SATURDAY, 8/11

SATURDAY, 8/11:  

     What a gorgeous and great day – one of our best so far!  Woke up to blue skies!  Decided to do what’s called the Perimeter Hike.  Called that because it takes you on a loop around the perimeter of Ouray.  Started our across the street from the Visitor Center, and went up, up, up.  We’ve concluded that the entire state of Colorado has twice as many up’s as down’s – whether roads or trails!  This is classed as a “Moderate” hike in the brochure, but we wonder what strenuous would be?! 

     But the exertion was the price of admission for gorgeous views! We just can’t get over – and can’t get enough of – the views here.  In every direction you look, just beautiful mountains everywhere.  And I think what makes them so indescribably beautiful is that they’re “layered” – one peak in front of a higher one, and the different peaks are widely varied in their coloration – some forested with green, others a rock face with whites, creams, greys, or even roses & salmon hues, or different shades of rust, others appearing deep purple.   Around every turn we made, each view seemed more stunning than the one before. 

      Oh yes, coming around one turn, a little fawn ran right in front of me, across the trail, and down into the woods.  It startled me so much that at first it didn’t register what it was – in a flash, I thought coyote or something similar.  Another hiker who had passed us had her dog, unleashed, and we’re sure that the dog spooked the fawn.  We just hope that it makes its way back to its mama, or vice-versa.

     The first “landmark” on the trail, after about 1 ½ hours, was Cascade Falls.  Was certainly lovely, but we remember from 5 years ago that it was pouring forth much more then than it was now.  It’s been so dry here, as everywhere, and the snowmelt has long gone.  In fact, someone reminded me that normally, you can actually see the falls from a distance anywhere in town if you look at the right place.  But not this year.  We spent about a half an hour there, just resting and watching all the other people  having fun there, especially the kids playing on the rocks. 

     When we started up the trail again, it was extremely steep, with loose gravel, and with trees down.  I didn’t get very far; Bill was playing scout, going on ahead, but came back & said that we just wouldn’t be able to do it.  In fact, he thought it was dangerous.  And he felt like he’d twisted his knee.  So we went down the easy trail which leads straight from town to the Falls.  Bill was walking pretty slowly, and not feeling good.   W e’d like to finish more of the trail – the trail guide says you can catch it at any number of trailheads around town, so if it works out for another day, that’s what we’ll do.

     But knowing how he bounces back (plus the fact that he had taken 3 Advil) , I asked him if he felt like checking in the office for Jeep tours & seeing what was leaving for the 1:30 tour. The day was still beautiful, with no clouds, so wanted to take advantage of it if we could.  Three women had booked the trip for the Imogene Pass route.  Bill wasn’t sure that was the one he wanted, as he had talked the day before with the owner who had highly recommended the Red Mountain route.  But the kid who was manning the office said, “Look, take the trip, and I won’t charge you up front.  If you don’t like it or don’t think it was worth the $$, I won’t charge you anything.”  How can you pass up an offer like that??   

     So the 5 of us hopped on the jeep – well, actually, a converted 4-wheel drive hemi diesel Dodge pickup for traversing up to 9 passengers (open air).  Our driver was Keith – I remember him from driving us 5 years ago.  He is a gold mine (no pun intended) of information, and funny too. I told him that he must have made a deal with the devil – he didn’t look a day older than when we saw him five years ago.  He laughed & gave me a hug.

 

     The trip was unbelievable!! Our destination was the Imogene Pass – and the mountain top just beyond that, at 13,100+ feet. Keith said that it was the 2^nd highest dirt road pass in the country (highest is somewhere else in Colorado). On this trip, it was both the journey and the destination that made up the experience and the memories! The jeep ride itself was amazing, incredible. Went up 11 miles, about half on what resembled more a mule path than a road! Very narrow, sometimes no dirt, just huge boulders we needed to navigate around, hairpin curves, etc., etc.  Keith’s driven this road many hundreds of times, and knew just when to creep along, when to speed up. Even so, a couple of times we heard the frame scraping against rock – eeek! And of course, he had no control over when we’d meet another vehicle coming back down the mountain – a couple of breath-holders! We decided that we didn’t need to go white water rafting – this was thrilling enough! And, we don’t need to go to Disneyland or any other amusement park, either . .. . a couple of times, when he had a clear road, he’d gun it thru modest bumps & dips in the road, repeatedly, just for fun. It was a blast!! We couldn’t catch our breath to stop laughing. Oh yeah, at one point I asked Bill how his knee/legs were doing, and he laughed & said, “I haven’t even thought about that.”

     And the scenery was absolutely phenomenal. Simply staggering views.  Many waterfalls, and still a remnant of wildflowers, although most were gone by now because of the dry season.  But the sweeping vistas were what literally took our breath away time after time. 

     When we got to the summit, of course had been tundra for a while.  A stark beauty of its own up there.  And of course incredible views.  We could see it raining down hard on some other mountains, but where we were, even though cold and windy (wind chill of 40??), God blessed us with sunshine & mostly clear skies.    

   

Add to all this lots of fun history & anecdotes about the mining history of the area – silver and gold, and it’s some of the best money we’ve ever spent.  An experience we’ll remember for a very long time!

     Oh, and the 3 women were delightful – I think all single, mid-life, one even has been retired for a few years.  They’re from Denver, and travel together for active vacations.  Tomorrow they were going to hike Mt. Sneffels, one of the 14’ers, as they say here (at least 14,000 ft).

     Got home a little after 6 – just made steak sandwiches with the leftover round steak from the night before.  On the computer some, read a little, and went to bed.  Shortly after we went to bed, we heard it raining, but only for a short while.