Back in Colorado
We made our way to Ridgway State Park which is 5 miles from the small town of Ridgway between Ouray and Telluride for a week long stay. We had no internet service once we left Montrose but would visit the nice little library in Ridgway every day or two. Then we would have an excuse to try one of the great restaurants in town. We even found a great Thai coconut and lemongrass soup.
We could see why there had been so many wild fires in Colorado. Everywhere we looked was brown and it was hot. The lake was down 30 feet. Too hot for our planned visit to the hot springs.
Finally, on our fourth day the monsoon rains came and cooled down everything.
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| Box Canyon Falls |
Of course, we had to see Ouray's Box Canyon Falls. Even though the run off was low, they were still quite impressive with a loud roar in the canyon.
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| A stop at the Ouray Brewery |
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| An excellent Pilsner and view |
The eclectic people (old hippies, young hippies, cowboys and friends that hangout at Ralph Lauren's ranch) were as entertaining as the musicians at the Thursday evening Ridgway concert in the park. Two couples sat their chairs on each side of us and made the evening even better. They were both so much fun and had great stories.
Million Dollar Highway
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| Hayden Lake |
We took the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton one morning and stopped for a hike. The next day the signs were flashing that the highway was closed due to a rock slide. It would be a very long drive to get back for anyone caught south of the slide.
Hiking at an elevation of 11,000-12,000 feet had our legs moving slow on our return from Sivlerton. I thought that we would be faster in the thinner air. Less resistance? Maybe not.
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| Barrett Mines |
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Glad we brought a lunch.
Ouray's Perimeter Trail
After an early morning hike on the 6 mile Perimeter Trail which runs around Ouray, we stopped at Gnar's Taco shop which turned out to have some great tacos.
They must have been dirty babies leaving the tubs looking like that.
We got an early start on our hike because it had been pretty hot. As we reached the Perimeter Trail's high point, the sun was rising over the mountains behind us.
A change of plans...
