We departed our beautiful campsite in Colorado Springs headed for Ridgway, Colorado where we plan to stay five nights. The drive was pretty spectacular most of the way.....for about 50 miles we followed the Arkansas River along some twisty turns but really pretty scenery. In all we only traveled about 275 miles but because of the kind of driving it was, it sure felt like more. Along the way in addition to following the Arkansas river - we crossed the continental divide at Monarch Pass....a steep up and down. We also passed the Blue Mesa reservoir which was a pretty large body of water with a lot of boating and fishing activity - very pretty. After arriving at Ridgway State Park about 4:00, we met our neighbors on both sides and visited for a short time before heading into the local small town grocery.
Arkansas River - Roadside Stop
Blue Mesa Reservoir
10 Sept, 2017 - Touring
After enjoying our morning coffee we decided to take a walk on one of the hiking trails here in the campground....it was not a long or strenuous hike but was pretty as it followed the Uncompahgre River which runs through the state park. It was a nice way to get the blood flowing before heading out for the days activities. We decided to spend the day at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. This park is accessible from a southern entrance (which we did) and also a northern entrance that would have been an hour and a half longer driver to get there. We fully intended to do both but we spent so much time on the southern rim that we didn't have time (or energy) to go to the northern rim. We stopped at the visitor center and watched a movie and learned a lot about how the canyon was formed and the early pioneers that discovered it. We drove the rim road and stopped at most overlooks and at the end of the rim road we took a hike to a point with a great view of the canyon from the top.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
After exploring the southern rim, we took a road that takes you to the bottom of the canyon. It was a very steep (16% grade) with many switchbacks to get down there but it was an entirely different perspective of the canyon as the Gunnison river runs through the bottom of it. The river looked rather small from the top but once we got down to it, it was a fairly good sized river and a lot of folks were trout fishing there.
Gunnison River
Back at the camp by about 6:30 - enough time to clean up, download (and work on) photos, make notes for the blog and get some rest for tomorrow's outing. We have no internet and very spotty cell service so going to bed early seems like a good thing to do.
Curious Onlooker in the park
11 Sept, 2017 - Touring
My influence to stay here for five days versus our normal two or three came as the result of Mr. Don Nagel, whom I've never met in person.....only via the camping forum I follow. I owe Don a huge "thank you" as he answered my call to the forum for tips and advice about camping and touring this area - He put together a document that truly enhanced our experience here and made the planning easier. Also, our campground host, Lee, has been here since May and he and his wife have "investigated" the area so his tips on what to see and do were well received. In addition to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, we have intentions of visiting Ouray, Silverton, Telludride, & obviously Ridgway while on this stop.
Heading out to explore Telluride, Colorado AND by way of an off-road mountainous adventure. Since being here we have learned that there are some terrific trails for four wheel drive (mostly) vehicles and people travel from all over to experience the views of the San Juan and Cimarron mountains. Our campground host, Lee, recommends an off highway trail for us that he says you can make without 4WD. It is called the "Last Dollar Road" and it takes you into Telluride via a mountainous pass....away we went. Turns out the Last Dollar Road was about 20 bumpy miles long but was a great experience. We forded two streams and worked our way through some nice looking Aspen forests - unfortunately we are a week or two early for the leaves to be in full glory....still a great ride.
Aspen forest on Last Dollar Road
Last Dollar Road
Arrived in Telluride just in time for lunch and some folks we'd passed on the trail recommended "The Brown Dog Cafe"...so as we walked up and down the street having a look in the shops we stumbled upon it. We experienced "Detroit Pizza" for the first time. We both wish we'd asked what that style was - it was a very thick crust pizza and we both like it thin....we suffered through it and were full. More walking around town and we came upon the visitor's center....the only recommendation they had was to take the Gondola to the Mountain Village.....we ended up taking a bus up and the gondola down. To us, the village seemed like it would really be a happening spot during ski/snow season but today, not so much.
Telluride, Colorado
When leaving the restaurant we always look at the tourist brochures - this place had one called Colorado Marijuana Tourism Map........we had a good laugh. As we walked the streets in Telluride we came across a Marijuana store and I told Kathy I had to go inside just to see.....out of curiosity. It was a clean, professionally run operation with many different ways for a person to enjoy their products. I had a million questions for the lady working there.....she had to work hard for that sale :-)
Leaving Telluride for the drive back to Ridgway we decide to stay on paved roads...especially now that it was raining. As we got close to Ridgway we decide to take a ride to Ouray just to have a quick look before heading home....while there we decided to stop at a couple of the four wheel drive rental businesses as we have now become interested in what they call the "Alpine Loop" - a scenic four wheel drive route that seems popular. So - we now have a jeep rented and a plan in place for tomorrow.
