Trip #37 (5): Ouray, CO

July 24 - 30, 2011
Touareg Rally 2011

Born to be Wild

Arrivals, Vehicle Assembly and Meet & Greet

Mapping out the strategy the night before.

Day 1: Corkscrew, Hurricane Pass, California Pass, Animas Forks and American Basin

River and road below.

A marmot of the trail.

California Pass

The lineup at American Basin.

American Basin

Incredible flowers had everyone exploring for quite a time at American Basin.

Has anyone ever seen paintbrush like this? Ann -- good eye!!

Day 2: Yankee Boy (I sat this one out so Bill drove AND shot)

Monks Hood

Waterfalls at Yankee Boy Basin

There was a crooked man...

 
Day 3: A walk around Ouray

I swear I didn't make this sign. But good to know someone did.

Nice bungalow on Main Street.

1888 courthouse building, and it looks like they're still using it.

Walking up 8th Ave to the Falls and two of these guys were on their way to the next garden.

yep, that's the falls.

A keeper.

Neat old hotel in the area, so I had to see the inside...

It's old alright.

We MUST have a beverage in here someday.

Day 4: Yankee Boy revisited; this time with me for a hike

We passed so many different mines throughout the week, but one of the most famous was the Camp Bird Mine. Here’s some brief info:  The Camp Bird Mine is a famous and highly-productive old gold mine located between Ouray and Telluride, Colorado. The mine is within the Sneffels-Red Mountain-Telluride mining district in the San Juan Mountains. It was discovered by Thomas F. Walsh in 1896, and is (or was) owned by the Federal Resources Corp. The mine produced about 1.5 million troy ounces of gold, and 4 million troy ounces of silver, from 1896 to 1990. At 2009 prices, Camp Bird’s production would be worth over US$1.5 billion. Walsh sold the property for US$ 5.2 million in 1902. Walsh’s daughter, Evalyn Walsh McLean, later purchased the Hope Diamond. Walsh died in 1909. Camp Bird is named after just that, “Camp Birds”, a common bird that ate many a miners lunch. When this mine was discovered by Andy Richardson, hired by Thomas Walsh, his lunch had just been eaten by the birds.

Yankee Boy Basin wasn't bad, tho I had always feared the worst. This was probably the worst and it wasn't bad at all. That's the Camp Bird Mine below on the right (the sandy looking area on the right side, middle).

So we drove as far a we thought we could (now we know we could have gone to the end), then started our vertical hike through the wildflowers, past the lakes and finally up to 12,300 feet. Where the air is thin alright. The slow, plodding (oh, that's just me) six miles up, 1 mile down type of hike.

Up above the tree line, and through the snow that still remains in July.

The columbines were amazing and everywhere.

Beware the iceberg in the little lake, while the white marsh marigolds below grew on the banks.

The view from up there was spectacular.

There were some hearty butterflies and even a few ladybugs up there at 12,000 feet.

I have never before seen so many colors of paintbrush than on this trip. This patch was orangy.

This batch is what it is: BRIGHT!

This would be yet another variegated bunch, these being pink and white in the back row.

And yet another, right out of the camera just as it was.

Day's end found us in Ridgway, about 10 miles north of Ouray for dinner at the highly recommended Adobe Inn, and what do we find but the Ridgway July concert series happening in the park. The entire town seemed to be there and having a ball, the kids especially. Hoola-hoops have made a come-back.

Day 5: Imogene Pass

We had about 8 cars on this trip, some went all the way to Telluride and others went back to Ouray after summiting. For some reason I was ready to give it another shot and was not disappointed. Really enjoyed this ride, though it got a little tight on the Telluride side with two-way traffic. But somehow we all make it through, all real slow-like...

Bill starts out the trip with his turn at the splash.

At this rest stop, one car had "damage" -- a piece of plastic was hanging below the engine like a rudder.

After many years, the original holder of the Broken Shovel Award could finally pass it off in this official ceremony held on site on the trail. As you can see, our winner was not very pleased to be receiving her award.

And so we climbed.

and climbed

and climbed

and climbed past the snow (hey, that's a girl walking her bike up ahead)

We're almost there.

But first, we stop for an overlook just before the summit. I had climbed a steep hill to get this shot.

And here's what they're looking at. That's Red Mountains 1, 2 and 3 and Hwy 550 below.

This was up there: Sky Pilot. Ann had her wildflower books so we could try to ID all those beautiful flowers.

Finally, someone to take the photo so I don't have to run to position in under 10 beeping seconds.

The summit! And a bullet-ridden mailbox.

Cool. That's Telluride behind us. and an antennae coming out of my head.

So here we are going to find a lunch spot at the Tomboy Mine site, another huge, historic mine, when we see this RENTAL jeep hanging off the switchback. No one was in it, guess they were hiding, or looking for a bathroom. Someone's going to have costly vacation. We saw the tow truck arrive later with dollar signs in his eyes.

Tomboy ruins, all around

more ruins, foundations for something

People have created a little outdoor museum with their finds.

Before we head down to Telluride we stop to look back at where we came from. I'm told it's from that orangy spot in the middle of this photo. (are we nuts?)

Just to show how they used to build these mines just clinging to the mountainside. amazing.

We arrive in a light rain, all safe and sound.

Some went for a look at the falls, some wanted ice cream but you know what we wanted.

The Last Dollar Saloon, the window to the world in beautiful downtown Telluride.

And this concludes our trip. I would be remiss if I didn't show our lovely campsite right in town and on the river (trust me, it's back there, roaring for five days straight). It was a nice two block walk to town so it sure beat the drive in from KOA as we did last year. It was a great week! Weather was cooler than Durango maybe high 70s for the most part, and we got a little rain just a few days but not enough to stop anyone, or cause a washout like in 2010.