Blogs from Ouray, Colorado, United States, North America

It was a grand slam morning as we started the day at Denny’s. Our hotel did have a tiny continental breakfast which we did partake of yesterday. Their offering was a choice of 3 kinds of toast, coffee and a piece of fruit. We needed something more today so we went into to town for a filling meal. After we filled ourselves and our car, we headed north. We did not have many miles to cover but the miles we did have were going to be slow. Today’s route was going to take us over the Million Dollar Highway. I have read of a few different reasons that it was named that. 1. It cost a million dollars per mile to build. 2. The drive gives million dollar views. 3. Some people state after they drive ... read more

Mercredi 4 septembre 2013, Tout d'abord un gros merci pour les messages reçus via le blog, véritables cadeaux pour nous d'en prendre connaissance, ne vous gênez pas et continuez! Avons passé un très beau moment depuis hier avec Sylvie (autre nièce de Georges) et son grand danois de 8 mois adorable et affectueux de 104 lbs (il grandira et grossira à 160 lbs) . Elle et sa jumelle Josée d'Iowa City sont vraiment accueillantes et très attachantes. Faut croire que c'est de famille! En quittant Denver, profitons d'une montée en épingles (quel vertige) sur une des montagnes à l'ouest pour aller jusqu'au point d'observation donnant une vue prenante sur la ville avec ses gratte-ciel au loin. Reprenons la route vers Boulder plus au nord où les 2 jumelles ont étudié à l'université de l'endroit en raison ... read more

Antero Reservoir to Ouray - Saturday May 25 –At Antero Reservoir it got seriously cold last night because of the altitude and it being basically desert country and I used my two lighter blankets plus my big heavy blanket. I woke up early at 0530 AM and warmed up the truck for 5 minutes or so before climbing back on the gravel road to Hwy 24 and heading West towards the junction of Hwy 24 and 285 at Antero Jct. Within a couple of miles I came to the intersection and went south on Hwy 24/285 and over Trout Creek Pass at 9487 ft. to the intersection where Hwy 24 heads north towards Buena Vista and Hwy 285 goes south to Poncha Springs where I headed West on Hwy 50. I started climbing again on a ... read more

Today, I got to experience some of the best of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and some of the worst. It says something about the scenery around here that the latter had little effect on the former. I woke up to pouring rain. Not just any rain, the continuous sheets that only seem to appear in the spring and autumn. The temperature has dropped too, so it was noticeably colder than yesterday. The dirt streets have turned to mud, with water flowing in big ruts. The rain and cold are a serious problem, because I booked a jeep tour today. I ultimately went anyway, and it was still worth it. San Juan Jeep Tour Dirt tracks cover most of the Rocky Mountains. Miners showed up in southwest Colorado looking for gold in the 1860s. They found ... read more

Wow! We drove 70 miles north today on the windy Highway 550 to Ouray. This road is fondly called the Million Dollar Highway. It's a maze of twists and turns with no guardrails and amazing views of mountains and the Animas River below. When we got to Ouray we decided to take a 4 hour Jeep ride to the top of Imogene Pass. At 13,114 feet we could see both the towns of Ouray and Telluride. You could see the rain falling over Telluride through the clouds at this spot - very cool. Along the way up we saw many water falls, a closed gold mine (including tailings, a 13 mile tunnel to Telluride, and lots of rusted equipment), marmots, pica, mule deer, and amazing mountain views. Coming down the mountain seemed more treacherous than on ... read more