Last weekend I took a brief overnight hiatus from my current residence of Grand Junction. I've been itching to get out and see towns, parks, and forests in the near vicinity of here. Last Saturday the itching escalated and I decided to scratch the itch by heading overnight to 2 hours southeast of GJ to Ouray, CO, aka the Switzerland of America.
I was so excited as I ventured out in my car. Then as I pulled into town at 5pm, just in time for darkness, I wondered what in the world I was going to do with my time, especially since I had headed up solo. But I perked myself up again by thinking good thoughts.
I walked up and down the quaint, Victorian style town's main stream. Got some coffee (I know can you believe it). Bought a couple books. Then went to the local hotsprings for some exercise and R&R. That's where the good times really began.
I met this fellow, James, who had just moved to town a week prior. He put me up for the night and we had great conversation. We went out that night to a fantastic Sushi bar on main stream, that is closing today actually, until it finds some new owners. Sigh. We met a lively, incredibly friendly bunch of locals that night who filled us in on the Ouray scoop. The basic gist being that if you spend any extent of time there and love natural beauty and the outdoors you will never leave! That was emphatically stated.
When I arrived on Sat there was no snow on the ground. When I woke up at 7 am, there was 5-6" of beautiful powder on the ground. By the time I left mid-afternoon there was 8-9" of more beautiful powder and it was still coming down. We made the most of the conditions by snowshoeing up to a waterfall on the west side of town, before heading to the other side where the Ouray ice park and Box Canyon are. Amazingly beautiful. And we met more friendly folk at the Canyon. Maybe someone to take me out climbing! We walked the catwalk into the narrow canyon and saw the power of time and water in carving through rock. At the ice park, the ice wasn't in yet, but I'm sure by now they have some. The ice park is a canyon that they pump water over the sides to help augment the natural formation of ice on the canyon walls. It's world renowned and in Jan they hold the Ouray Ice Fest, an international competition. There's some incredible video footage at
http://www.ourayicefestival.com/.
So if you want to go to Ouray or Telluride with me, I know people in Ouray who will let us crash there. I'll post pictures as soon as I find my camera!
Above: Does it look like I know what I'm doing? It's questionable.
Above: Drinking some 'Dew' before pushing it to the summit. (I forgot to bring any Nalgenes, Camelbaks, or any other water containers...very smart, I know)
Below: The descent down.
...a night hike under a full moon!
