Hope Lake - a terrific hike!

We ventured up to this trail because the sign at Trout Lake said there was fishing at Hope Lake "accessible by a trail, 3 miles up the road".  It was more like, 2 miles up a paved road, then 3 miles on a narrow, windy, rutted dirt road to a trailhead, from where it was a 7 mile round trip hike, 1800 ft climb, to the lake.  After having done the rutted road, we decided...well we're here - might as well check it out. So glad we did - both of us thought it was the best hike we've done!  Despite pouring rain, ground-shaking thunder, lightning, and a good 20 minutes of serious hail, we had a great time! And the scenery was unbeatable. 

Never seen so many marmots and pikas - every rock field was full of them...

As we approached the lake, we noticed the clouds really looking ominous, and were getting our rain gear on, when the hikers just ahead of us came hurriedly trotting back down the trail, saying "head for the tree line!!!"   So we headed back down the hill about a half mile to the tree line, getting completely soaked on the way despite our rain gear. Waited out the rain and a heavy hail storm just under the tree line - great ear-splitting thunder - with a nice dad and his little boys (one of whom kept saying "we're gonna die, we're gonna die" jokingly of course) .....then low and behold....blue sky so we could finish the hike! It was fun and we had a nice laugh with our fellow survivors...

Absolutely stunning scenery...

and of course, wildflowers....




A little trio of Ptarmigan walked the trail with us for a few minutes....

At the end, clouds were building, and you could no longer see the peaks we had just hiked to (behind Gary, beyond the upper ridge in this last picture) - but we made it out before the next storm broke.  Whew! We had a great time on this hike....would be happy to do it again, and perhaps we'll have better weather to allow us to hang out at the lake a bit longer - and maybe, do some fishing!

Aug 14 - 17: Fishing, Hiking, Sightseeing near Matterhorn Campground

Gary had good fishing here - Trout Lake above is very pretty too! Nice trout dinners from both Trout Lake and Alta Lakes, while in this area.  There was an abundance of marmots around, plus heard coyotes at night for the first time in a long time! We really liked the Matterhorn campground (except for proximity to the road - but most campgrounds in a mountain pass are right off the road!). One of our favorite spots to visit in all of Colorado - might be a place we return to, but will go up from the south (Cortez) next time. The camp hosts at Matterhorn seemed to get a raw deal though - only one couple and they get NO days off - so they have to make grocery runs or go for a hike or go fishing while one of them stays behind at the campground! Hope they were getting paid a fair amount for being held prisoner.

Aug 12 - 14: a couple more nights in Ridgway, then off to Telluride

Again fishing at Ridgway State Park - and again no keepers. Nice view of the mountains though!









We spend our days hiking and touring the area, and then relaxed at the Hot Springs - clothing optional so we only have pictures of the outside. It will be a while before we're soaking again so we'll miss it!

A last view across the town of Ridgway, looking towards the Cimmaron range, as we headed through the Dallas Divide to our next stop near Telluride.

Mount Sneffels through the Dallas Divide....

The drive from Ridgway around to Telluride and beyond, to our campground "Matterhorn" - was a doozy!  Though the map indicated no "pass" we would be going through, it was steep climbs and steep windy decents, all the way.  Not a road we would drive again with the RV. Even ran into someone getting a tow up the hill from a police officer! Turns out the easier way to Telluride is from the south, not from Ridgway - not that we had a choice. 

Steep and windy!

Aug 10: drive from Ouray to Yankee Boy Basin

This is one of many 4-wheel drive roads around Ouray through incredible scenery (did I mention this is "Jeep Capital of the World"?) - this one to Yankee Boy Basin is considered easy to moderate - but still not for "white-knuckle drivers"! It was one of our favorite drives this year. There are mines, abandoned cabins, waterfalls, wildflowers, and of course, the incredible Mount Sneffels. There are other drives we would have loved to do in the area - but could not - such as Black Bear Pass which is rated "EEEK". We were told not to try it with our 22' long truck.

This little undercut under the rock with the steep dropoff was the harriest looking part of the drive. I have some friends who would have got out and walked...I could not bring myself to look down over the edge as we drove it!

Had we run into problems, I wonder if this old rescue truck would have come up for us?