Trip Report: The Perfect Family Trip!
EDIT: I wanted to add this link here at the beginning. Ragusa's Summer 2014 Trailer Hello friends! We have been home for two months, but I am just now feeling like getting to the trip repo...
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Ouray: Part 3
Hahaha, yes, I'll wait until after the gift exchange! Too funny. Hey, If I can't keep the attention of my closest family, then I didn't do my job as a photographer or a son. It's not like its 8 hours of waiting for a baby to crawl. This is high adventure! ;)
On July 4th, we opted for a slower day. Our local friends had friends that owned a hotel right on the main drag in Ouray. Apparantly, Ouray is known for their celebration, so we spent the day hanging out on main street, watching the festivities. Using the hotel as a home base was a huge help. Funny thing, in the lobby of the hotel was some actual upholstered furniture! A real couch and a real recliner! It was the first time in a month that we sat in a chair! Didn't even know we were missing it, but when I sunk into that recliner it was better than the most expensive of spas.
Anyway, they had the usual small town festivities, parades, fireworks and these battles with fire hoses! We had a great day, but retired just an hour before the fireworks. I bet they were amazing in this setting. We just ran out of energy.
The next morning we were up bright and early to spend the day off road again. We started with "The Alpine Loop". This was the day that we split up and rode in Jeeps. Our truck would have never made it. In fact, we saw a truck just like ours about a mile in on the trail with a blown tire. The two guys we were riding with had many many years of experience, and we were in good hands.
The scenery was breathtaking. We really enjoyed all of the "Ghost Towns" we'd come across. Little mining villages like this one.
This first few miles of trail was more technical than we could have done in the truck. But after that, we could have done the rest of the day. I bet they keep that section of trail like that to weed out a lot of traffic. It was busy enough as it was.
We went right on to the top of "Engineer's Pass". It was like arriving on a new planet. We were in an alpine tundra, which none of us had been before. The elevation had the oxygen quite thin, and we were warned when we got out of the Jeep to hold the door for a minute. Glad we did, as most of us couldn't have walked more than 100'. My son was feeling sick enough that all he could get out for was the picture.
On the other side, we went into Lake City and had lunch. Very neat town! I could come back and stay there for a while! Like the whole summer!
We took Cinnimon Pass back over and ended up in Silverton (for the third time in a week). When fueling for gas, we saw a pair of cars that looked like there hoods had been crushed. Come to find out, there was a rock slide on the million dollar highway. These cars had been hit by rock, and the road was closed. This was our way home! It had already been a very long day. We started at sunrise and the sun was beginning to set. Weighing our options, we decided to take Ophir Pass one more time (racing daylight and rain). We crossed over and then took paved roads back to Ridgway. All in all, a solid 14-15 hours on the trail. Ready for some sleep.
The next morning, we were rolling out of town. Very sad to leave, but exhausted.
Next up, Black Canyon of the Gunnison...
Hahaha, yes, I'll wait until after the gift exchange! Too funny. Hey, If I can't keep the attention of my closest family, then I didn't do my job as a photographer or a son. It's not like its 8 hours of waiting for a baby to crawl. This is high adventure! ;)
On July 4th, we opted for a slower day. Our local friends had friends that owned a hotel right on the main drag in Ouray. Apparantly, Ouray is known for their celebration, so we spent the day hanging out on main street, watching the festivities. Using the hotel as a home base was a huge help. Funny thing, in the lobby of the hotel was some actual upholstered furniture! A real couch and a real recliner! It was the first time in a month that we sat in a chair! Didn't even know we were missing it, but when I sunk into that recliner it was better than the most expensive of spas.
Anyway, they had the usual small town festivities, parades, fireworks and these battles with fire hoses! We had a great day, but retired just an hour before the fireworks. I bet they were amazing in this setting. We just ran out of energy.
The next morning we were up bright and early to spend the day off road again. We started with "The Alpine Loop". This was the day that we split up and rode in Jeeps. Our truck would have never made it. In fact, we saw a truck just like ours about a mile in on the trail with a blown tire. The two guys we were riding with had many many years of experience, and we were in good hands.
The scenery was breathtaking. We really enjoyed all of the "Ghost Towns" we'd come across. Little mining villages like this one.
This first few miles of trail was more technical than we could have done in the truck. But after that, we could have done the rest of the day. I bet they keep that section of trail like that to weed out a lot of traffic. It was busy enough as it was.
We went right on to the top of "Engineer's Pass". It was like arriving on a new planet. We were in an alpine tundra, which none of us had been before. The elevation had the oxygen quite thin, and we were warned when we got out of the Jeep to hold the door for a minute. Glad we did, as most of us couldn't have walked more than 100'. My son was feeling sick enough that all he could get out for was the picture.
On the other side, we went into Lake City and had lunch. Very neat town! I could come back and stay there for a while! Like the whole summer!
We took Cinnimon Pass back over and ended up in Silverton (for the third time in a week). When fueling for gas, we saw a pair of cars that looked like there hoods had been crushed. Come to find out, there was a rock slide on the million dollar highway. These cars had been hit by rock, and the road was closed. This was our way home! It had already been a very long day. We started at sunrise and the sun was beginning to set. Weighing our options, we decided to take Ophir Pass one more time (racing daylight and rain). We crossed over and then took paved roads back to Ridgway. All in all, a solid 14-15 hours on the trail. Ready for some sleep.
The next morning, we were rolling out of town. Very sad to leave, but exhausted.
Next up, Black Canyon of the Gunnison...