We've been through a lot of small towns in the past few months. Some artsy, some touristy, some a little of both. Most of these small towns seemed to be in a rather depressed state, with many empty storefronts. Not so with Ouray, walking through town we've only noticed a couple of closed businesses.
It's a lovely town with lots of beautiful old buildings, in fact the entire Main Street is a National Historic District, and many buildings on side streets are historic as well. The town itself is nestled at the head of a narrow valley and is almost completely surrounded by tall mountains of the San Juan range. The Uncompahgre River runs through town, and many small seasonal streams fall from the surrounding mountains.
We've hiked the five mile Perimeter Trail which provides wonderful views of town and mountains and water ways several hundred feet above town. We've also hiked the Lower Blue Lakes trail, a seven mile lung burner (up hill) and leg burner (down hill) that brought us to an amazing turquoise blue alpine lake.
Here's a few shots from the past several days...
Ouray the Beautiful:
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| Ouray Brewing Company has a fun rooftop patio where you can take in Main Street, the surrounding mountains and the hot brake smell of vehicles coming off the Million Dollar Highway. |
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| This fabulous 1898 Victorian could be yours for about $835,000! |
Shots from the Perimeter Trail:
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| Shadows on the wall of Box Canyon. |
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| These people are climbing down a waterfall shaft that must be at least 40 feet deep! |
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| Looking South over Ouray. |
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| Part of the Perimeter Trail is chiseled out of the mountainside. |
Lower Blue Lake Trail:
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| Approaching the Blue Lakes trail head. |
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| Lower Blue Lake was an amazing shade of turquoise. |
More adventures to come...
I am going to have to look this place up--it looks like a great place to stay awhile. Love the character of the town, the cascading water, alpine lake, and the snow- capped mountains. I am guessing you may be near Gunnison?
ReplyDeleteSay hi to Marianne and Brian if they are still around.
We are about 100 miles SW of Gunnison. It is absolutely gorgeous here. I'll pass on your hello!
DeleteLisa
I love the picture of your shadows - that's awesome!! And that lake - oh my gosh that's gorgeous. I'm laughing because we walked through town yesterday and took some pictures - and I took some of the exact same pictures that you did! Great minds think alike. :)
ReplyDelete:-) There are so many cute buildings around here!
DeleteGreat pictures. I was going to suggest the Perimeter Trail - glad you took it! Is Telluride on your list?
ReplyDeleteNot this trip. We've been to Telluride before by car though! Pretty town!
DeleteGlad you made it up to the Blue Lakes trail. When we tried to go up there it was cold and spitting snow, so we never made it the lake. What an amazing color the lake is! Looks like you're enjoying Ouray as much as we did.
ReplyDeleteGlad I could share the amazing blue with you!
DeleteWhat a great town! We didn't do it justice with our half day stop on the motorcycle. We need to do months in CO.
ReplyDeleteLove the two hikes you did. Great shadow photo:) Boy, that is a magnificent color lake.
Wonderful picture of you and Hans in the ski chair!!
I am glad we are doing two months around the state. We are loving the weather (temps and variety) and the beauty!
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