A pass a day keeps the doctor away

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Since Salida we've been doing basically a pass a day. Some are easier than others, but we've just taken them one by one:


  • Marshall Pass, 10,842 ft. Discovered in 1873 by Lt. William L. Marshall when he wanted to find a quicker way to Denver from Silverton because he had an amazing headache.
  • Old Cochetopa Pass, 10,067 ft. Discovered 1869, Toll road 1874. This is the way Marshall would have gone if he didn't have a toothache.
  • Carnero Pass, 10,166
  • Indiana Pass, or Grayback Mountain, 11,910 ft. The highest piont on the Great Divide Route
  • Stunner Pass, 10,541 ft.
  • La Manga (10,250 ft) and Cumbres (10,022) passes

Otto Mears, the "Pathfinder of the San Juans," seems to have built nearly every road originally and operated it as a toll road. He built the first road over Marshall Pass and the first over Cochetopa. And he built roads all over SW Colorado.