suburb of Denver, crossed Colorado for an extended expedition to Silverton from July 26 through 30, 2006. Silverton is nestled in the beautiful San Juan Mountains in the southwest part of the state . The San Juans were mined extensively for gold, silver and other precious metals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries leaving a large network of old roads, abandoned mines and ghost towns. The ‘wheeling isn’t hard-core (most of the trails are easy to moderate) but the area is unsurpassed for beauty, history and adventure.

We drove over on a Wednesday and set up camp or settled into our hotels. While some of us parked our campers along South Mineral Creek, others preferred “roughing it” at the Villa de Valle or the Triangle Motel.

On Thursday, Jim, Diane and Jo stayed behind to ride the train to Durango while the rest of us enjoyed a relaxing day touring the mining areas just off of Red Mountain Pass on graded gravel roads to easy 4x4 trails. This route boasts a very large number of old mines including the Brooklyn, Longfellow, National Bell, Genessee, Yankee Girl, Cora Bell and many more. There are so many we had trouble distinguishing which one we were looking at even with detailed topo maps and GPS.

On Friday we traversed the infamous Black Bear Pass to Telluride. The trail had just been reopened after a rock slide blocked some of the narrow switchbacks earlier in the week. Starting at about 11,000 ft. near the top of Red Mountain Pass we made our way up the east side to the top.

After a short stop to enjoy the view, we began our decent down the more treacherous west side. The wild flowers were in full bloom as we followed Ingram Creek down toward the narrow switchbacks that give Black Bear its reputation. Mountain Blue Bells, Indian Paintbrush, Bistort and Colorado's state flower, the Columbine, adorned the hillsides reminding us to “consider the lilies of the field” and thank the One who clothes the flowers.

We passed under a cable still hanging from the old ore bucket tram before reaching the roughest section of the trail just above Ingram Falls. As you approach the falls you can see the stream going over and it looks like the trail follows it but the road actually turns sharply to the right down a narrow shelf literally carved out of the cliff face. If you dare to look down, you can see Telluride in the valley below.

From there on down, the switchbacks are frequent, tight and narrow. Even the shortest wheel base vehicles have to make multiple-point turns on several of them. As you notice how many times the road crisscrosses below you, you can understand how one rock slide could block the road in several places. However, you are rewarded with spectacular views of Bridal Veil Falls with the Power House above them. This was one of the first hydroelectric generating stations in Colorado. Once you pass the Power House, the road widens out and becomes easy. We made it safely down into Telluride and headed to the city park. There we enjoyed lunch and an impromptu Oreo eating contest.

After lunch it was off to Imogene Pass. As we climbed out of town we were treated to beautiful views of the ski area across the valley and the park where we had just had lunch. From a little higher up we looked across at Black Bear, seeing Ingram Falls high to the left, Bridal Veil Falls a little lower on the right and the zig-zag of the trail going back and forth between them.

Imogene has its own sections of narrow shelf road but not the relentless switchbacks of Black Bear. There are lots of interesting leftovers from the old mining days including what’s left of the town of Tomboy and the Savage Basin Mining Camp. Of course, nature adds its own interesting things as well and the view from the top of Imogene Pass is spectacular in every direction making this a popular route for the “tour bus” traffic.

On the way down the other side we came across a small herd of very photogenic deer. Then we headed on down to Ouray. We had dinner in Ouray that evening before taking U.S. 550 over Red Mountain Pass back to Silverton.

Saturday took us to the ghost town of Animas Forks where Richard and Kirsten renewed their wedding vows in honor of their 10th anniversary. As trail leader, I had the privilege of presiding (they said it was kind of like being the captain of a ship).

From there we went past Engineer Mountain and started down Mineral Creek. We took a short side trip to the San Juan Chief Mill for the wedding reception (also known as lunch). Since Richard had been unable to find a cake in Silverton that morning, everyone enjoyed Razzleberry pie and throwing Rice Crispies on the happy couple. Then it was on down Mineral Creek and back to 550.

After an informal "church" service on Sunday we headed home. It had been a great time with beautiful scenery, nice weather, very cool mining ruins and great fellowship. There’s nothing like a week in the majestic Rocky Mountains to remind you of what an awesome God we serve.