Hooray for Ouray! (Part 4: Ouray)

Well, the holiday season is now upon us, and I have some pictures from Thanksgiving I'd like to post.  But I thought I should first finish sharing the photos from our August vacation!  Join us in this final vacation post on the short drive from our campsite to Ouray and our longer jeep ride in the mountains around Ouray.

We left Ridgway State Park early in the morning so we could make the 8 AM departure we'd reserved for a jeep ride in the mountains.

We spotted this hot air balloon on our morning drive to Ouray - I'm sure the folks in the basket had a breathtaking view!

Ready to go!

I hung out the side of the jeep to snap this view of the trail.  A note about the jeep trails: anyone with a 4-wheel drive can take the trails, but Subaru wagons don't count - they don't have the clearance for some of the rockier passes or for fording mountain streams (we encountered a few abandoned Subarus on our ride.  ;-)  The ride is rough at times and includes some steep inclines.  (An older couple was on the tour with our family - they sat in the very backseat of the truck, right behind B.J.and I and Sean.  At one point the wife asked her husband, "Some of these inclines have got to be 45 degrees, don't you think?"  He laughingly reassured her that they weren't that steep, but she - and I - wasn't so sure.  ;-)   Whatever the case, it felt like a roller coaster at times and had us all laughing.  In spite of the bouncing and jostling, Sean and Eli, both securely strapped in their car-seats, dozed off at different intervals.  We had an excellent driver/guide, too, who shared lots of  interesting history and detail along the way.  His name was Steve, and  he'd retired from UPS several years before.  At that time he and his wife realized their lifelong dream of moving to Ouray from Wisconsin, where they'd grown up and raised their children.  We really recommend taking the trails if you ever are in this area - it's amazing to get "into" the mountains.

An old mining building near the trail.

Neat rock formations near Twin Falls.

We stopped and got out of the jeep at Twin Falls.
Can you see B.J. and the kids climbing in the upper right hand corner of this photo?

Back on the trail.  Lovely lavender Columbine flowers in the foreground.

Our final stop at nearly 12,000 feet - this beautiful mountain meadow...

...and still mountain lake.

We ate lunch at Goldbelt on our return to Ouray.

The view of Main Street from Goldbelt.  Ouray is called "Little Switzerland of the U.S."

Swimming in the Ouray Hot Springs Pool - we were warm in spite of the rain, but the lightning meant that we didn't get to swim nearly as long as we would've liked.

After leaving the pool, Leah, Willem, Marie, and I walked the short hike to Box Canyon Falls in the rain.
(B.J. stayed in the van with Nathan and a sleeping Eli and Sean.)

I combined several photos to get this full view of cool, damp, narrow Box Canyon.

Next we hiked to the bridge at the top of the falls.

The view of the canyon from the top.

The view of Ouray from the top of Box Canyon.

One last view of our campsite at the end of the day (I circled our tent and camper with yellow.)

What a wonderful vacation!  We hope to return to Ouray again someday - it's hard to imagine a better vacation destination.  We think you'd enjoy a visit there, too!  :-)