Volume 9 , Issue 45

Gateway To The San Juan Mtns

"I know the route you traveled in the San Juans well. Patty and I taught school for two years at Mancos, Colorado and made "the Loop" several times, especially in the fall when everything was so beautiful. That was also the area of the D&RGW's "Galloping Goose" run (look it up!). Thanks for reviving a memory.

And speaking of movies, back in the early '50s Clark Gable made a movie in that area also. Much of it was filmed in the area north of Durango on a guest ranch called 'El Rancho Encantada' (The Enchanted Ranch) which was run by some people with Alva connections. I can't remember their names, but my dad (who was a job printer primarily and a sports writer second) printed their brochures for them and I folded them. The movie was Across the Wide Missouri, and the fort that appeared in the film was left as an attraction on the guest ranch.

I've never forgotten those incredible fall sunsets visible from Mancos in the Fall. The sun set behind the Mesa Verde escarpment and the sky literally looked as though it was on fire. That, in turn, created an "alpine glow" on the Sierra de la Plata Mountains viewable on the east side of Mancos and turned them rosy red.

We might have stayed longer except for those interminable winters at the 7000 foot level. The old themometer dropped to -30F on occasion. Your first intake of breath on those mornings felt like it crystallized your lungs. Us old flatlanders weren't used to that!" -- JIM
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