Epic Road Trip to the Four Corners: Part I

In recent years I’ve begun to take two weeks of vacation together to do a massive road trip somewhere in the United States, usually in the fall. This year’s two-week trip took me to the four corners region with plans to ride both major narrow gauge railroads in Colorado, visit Mesa Verde National Park, Monument Valley Tribal Park, and Chaco Culture National Historic Park, and whatever caught my eye along the way. With two weeks available to do the trip it allowed time for stopping for photographs along the way of whatever I came across. Part I will take us from North Dakota to Durango, CO.

I try to avoid interstates on my road trips as much as possible and stick to the less traveled two-lanes (William Least Heat-Moon’s “blue highways”), and that’s how I started my trip, meandering down some various highways in a not-very-straight-line from ND to central South Dakota. In the near-ghost town of Draper, SD, I explored what was left of Main Street and in a long abandoned apartment I found this Resistol hat. What cowboy leaves his hat behind?

The Sioux Motel at Murdo, SD, was where I found to spend the first night because my goal was to photograph the decrepit grain elevator at Okaton at sunset. I checked into my room and headed for Okaton, which someone once tried to make into an old west-style tourist trap but these days is another near-ghost town. An old International Scout made a great frame for the elevator and the sun poked out between clouds for just a minute to get this photo.

After the sun set I returned to Murdo and had a buffalo burger at a local steakhouse that looked like something still stuck in the 1980s, but good food! I took a few night photos around Murdo and made one final image of my motel. Back when I was shooting more 4x5 the next hour or so would’ve been spent replenishing film holders, instead I could just relax. That’s one aspect of large format I don’t miss, evenings spent changing out film holders.

The next morning I grabbed some coffee at one of the local gas stations and this scene presented itself right from my car window. I continued making my way south into the sand hills of Nebraska.

An abandoned elevator and sunflowers in Crookston, NE

North of Mullen, NE, I stopped at a roadside historic marker and read about a country church nearby called the Dry Valley Church. It sounded like the church was still standing so I drove down a narrow road going off into the sand hills and found it out in a pasture. While it was interesting to see the best photo was of the front gates and the track leading through the grass away from the church. From here I made my way to North Platte, NE, where I spent the night.

After breakfast in North Platte I continued to wander south through some small Nebraska towns and into Kansas, my second favorite state after ND. I photographed a church not far into Kansas and then came into Hill City where I found this old service station adorned with the local school mascot.

A friend of mine recommended the Walter Chrysler boyhood home in Ellis, KS, now open to the public with a small museum. Chrysler got his start as an engine wiper at the Union Pacific Railroad roundhouse in Ellis before moving on to make it big in the automobile world. It was an interesting stop with some interesting artifacts, such as a restored version of the first model car Chrysler produced.

After the Chrysler home I went out to visit some of the spectacular churches in the communities around Hays that were settled by Germans-from-Russia. They erected massive, opulent churches and frequently used wrought-iron crosses as grave markers. While most of the churches remain standing the Sacred Heart Church at the crossroads of Emmeram, KS, didn’t make it. The stone church closed in the 1960s and burned (likely from arson) in the late 90’s. Today its ruins make you think of the ruins you’d find in Greece or Rome.

After photographing the churches I was a bit behind as I had to make it to Antonito, CO the following day so I wanted to get as far west as I reasonably could. But I couldn’t pass up this scene in Utica, KS.

I never did make it as far west as I’d hoped, instead opting to call it a night at the Lazy R Motel in Scott City, KS.

The next morning my travels brought me close to Horace, KS, and I couldn’t pass up another opportunity to photograph the abandoned Missouri Pacific Railroad depot in town. The light coming into the operator’s bay window was perfect.

Leaving Scott City I knew it would be a bit of a push to make it to Antonito by sunset. It’s not that it’s far, I just tend to get distracted stopping to investigate things and make photos along the way. I couldn’t pass up this skinny elevator on the Colorado plains at Bartlett.

A shot up car in Andrix, CO, was another roadside distraction.

I made it to Antonito, CO, not long after sunset and checked into my hotel. Antonito lies in the San Luis Valley and has traditionally been a ranching and farming town, though tourism is getting bigger. The Dutch Mill bar and cafe is an icon of Antonito’s Main Street. At this time of year it was pretty quiet, mostly just the locals and me.

What brought me to Antonito was the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, a narrow gauge tourist steam railroad that runs between Antonito and Chama, NM, on former Denver and Rio Grande Railroad track. The DRGW depot in Antonito still stands and was located right behind my hotel.

The next morning I boarded a Cumbres and Toltect charter bus in Antonito which would take us to Chama where we would board the train.

