Hooray for Ouray!

Plans for 4 days in Ouray, Colorado started with setting up camp at the Amphitheater Campground, a National Forest campground 1,500 feet above Ouray.  With the government shutdown and all National Parks closed, Morey gave the odds of 20% for this government campground to be open.  We parked the RV at the sign that said, "No Vehicles over 26 feet long Allowed", and began walking up the steep road to the campground a mile further.  (Our RV is 30 feet long)

 

All looked good, the road was a little narrow, but little traffic to share with.  No barricades, so we sought out the campground host.  The host said, "government shutdown, we haven't heard.  What they do in Washington DC doesnt mean anything here."  With this good news, we drove BIW to a primo campsight that even had a view of U.S. Mountain from our "living room."

 

Now the hiking and jeeping began.  We first hiked to Lower Cascade Falls, which took us to the edge of town (and down the 1,500 ft).  So we explored the town, enjoyed some microbrews and smoked trout spread, .....and then trudged back up the mountain to our campsite.  Phew!

The next day we took a Jeep tour to Imogene Pass, almost 12,000 feet high.  Glad we didn't drive this four wheel drive road!  Especially nice to be at the tongue of the glacier that we could see from our campground across the valley. Also saw gold and siver mine relics from the last 100 years, and learned that the entire mountain is filled with mining tunnels.

 

With temperatures expected tomorrow to drop to 23 degrees at night and only 38 in the day, we decided to head down to the private campground right in the town of Ouray.  Electrical hookups are a nice option with these temps.  But first, we parked near Box Canyon Falls and hiked the Canyon, and then along the Town Perimeter trail.

Tonight we sit in our RV, while the creek flows almost beneath our bedroom, and the rain begins.  We are nice and warm with our electric heater, and even watching television -- while we digest our ribs and steak dinner that we enjoyed at the Outlaw Restaurant in town.  Ben & Jerry's for dessert.
ROUGHING IT.....................