When I was planning for this trip, I was focused on the three national parks we would be visiting. However, I couldn’t help notice on the map that we would be traveling near Telluride. If you don’t know, Telluride is a ski resort often visited by the rich and famous. I thought why not spend a night there if it’s not too expensive? So I searched on my travel sites, found a room I thought was quite reasonable, and booked it.
A few days before our trip, Silvette asked me for the names of the hotels we would be staying in. While checking them out, she informed me the hotel I had booked was not in Telluride. I said I knew that, but it was in a town right next to it. That turned out to be wrong. Our hotel was in the town of Ourey, Colorado. If you look on a map, they really aren’t that far apart. However to get from Telluride to Ourey takes about an hour and 15 minutes. We were not staying in Telluride.
So when we packed up to leave on a Saturday morning, I knew that our visit to Telluride would be short. Nevertheless, we started out on our way to Telluride. The journey headed towards the town of Delores, and the road followed the Delores River for much of the way. Since we were following a river, I wanted to stop and take at least one picture of it. We passed a number of beautiful locations including a valley with some small ponds. More photo opportunities.
While we didn’t stop in Delores, we thought we would check out the next town, Rico. Unfortunately there wasn’t a lot to check out. The highway runs through the center of town, and most of what we saw were shuttered businesses. However, the buildings themselves were old and had interesting architectural details. I was still able to take photos even though there wasn’t anything else to do there.
It was just before we reached Rico that we began to notice some snow capped mountains. I stopped again to get some more photos of the Delores River and the surrounding hills and distant peaks.
Not long after that we came to Lizard Head Pass which is surrounded by snow capped mountains. There was also snow on the ground and the nearby trails. I felt like I needed a video camera and twirl around in a circle to see all the mountain peaks. It was really a very beautiful location.
The mountain peaks stayed with us for a while, and then we began to encounter other mountain peaks. I would stop periodically to take a picture of another snow capped mountain. We eventually left those mountain peaks behind, but came into another valley with more mountain peaks to see.
Finally after a few hours of driving, we arrived in the town of Telluride. One thing we didn’t know was that it is an historical town. Driving into town we passed many charming homes with a Victorian style to them. After figuring out where to park, we began to wander around downtown exploring the village. Sadly it was somewhat of a disappointment.
Remember in last week’s post I commented on the expression, “Timing is everything.” Well that statement applied to our time in Telluride. It seems that April is a down season for the town. As a result many shops were closed. As we walked along, we saw numerous signs saying, “See you in May,” or giving an actual date in May when they would be open again. While we were there May 5th, apparently mid-May was the time people expected visitors to return.
Of course some thing were open, but overall the town seemed dead. The most exciting thing going on seemed to be with the town’s high school seniors. The girls were all receiving flowers. I checked out the old buildings and took some pictures of the area, but it was not as impressive as I had anticipated.
Leaving Telluride, we headed north to connect to a highway that would take us south to Ouray. I stopped at one place along the road to take photos of the river we were following as well as all the red rocks around us. The red rock layers were definitely at the base or the lower parts of the nearby mountains. It was quite interesting to see.
Later we came across another area with absolutely amazing mountains views in which it seemed we were again surrounded by snow capped mountains. I don’t think I have ever been in an area in which there were so many beautiful mountain ranges around, but western Colorado has certainly provided many great views. I believe that these mountains were in the San Juan Mountain range, but I’m not positive.
Just before we reached Ouray, I stopped by the Uncompahgre River to take some photos of it and the nearby hills. It was another beautiful location.
Since I hadn’t realized we would be staying in the town of Ouray, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It turned out to be in a stunning location surrounded on almost all sides by tall cliffs and mountains. Many of them were still dotted with snow. No wonder the town refers to itself as the Switzerland of America. We found our accommodations easily enough and after a rest and dinner set out to explore the town.
Much like many of the other towns in Colorado, Ouray has a number of old and historic buildings. The town is smaller than Telluride, but seems much more livable. It also seemed busier. I saw one store with a note about being closed until May, but otherwise most stores were open and operating.
Another experience that Ouray is known for is its hot springs. A number of local hotels seem to offer hot springs as part of their experiences. The city also built a public hot springs area. It’s very nice with various pools for adults and children to enjoy. We walked to the pools and saw a number of people enjoying them even on a cool evening. The pools sit on the edge of a large green park. On the opposite side we found an outdoor museum focusing on old mining apparatus, an ode to Ouray’s past.
Wandering around we discovered another interesting activity that is popular here, ice climbing. We came across a deep gorge with a river running through the bottom. A sign indicated this was an ice park. We weren’t quite sure what that meant, but then we realized that pipes ran near the tops of the gorge walls. The pipes had spigots for water to run out and down over the gorge walls which would create ice down the walls of the gorge during the winter months. We didn’t walk very far along the gorge, but apparently different types of ice climbing activities are conducted in different locations. Each year they have a festival to celebrate ice climbing with various competitions. Check out the website. (Scroll to the bottom for photos and video clips)
With that we returned to our room for the night. Tomorrow we would begin our visit to the last of the three national parks that had inspired this trip. Catch all the details next week. Meanwhile I hope you are enjoying your summer, and that it includes some travel. Feel free to share your summer plans in the comment box below. Also be sure to share any experiences you may have had in Ouray or Telluride. I’d love to hear from you.