Leaving Chama the railroad has to pull up a 4% grade, which is really steep for a railroad, and requires double heading steam to pull the train up a mountain to Cumbres Pass, just above 10,000 feet. Here the train is nearing the top of the pass. The Cumbres and Toltec is owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico who purchased the track from the Denver and Rio Grande Western in 1970. The DRGW operated an extensive network of narrow gauge track in Colorado and New Mexico at one time. Narrow gauge has a 3 foot gauge compared to the standard 4 feet 8.5 inch gauge of the rest of the North American rail system. The smaller gauge allowed for tighter curves, ideal for building in the rugged Rocky Mountains. The last operating portion of DRGW narrow gauge ran from Alamosa, CO, to Antonito, Chama, and on to Durango, CO. At Durango a line went north to Silverton and south to Farmington, NM. This narrow gauge operation lasted until 1968 due to natural gas drilling in the Farmington area that required bringing in supplies by rail. It has the distinction of being the last Class I steam freight operation in the USA. Everything between Chama and Durango and Farmington was removed by 1970. The Durango to Silverton portion survived because it had become such a tourist attraction the Interstate Commerce Commission wouldn’t allow the DRGW to abandon it. We’ll see that operation in a few days.

It was a pleasant fall day, perfect for riding the open car or end platforms as the train made its way through the mountains.

The train ride takes most of the day to get from Chama to Antonito with a catered lunch stop at Osier. We were nearing the end of the line in this photo, nearly back to Antonito.

I spent another night in Antonito and the next morning I saw some activity happening in the parking lot across the street from my hotel. There were several trailers filled with watermelons, bags, and boxes that were being handed out to people. I spoke to some of the people and found out it was an annual event sponsored by the Conejos County Veterans Affairs and the volunteer fire departments of Antonito and Romeo to give away a free food package to area veterans. The organizer told me he’d like to do it more than once a year but hasn’t been able to increase the frequency yet.

After photographing the event in Antonito I had the entire day to make my way to Durango, CO. Fall colors on the aspen trees in the area were unusually late this year, I encountered them at just past their peak, but not by much.

Coming over La Manga Pass on the highway between Antonito and Chama the mountains fall away into a scenic valley where the DRGW narrow gauge makes a huge horseshoe curve climbing towards Cumbres Pass. I thought how great it would be to see a train, but the passenger season was over. Imagine my surprise when I saw a little smoke in the distance. A train! I found out later in the day the Cumbres and Toltec was deadheading freight equipment from Antonito back to Chama after it was used on a photo charter earlier in the week. I couldn’t have gotten more lucky. Here the train is arriving at Cumbres Pass.

The Cumbres and Toltec freight car move is descending the 4% grade into Chama.

After photographing the Cumbres and Toltec train at Chama it was time for lunch. Since it was a Sunday about the only place open was Foster’s, a saloon that has been in business since the town was founded in 1881. This wasn’t your typical bar food though, it was some of the best street-style tacos I’ve ever had.

Michelle claims to be the friendliest bartender at Fosters. We had a pretty good conversation on the differences between New Mexico and North Dakota.

From Chama I casually made my way to Durango, CO, where I had a ticket to ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad the next morning. As previously stated the DSNG was part of the Rio Grande narrow gauge system in Colorado and New Mexico, originally built to move ore out of the Silverton area. After the Silverton mines played out the line was nearly abandoned, but after appearing in some films the’s lines appeal as a tourist ride grew. It became so popular the Interstate Commerce Commission didn’t allow the DRGW to abandon it. The Rio Grande continued to operate the tourist trains until 1980 when it was finally sold to a private operator. It remains a popular ride today and still appears in movies.

The towering mountains and narrow canyons the DSNG passes through between Durango and Silverton are what draw riders to the trains. Virtually none of the railroad is accessible by vehicle, and the train is even used to bring hikers in and out of backcountry trails.

Once the train arrives in Silverton passengers disembark for two hours to explore the town and get lunch. The entire train is then backed around a wye to turn it in the right direction for the trip back to Durango. I skipped the shopping to photograph the train backing past the DRGW depot on its way to the wye.

I did allow some time to have a few drinks at the Lacey Rose Saloon in Silverton however. The bartender told me how heavy winter snows the previous year completely isolated Silverton for two weeks before the highway could be opened.

It was just as spectacular riding back to Durango as it was going to Silverton. We arrived back just after sunset, a flagman stopping traffic on the crossing next to the depot in downtown Durango. Afterwards I wandered around historic downtown Durango, found a few interesting places to have a drink, and retired for the evening.

This concluded the first week of my trip. Look for Part II to come soon.