Tuesday - 12 Sept, 2017 - Touring - off road style
We arrived at the Jeep rental place in Ouray, Colorado prepared for our off-road adventure. Temp as we departed the trailer was a cool 49 degrees and we are expecting to climb to altitudes in the 13000 foot range so time for me to layer a lot with long johns (first appearance this year) underneath. We had originally booked a jeep that had a canvas top and was open in the back but when we got there they said they had a fully enclosed one available so we opted for that one - good decision.
Our jeep ride out to where the off road trail begins was on a stretch of highway between Ouray and Silverton, Colorado that is referred to as the "Million Dollar Highway". It is a very windy mountain road with steep climbs and declines, narrow roads (two lane), steep drop offs and no guard rails. I commented to Kathy that it seemed odd that they didn't have guard rails to which she laughed and said "there is no room"! The highway was very interesting and the views from there were incredible.....not sure if the name Million Dollar Highway comes from the construction cost or the views but either (or both) would probably be applicable.
Million Dollar Highway Scenery
Million Dollar Highway Scenery
Million Dollar Highway Scenery
We had instructions from the jeep rental place to exit the highway on a 4WD road called Corkscrew Gulch.....but they never bothered to tell us that there would be no sign for it so you guessed it, we passed it and struggled with the map they provided to find it. So, we got to really get a good look at the Million Dollar Highway while we looked for it. Once on the Corkscrew Gulch trail (to call it a road would be exaggerating) we headed into the outback. Immediately we were climbing over large rocks, deep holes, creeks and big drop offs. Early on I was thinking it would take some WD-40 and a pry bar to get Kathy's hands off the "oh shit" grab bar in the jeep. As we tooled along the driving got easier (or I became more comfortable with it) and we covered a large expanse of the San Juan and Cimarron mountain range with some terrific scenery, cool air, lots of other off road vehicles but not a trace of any wildlife.
Four Wheelers
Alpine Loop View
Four Wheeling Trail-View
Corkscrew gulch took us to Hurricane Pass at an elevation of over 12,000 feet and then thru the California gulch where we joined the Alpine Loop. We followed the Alpine loop into Animas Forks...this is an old (1880's era) gold mining settlement with many abandoned structures still standing. We enjoyed some of that area and a picnic lunch there before continuing on. The next major stop was the small mountain town of Silverton, Colorado where we rested and enjoyed a cold beverage at the Handlebar Saloon and grill. A pretty cool biker type bar....we already had lunch but when we return to Silverton on Friday (train ride from Durango) we will be sharing one of their famous hamburgers....they looked delicious.
Animas Forks
Gold Mining Ruins
While in Silverton it began to rain a pretty steady. Based on the weather and time we decided to skip the last short leg of the off road because we had to get the jeep back by 5:00 and we had to get it washed and refueled before returning it. Most of what we missed on that leg of the off-road was returning on Corkscrew Gulch and since we'd already done that leg we opted to be sure we could get back in time. After a full day of bouncy driving we were both pretty tired by the time we returned home.
Road into Silverton - from the trail
Wednesday - 13 Sept, 2017 Maintenance & relaxing
It's true - even people on vacation need some rest. We took advantage of a day not completely full of sightseeing to wash the truck, do some laundry and rest for most of the morning. In the afternoon we did venture out for some more exploring. We visited the other half of the state park we are staying in to check out the camping there....very nice with a pretty lake view. After a quick stop at Dennis Weaver (TV Star fame) park we rode back into Ouray - which has become one of our favorite towns in this area. It is called the Switzerland of the USA since it is nestled amongst some mountain peaks.....we had a nice lunch there at the Ouray Brewery and Kathy bought a shirt during our walk of the town.
Ouray, Colorado
Ouray, Colorado
Lake at Ridgway Campground
After lunch, we visited Box Canyon Falls, took a ride on the Million Dollar Highway (again), and made an 5 mile dirt road trip off the highway to see a Forest Service campground that was really pretty....next visit we will be there. On the way out and getting close to evening we both commented that we had not seen much wildlife in this area....we even laughed that we'd only seen chipmunks, a rabbit and a skunk when low and behold we spotted a bull moose in the field beside the highway. He was a fair distance away but we still tried to capture some photos. It was a pleasant way to end the evening and ultimately our visit to Ridgway as we depart for the Cortez area tomorrow.
Bull Moose - Million Dollar Highway
No comments:
Post a Comment