Buffalo Boy

The day started off with highway clean-up on our 2-mile section of Highway 550 near Molas Pass. It was 6 weeks ago that we did our first clean-up of the season. Still, we collected a full bag of trash: beer cans, liquor bottles, cigarette butts, etc. Thank you to all the members who participated.

We then proceeded to the Whistle Stop gas station in Silverton to air down and to load up on snacks. It started to sprinkle, but because the area is in such desperate need of rain, it was welcomed. The gravel road toward Eureka gets very dusty and the rain settled any dust. Bonus!

In Howardsville, we made the right turn into Cunningham Gulch, heading toward Stony Pass. After a couple of miles, we turned onto the road leading to the Buffalo Boy Mine/Tram. The road up is steep, rocky, and narrow, as is typical of many spur roads in this area. Fortunately, we ran into very little oncoming traffic on this trip.

We explored the old tram and had lunch before continuing on the road to the summit. We were surprised to find some memorials. We reached an elevation just over 13,000 feet. The views were phenomenal and the wildflowers were in full bloom.

On the way back to Silverton, thanks to Hoov’s good eye, we stopped to watch a bear foraging in the grass.

A great day was had by all!

Additional photos contributed by Brian D. and Ron R. Thank you!