After two days of jostling around on the four-wheel drive trails near Ouray, it’s time for another kind of muscle challenging activity - horseback riding. It seems odd to be paying the fee and signing waivers on the side of Highway 550. What if the horsewoman in the pickup truck drives away with our money? But, she doesn’t. Instead, she tells us to turn onto CR-14 for the winding drive back into the hills to the national forest access. The horses are chewing grass, patiently waiting, at the end of the road. Soon, more clients arrive plus another trailer full of [View Full Entry]

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This morning, after fueling our bodies with breakfast at Silver Nugget, we head for the four-wheel drive trails to Engineer Pass. With many of them still closed due to snow damage, choices are limited. So, we pick an old standby, Mineral Pass Trail. This road is always bumpy with boulders and today is no exception. In addition avalanche debris litters the area. But, soon, the view changes from devastation to mountain meadows carpeted in yellow blooms. Summer has come earlier to this side of the San Juan’s. After a muddy, rocky climb, we pass snowmelt trickling through alpine tun [View Full Entry]

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Today’s adventure includes exploring the trails in Yankee Boy Basin and Imogene Pass, high above Ouray, Colorado. Our 4-wheel drive friends, Dave and Cindy, plus their daughter Makenna, have joined us in Ouray for two days of driving the old mining trails that meander through the San Juan Mountains. On the Yankee Boy Basin trail, the jeeps lurch over rocky ground, slowing down to inch along a narrow ledge that hugs the mountain on one side, with a steep drop-off on the other. Far below, old shacks sit beside piles of tailings from a defunct mine. Even though it’s late in [View Full Entry]

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Begrebet bjergtagende har fået en ny mening for os I denne blog kommer ordene for alvor til kort. Vi er havnet midt i noget af det smukkeste, Gud har skabt på denne jord! Og at forsøge at indfange det med ord eller digitale billeder duer ganske simpelt ikke. Jeg vedlægger en del 'shots' alligevel velvidende, at de ikke yder virkelighedens Colorado rimelighed. Vi siger til hinanden, at det er utroligt, at vi får lov at opleve dette, medens "Holy, holy holy" kører på anlægget og musik, tekst og den pragtfulde storslåede natur smelter sammen. I dag har vi parkeret os i [View Full Entry]

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How many hours can you spend in a car? After five straight days of driving and four-wheel-drive sightseeing, it’s time for a day off. Alan and I start the morning with a walk to the Silver Nugget Restaurant for an omelet breakfast. Afterwards, we explore Ouray on foot. Historic buildings line the main street of this mining town. Shop windows beckon with displays of paintings, crafts or the latest in adventure sports equipment. Side streets lead to lodging options for our next visit. Wiesbaden Hot Springs Spa and Lodge sits atop a cave system where Chief Ouray once steeped in t [View Full Entry]

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The Alpine Loop travels through the high country of the San Juan Mountains between Ouray, Lake City and Silverton, Colorado. Accessible by 4-wheel-drive trails, the area offers endless views plus glimpses of mining history. From Ouray, the usual access point to the Alpine Loop is up the boulder-strewn beginnings of Engineers Pass. Since we’ve traveled that section before in our jeep, Alan and I decide to spare the Toyota and take an easier access route from Silverton. As pavement turns to gravel and dirt near Silverton, the road climbs passing remnants of mines clinging to hillsid [View Full Entry]

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The mountains that surround Ouray are criss-crossed with old mining roads, a paradise for dirt bikes, ATVs and four-wheel drive vehicles of all shapes and sizes. We’re spending the next two days exploring! At Ironton Park, several miles south of Ouray, Alan pulls into a staging area. He lets some of the air from the Toyota’s tires to provide a smoother ride up the rugged road. Corkscrew Trail starts out muddy. As we climb up the mountain on a twisting dirt path, fallen trees litter the landscape. Damage from a rainstorm or avalanche? We can’t tell. A family riding ATVs [View Full Entry]

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Our usual route to Ouray takes us through Durango and up the “million dollar highway” that winds around the mountains to Silverton and into the rugged countryside that defines the mining area near Ouray. This time, we’re coming from Cortez and in the back way on Highway 145. The route takes us through communities like Dolores, the western town of Rico and toney Telluride before descending into a gorge then over the Dallas Divide into the ranching community of Ridgeway and ending at Ouray. On the way, the road snakes beside the Dolores River where many ranches and fishi [View Full Entry]

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