Volume 5: Telluride/ Ouray/ Ophir
These mountain towns are gems in Southwest Colorado. Telluride and tiny Ophir are in San Miguel County, and Ouray, not far away if unimproved roads aren’t a barrier, is located in Ouray County. Telluride is the most populous (about two thousand residents) and best known of the three, home to a famous ski resort, many well-known music festivals, and exclusive luxury homes. Telluride’s colorful history as a hard-rock mining town where gold, silver, and tellurium were extracted beginning in 1878 changed dramatically in the 1970s when the Telluride Ski Resort opened. Telluride’s elevation is 8,750 feet above sea level, a bit higher than Ouray’s 7,792. (source) Fewer than 1,000 people call Ouray home, but each year many thousands of tourists visit the charming village, nicknamed the “Switzerland of America.” Like most mountain towns in the region, Ouray was founded on mining (gold, in this case), made accessible by the railroad, and popular with visitors. (source) Ophir, Colorado, is the highest in elevation of these three towns at 9,695 feet. Gold was discovered in 1875, and the town was founded in 1881, but the mines decreased until there was only one resident in 1970! Telluride’s popularity in recent has allowed a few hundred residents to call Ophir home. (source)
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- Above Ouray, on the Chief Ouray Highway (Colo.)
- Photo of a valley; a road is against cliffs on the right side; in the far background a peak is visible.
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- Aerial view of Ouray, Colorado
- Ouray, Colorado can be seen at the bottom third of the photograph. Above it are snow-capped mountains and a tree-covered ridge.
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- After the Storm near Telluride, Colo.
- Colorized view of a winter landscape along a plowed single railroad track with a rosy colored horizon beynd the distant mountains. Pirninted in Germany. Not mailed, but addressed on back to Flora from Aunt Maria.
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- Along the Million Dollar Highway in Winter
- This famous highway through Colorado's towering San Juan Mountains is kept open, with occasional brief interruptions, all winter, and trip then, in fair weather, is indeed full of the scenic thrills of a wintry wonderland. View in Chattanooga Valley ...
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- Alpine Motel (Ouray, Colo.)
- Photo of Alpine Motel; mountains overlook the motel.
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- Alta Lake
- Alta Lake on Telluride-Ophir Pass Jeep trip out of Ouray, Colorado.
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- Alta Lakes (Colo.)
- View of lakes surrounded by pine trees. Mountain peaks are in the background.
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- Alta Lakes and the San Miguel Mountains (Colo.)
- Alta Lakes and the San Miguel Mountains, Western Colorado. A favorite resort of fishermen, these lakes are at the end of a forest road, a few miles east from State Highway 145 between Telluride and Ophir. Lizard Head, the Wilsons, and Lone Cone show.
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- Alta Mill (near Telluride, Colo.)
- Alta mill trees in the foreground mountains in the background some spots of snow visible
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- American Nettie Mine near Ouray, Colo.
- American Nettie Mine near Ouray, Colorado.
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- Amphitheatre from White House Mountain (Ouray, Colo.)
- Aerial view of a mountain range, covered with snow.