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?

Aug 8: Owl Creek Pass, Silverjack Reservoir

Took a drive up Owl Creek Pass - but the Cimarron Peaks were under cloud cover. The reservoir was very low and muddy; Gary had no luck fishing there - not even a bite! But the drive was pretty...this area is famous for being featured in the movie "True Grit" with John Wayne.

At Ridgway State Park...

looking south towards Ridgway, Mt Sneffels

In Ridgway....

Aug 6 - 13: between Ridgway and Ouray

All set up in full hookup Weber RV Park (our first full hookups in a very long time!), we're less than a mile from Orvis Hot Springs and 9 miles from Ouray - plenty to see and do for 8 days. Ouray is "Switzerland of America" - aptly named as it is surrounded by rugged peaks such as Mount Sneffels - and also the "Jeep Capital of the World" because of the number of challenging 4-wheel drive roads; we will attempt some of the moderate, less EEEK off-road adventures.

Our first little excursion: Box Canon Park in Ouray....a nominal fee to visit and a short 1/2 mile hike to the upper bridge, and/or a short 500 ft walk to the lower area (anything more than $3, I may have refused based on principal - but this is much more reasonable than the $12 per person to drive up Pike's Peak near Colorado Springs!)

Looking down from the bridge above, to the bottom of the Box Canon falls; looking across Ouray where you can also see Cascade Falls on the east side of town.

At the bottom of the falls, we enjoyed the tremendous roar of the water, cool damp air, and we even saw the rare black swift bird which nests here in summer.

Stopped at Ouray Visitor Center and took a look next door at Ouray Hot Springs, run by the city of Ouray, which is fed by natural hot spring waters piped directly from Box Canon Park. We have not visited these hot springs which are fairly crowded most of the time, and more of a "public pool" arrangement than the natural setting we prefer.