Out of Ouray

SewCrazyGurl and Rocky took us sightseeing in the mountains surrounding Ouray. First of all, Ouray is a little town tucked into a canyon between the mountains. It is about 10 blocks long and maybe 4 blocks wide and then you are at the canyon walls. We went to Box Canyon to see the falls. They were wonderful. The river drops into the rock about 200’ from the floor of the canyon, swirls around and comes out the bottom in a flurry of mist. Besides going into the crack in the rock to see the falls, we climbed up to the bridge over the falls. It was an open grate bridge so we could see the river go into the falls right through the bridge.
From the bottom of the falls:


From the top of the falls:


Our next stop was Yankee Boy Basin. It is at 12,000’ behind some of the mountains that surround Ouray. We went in Rocky’s “new” Volvo XC. He went over things I would be afraid to take my Subaru over. Someone else drove up in his Subaru while we were at the top so the fear might have more to do with the driver than the route. We were on a narrow, unpaved road with boulders in the middle of it. As with much of the mountain parts of Colorado there were abandoned mines everywhere. The smaller, falling apart, wooden mines with small piles of tailings were picturesque. The large ones that have filled the creek valleys with tailings were less so. But the mountains! And the aspen turning yellow and orange in amongst the alpine fir! And the mountain goats up on the hillside! And the creeks, rivers and waterfalls! And the meadows with the brush turning gold and red!