Thursday, May 30, 2019
Awoke this morning, in the
shadows of the mountains, to a blue-bird sky, with Mount Sneffels shining
snow-white in the morning sun. A great day for an excursion over to Cimarron
and the Black Canyon.
Listening to the local
“country station” they say we “have it all” country AND western!
Some country music lyrics that
I recently heard on the local station:
I’ve seen things that I’d
never have seen down on the farm
Never had the one I wanted,
never wanted the one I had
My eyes tell a story that my
life can’t hide
Ridin’ my thumb to Mexico
Colorado’s a cure for the
summertime blues
Anger is to big a burden to
bear
It’s too late and I know
you’ll never change
From neon lights to
chandeliers
Woman of the country, don’t go
city girl one me
When I reach the end of rodeo
road, set my ponies free
You’re going to end my bad
reputation
Look out my window and what do
I see, nothin’ but pain (payne) looking
back at me
I wish that I could hurt that
way again
I love this bar, it’s my kind
of place
I wish I didn’t know now what
I didn’t know then
Country music!
At Black Canyon of the
Gunnison, we spent the majority of our day. We visited the Visitor Center for
information, exhibits, publications, and the splendid view from the overlook.
We hiked the rim trail, then headed down to the East Portal” on the canyon floor.
This was a first for us and now I know that it’s possible to drive to the
Gunnison River, in the bottom of the canyon. Let me say that this is not for
the timid! The road is a five-mile, 16 percent grade, with hairpin turns and
shear precipices that look down thousands of feet. This 1905 road carried the
crews and equipment that built the Gunnison Tunnel , in the canyon narrows, a
11X12-foot, six-mile tunnel through the mountain. The tunnel can carry 1100
cubic feet of watyer per second or 495,000 gallons per minute to irrigate the
Uncompahgre Valley.
On the canyon floor, we
enjoyed a nice picnic beside the Gunnison River, at the tunnel intake, just above
the roller dam. This was a great experience and a new discovery at the Black
Canyon of the Gunnison!
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Today, we had a poached egg
and toast breakfast and decided to take a hike. We just recently received our
silicone egg-poacher set from Amazon and they work great. This morning I got
creative and added chopped bacon and cheddar cheese to the egg and it was very
good.
For our hike, we took the
Enchanted Mesa trail on the east side of the Uncompahgre River canyon and hiked
up the switchbacks to approx. 7100-feet for a splendid view in all the cardinal
points. It was a clear morning and we could see Mt. Sneffels (14,158-ft) of the
Sneffels Range in the San Juan Range to the south, Cimarron Ridge (with
Courthouse Peak and Chimney Rock) to the east, the Uncompahgre plateau (with
its maze of canyons and rivers) to the west, and the Grand Mesa to the north
(on the Colorado River, largest flattop mountain on the western slope).
We noticed flowers, birds,
wildlife and some stunning scenery. In the afternoon, we relaxed in the shade
of our cabana and looked forward to our group-dinner with our fellow-hosts.
Tue. June 11, 2019
Today, was our Ridgway State
Park Volunteers Picnic, at the Pavilion, down by the river. Our entrée was
prepared on the grill, while covered dishes and desserts were provided by the
volunteer workers. We had a fabulous evening, with great food and fellowship. I
took lots of pictures and created a Power Point montage to show at the Visitor
Center. We have about 30 volunteers living and working in the park for the
summer season. Our volunteers are retirees from all over the country, and we
have a great team!
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
This morning, we decided to
take a ride down to Silverton for a day-trip. It was a clear, beautiful day and
we were rewarded with some fantastic views and experiences.
To begin, we stopped off at
Ouray to check on the status of high-country jeep-tours. Next, we followed the
Uncompahgre River up to its headwaters at Red Mountain Pass. This climb and
descent is one of the narrowest, curviest, highest, and scariest U. S. highways
we have ever experienced. Following the river gorges, there are numerous
stretches with no shoulder, no guard-rails, and sheer drops, from dizzying
heights. Along the route, we observed no less than a dozen winter avalanche
areas. The massive snow-slides literally destroyed entire groves of Aspen and
left a mangled mess of debris at the bottom. Heavy winter snows caused numerous
road-closures during the winter. WE were glad we didn’t have to drive it in the
winter.
With the runoff beginning, the
heavy winter snowpack is really swelling the creeks and rivers. It’s also
presenting some stunning waterfalls which we enjoyed but were disappointed that
pictures could not capture the majestic views. In addition, the Uncompahgre
River run-off is predicted to fill Ridgway SP lake to capacity.
At the summit of Red Mountain
(12,896), we took some pictures, walked around the summit, and played in the
snow. Daisy loved the snow and rolled, slid, and wallowed in it. Red Mountain
Pass (11,018) has a nice parking area with stunning views of the surrounding
mountains and valleys. The north slope is drained by the Uncompahgre River and
the south slope is drained by the Animas River. Both drainages are literally
covered with old defunct, deserted mines, interesting, historic, but
contaminated. There is an ongoing, Federal clean-up effort, at taxpayer
expense, claiming acceptable success.
Heading down the south slope,
we arrived at Silverton (9,318) and spent the better part of our day in Silverton
and the Baker’s Park Valley, in San Juan County. We had coffee and treats at
the 1883 Grand Imperial Hotel and admired the Tiffany lamps, and Victorian
furnishings, along with the western motif.
Around town we adored the City
Hall, County Courthouse and Victorian homes, along with the wide, old-west Main
Street and shops. We also checked-out the Tourist-laden Durango-Silverton
narrow-gage railroad train as it departed for Durango, following down the
Animas River canyon. On closer investigation, we discovered that there are
three identical trains which together facilitate the daily train schedule.
We returned on the same route
over Red Mountain Pass and made more stops for new impressions. The route is no
less scary from the south!
