San Juan Mountains - July 6, 2020

We took another day to drive back up into the San Juan Mountains and revisit another OHV trail we had not been on in many years.  This time we drove over the Ophir Pass and then through the town of Ophir, up to the Telluride area and then to the Last Dollar Road to meet Colorado Highway 62.

As we started up the road to Ophir Pass, we kept a lookout for a wildflower that we hoped to see, the Colorado Columbine.  As we traveled up in elevation, we soon found abundant displays of Columbine.

We also saw several other varieties of wildflowers, including Red-stem Cinquefoil.

Looking down the valley we had just come up

Looking at the road leading up towards Ophir Pass

At the summit of Ophir Pass

Looking back at the road we had come up

Looking at the road leading down the other side

Looking at the road leading down to the town of Ophir

Ophir down in the valley

King's Crown blossoms

Fireweed

After passing through the town of Ophir, we traveled on paved roads until up near the Telluride Airport where we got onto the Last Dollar Road.

We soon found ourselves in dense aspen groves.

Much of Last Dollar Road was in open country with a good variety of wildflowers.