Molas Lake

On Friday, June 19, 2015, we left the "Motel 6" in the town of Holbrook, Arizona and went to Colorado.
The mountains "San Juan", alpine lakes, and a waterfall "Bridal Veil Falls" were ahead.

The road was very simple...
You need to turn on the road 191 and drive to the town of Mexican Water, AZ.
And further, you can use the HWY 160 to the town of Durango, located at the foot of the Mountains of San Juan.

There is a very interesting place on Highway 160 - a "Four Corners Monument".
The borders of four states: Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico intersect here.
GPS-coordinates: 36°59'54.5"N, 109°02'41.3"W
*Four Corners Monument*

The monument is located on the territory of the Navajo, and they service it.
Therefore, you need to make a payment for entry and photos.
The sun and the dust of deserts in Arizona, Utah and Nevada have dried our skin and we hurried to the mountains...
Therefore, we did not drove to the monument, replacing the road 191 to the road 491.

Here is the state of New Mexico.

The Rest Area is ahead, where we decided to have a rest and a snack.

It is the "Manuelito visitor center" on HWY 40 ...
GPS-coordinates: 35°23'40.0"N, 109°00'26.2"W

You can not only relax but also to get information about the state of New Mexico, watch the booklets and maps.

The HWY 40 runs further to the east, but we turned onto HWY 491 - to the north.
And we were on another planet...

The "Mesa Verde" National Park is located between the towns of Cortez and Durango, you can go if you wish.
GPS-coordinates of Visitor Center: 37°20'10.8"N, 108°24'28.6"W
The park is huge and a visit to take a long time.
It is the largest archaeological reserve in the United States.
It was founded in 1906.
*Mesa Verde National Park*

The tribes of Paleo-Indians - Pueblo inhabited the park from 7500 BC.
They lived in rock caves, were engaged in hunting and they grew beans and a corn.
Their culture has made a progress over the millennia and in the 12th century they had already built the towers and the stone houses - Mesa.
About 22,000 people lived here.
However, severe droughts in the early 13th century forced the people of Pueblo to leave the area and move to Arizona and New Mexico.
And today the archaeologists are studying their "city."

We got to the city of Durango on HWY 160 and turned to the mountain Highway 550.
The road goes up among the wood and the blue lakes are located next to the road.
Here are a lot of lakes and the nature resembles the nature of the northern European countries.

So, the tourists and vacationers do not pass by such beautiful places.
Therefore, here are many campgrounds, motels and rest areas.

We also decided to spend the night here when we planned our route.
We booked the "Molas Lake Campground".
The camping is located on the shore of the Molas Lake, near the Molas Pass, at an altitude of about 3.5 km.

We moved on the highway 550 and looked around.

Small neat houses and motels near the road.

We enjoyed the outdoors and we did not notice, as we have reached the pass.
It is "Coal Bank Pass".
*Coal Bank Pass*
GPS-coordinates: 37°41'59.4"N, 107°46'40.0"W

The Coal Bank Pass - the first of three passes in the mountains of San Juan, which we have seen.
Its height - 3240 m.

It were not the hills, the real mountains covered with snow were ahead

After the pass, the road went down, and then back - up...

It was "Molas Pass"...
*Molas Pass*
GPS-coordinates: 37°44'15.6"N, 107°41'51.3"W

We stopped, got out and ... breathed the fresh mountain air.
The snowy mountains, a green vegetation and the blue sky were around us...

There is a Rest Area on the pass - "View Stop".

The "Molas Pass" - it's a mountain pass in the mountains of San Juan.
Its height - 3340 m.

The Molas Lake been seen from the pass.

Here is our camping - "Molas Lake Campground"!
*Озеро Molas*
GPS-coordinates: 37°44'58.7"N, 107°40'54.5"W

It is one of the highest mountain campgrounds in the United States, it is at an altitude of almost 3.5 km and is very popular.
The tourists like to walk on foot near the mountains, to breathe the rarefied mountain air and to admire the dark starry sky.
You can fish in the lake, but no one swims - the water is very cold.

We quickly found our site and have put the tent...

The sun was high, it was hot and we decided to walk: to explore the surrounding area of camp.

The camping is located in a forest on the shores of the lake...

Many trails are near the lake, there are plaques with maps of routes.

You can walk by the lake and also to go to the mountains through the fields.

We decided to eat and we went back to the tent on the shore of the lake.

Here are the standart public utilities:
a place for tent and car, there is a table and a campfire.
In the territory there are washrooms, and a shower near the staff.

After evening meal we were going to stay in the tent, but was still light...
And we went for an evening stroll.

The sun went down, it was very cold.
A fog and a cold descended from the tops of the mountains to the lake.

We could not sleep for a long time, we admired the mountain dark sky with huge bright stars...