Leaving Ouray, we cross the Red Mountain Pass and Molas pass for the last time to Silverton and Durango. Much of the foliage has fallen in Silverton with peak color over. Ray takes a short break to fish the Animas River in Durango, the only river in Colorado he has not caught a fish. Well today he caught one so now we can happily continue on our way.
Southern Colorado and northern New Mexico is heavily forested with dense pines on the sides of the San Juan Mountains, sprinkled with spots of yellow aspens. Fields of hay and pastures appear where the land has been cleared. As we approach Taos, the vegetation changes to what we expected New Mexico to be like, flat, dry and desert-like.
Suddenly, popping out of the landscape are unusual structures which we quickly realize is the 300+ acre Greater World Earthship Community, started by architect Mike Reynolds and Earthship Biotecture. The self-sufficient dwellings are built with natural and recycled materials and with energy conservation in mind. The community is fully off the grid, using exclusively solar and wind power, and designed to collect water, manage sewage and produce food for their inhabitants’ use.
We feel like we have been transported into something out of Star Wars!
EVE stands for Earthship Village Ecologies. Designed as an “urban housing environment,” it was made up of five studio apartments that share a communal living space. Eve was never finished and is now used as a greenhouse to grow plants fir residents.
A few miles further lies the Rio Grande Gorge bridge which sits 600 ft above the river. It is the fifth highest bridge in the United States. During its construction in the 1960s, funding did not exist to continue the road on the other side, leading to its nickname, the “Bridge to Nowhere.” Looking down from the railing at the plunging gorge makes me very nervous!
We are staying at the Sagebrush Inn snd after checking in, we have a Peruvian meal at Aji, decent but not the 5 star rated goodness on yelp.