Chimney Rock, Pagosa Junction and Other Back Road Scenes

 

Chimney Rock, Pagosa Junction and  Other Back Road Scenes 

One day while at Pagosa Springs, we decided to take a drive to see if we could check out Chimney Rock National Monument.  It’s in the San Juan National forest and does include an archaeological site.

Here’s the view of Chimney Rock from the road leading to the entrance to the Monument.  It looks like something out of Lord of the Rings to me, with those foreboding skies behind it.  As was the case for much of our trip, we were exploring and doing things in between the raindrops.  The day we took this little side trip, we were lucky in that there was no rain, just neat, moody skies!  We didn’t end up exploring the Monument.  We had our wonderful pup, Max, with us, and the Monument said we’d have to put him in a kennel they provide, and we didn’t care much for that idea.  Plus, there was a bit of a climb to reach the archeological site, and with my asthma, we didn’t think I’d make it to the goal!!

We’ve been to Navajo Lake State Park in New Mexico, but never really thought about it flowing over the state line into Colorado.  What a find this was!!  There are lots of little private dry campgrounds along the shoreline, along with day-use areas, and all of them were open, unlike the silly Governor’s rule in New Mexico that has state park campground closed (ugh).  We stopped at a day use area, and actually got Max to take his first dip in a lake of his own accord!!  He definitely doesn’t like the ocean, but the lake seems like it will be an ok thing!

After leaving the lake shoreline, we drove past some wonderful, peaceful scenes that can only happen along the back roads of the beautiful country in which we live!  Here are a couple of scenes.  If you look closely at the photo with the horses, you’ll see the white/grey one stopped in her socializing with the other ponies to gaze at us.  She was watching us watching her and her buddies!

This little church seemed a bit out of place sitting on the mountain with nothing but deserted cabins in the near vicinity.  Little did we know we were entering the town of Pagosa Junction.  As we were exploring, a little old man pulled up next to our Jeep and told us that he works to keep up the church, so it always looks nice, because his grandfather built it.  We think his grandfather most likely had help, but he was very proud of the project his grandfather who took part in the building of this church.  (Jeff said he thought a pink roof was a bit out of place, but he didn’t share that with the old gent!)  He did share some history of the town with us….

Pagosa Junction was a railroad town, and the Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG) Railroad ran through here from 1880 – 1967, running between Chama, NM and Durango, CO.  I was able to get a photo of the train trestle from both sides and of the cabin that sat very close to the tracks on one side.  I would imagine all conversation would cease whenever the train went by!

There are various buildings that seem to be homes of families who have since left.  Some are in better shape than others.  The 1889 postal application listed the population as 200.  The population peak seemed to be in the mid-1930s at about 450.

Per our little historian, this building used to be a general store.  I did a bit of research, and it seems the general store building had a fire in 1996.  I have a feeling it wasn’t operating as any sort of store in quite a while.

Here is the train depot and the crumbled remains of the water tower for the trains.  The trains ran very consistently until sometime in the 1930s. At that point, service declined, and so did the town.  Per our gentlemen historian, the town pretty much closed down when the trains stopped running.  In 1979, there were only 3 or 4 residents mentioned in a newspaper article.  Our historian still lives in the area, “just over the hill”.  Since there are so many hills, I wasn’t sure exactly where he lives!

We finished our drive, passing some ranches and farms that are still working and productive, and yes, a few more that have definitely seen a better day!  The tree in the image was hit by a tree, and I noticed the broken trunk and branches on the ground close by.

Enjoy!

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