7/24-7/31/10: Ouray, CO, 4x4, Camping

[dzJeepChic 525]

This tire & rim were on the basin floor near where we ate lunch:

 

 

 

This was at the Virginius Mine - up the side of the basin where we drove to after lunch:

 

 

You can see the building we'd tried to visit but was gated:

 

 

 

 

 

The view as we came back over the pass into Yankee Boy:

 

 

Goose took his daughter's advice and splashed through this water crossing:

 

 

His JK obviously took a gulp because it ran a little weird for a while, especially at low RPM. Luckily it straighted itself out and began to run correctly again given a little time.

 

 

The last part of Yankee Boy Gulch trail is rated difficult, and it did get steep and rocky in places, but really not too bad, even in the rain. At the end of the trail we found another small mountain lake:

 

 

When it really started to rain hard and we could hear thunder, it dawned on us that we were above the treeline, not the safest place to be during a lightning storm, so we hurried out of there.

 

 

 

 

And boy was it coming down. We saw many places where new streams were rushing down the mountains and across the trail, we got to drive over a brand-new mudslide, and some of us opted for a free carwash by way of a waterfall onto the road.

 

 

Continued

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[dzJeepChic 525]

After we got back into Ouray, a few of us decided we still had time to procrastinate packing and go check out the Box Canon Falls (again, spelled with a tilde over the n so it's pronounced Canyon). Besides, it'd been raining most of the day, so we figured we'd get to see it in all it's glory.

 

Box Canon Falls was formed when the rushing waters of Canyon Creek eroded a deep and narrow boxed canyon through fault weakened limestone. It's not a typical waterfall; you can't see the majority of it, but it shoots out the bottom with such force it's really interesting to see. Admission is $3.00 per adult (kids free), and you have a choice between the Falls Trail, a 500' walk to the base of the falls or the High Bridge Trail, a 1/2 mile hike with about 200' elevation change to the top of the falls. thekdude, aimee & Brady went with us on the Falls Trail in spite of being in flip-flops, and then George and I also went up the High Bridge Trail.

 

The Falls Trail leads to a catwalk along the side of the cliff and stairs down to almost the creek bottom:

 

 

 

 

 

Here are a few videos I took:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Carchic480#p/a/u/2/MGxVp7XkTII

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Carchic480#p/a/u/1/J1E8TbCQA2s

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/Carchic480#p/a/u/0/LIROQIuJBfs

 

thekdude off the catwalk in 'the cave'

 

 

 

The 1/2 mile hike to the High Bridge is steep but easy. You mainly ascend stairs to a higher trail and then come to a bridge across Canon Creek which goes to a tunnel that is part of the Ouray 'Perimeter Trail' (found out about it too late, but I want to hike it next time I go).

 

The High Bridge:

 

 

The Tunnel:

 

 

The overview of Ouray from The High Trail

 

 

Looking down at where the water enters the top of the falls:

 

 

A better shot:

 

 

Click here to see all the pictures I took on Friday: Yankee Boy, Governor Gulch and Box Canon

 

From there our Colorado Adventure began to wrap up. At the KOA everyone was busy breaking camp and packing. George found a hose and washed Number 7 off on the grass behind our Kabin, and then Scott brought his Jeep over for a rinse down. That campsite had been unoccupied the entire week we were there, and not even 10 minutes after we basically flooded it, some guys on Harleys showed up and started setting up there. When we overheard one of them remark about how wet everything was, we looked at each other and smirked.

 

It was a great vacation - we came home tired and pretty wheeled out, something unusual for us. The people in our group made this trip so much fun, not to mention JKGoose leading us on all the awesome trails. I'm not sure we could've had a better time thanks to you Goose - we all really appreciated you sharing your knowledge and experience of the area. Thanks to all of you who helped make this trip a success, and a special thanks to you, Paul.

 

Until Next Time!

d

[MissJanuary 2]

Wow!! That looks like such a cool trip! I'm so jealous!

[jeepboyz 0]

thanks for the pics, brings back memories of the trip george aka wrongway my sons father inlaw and i took in 05 with

our wifes, we went with jeep jamboree

[theksmith 1,093]

so if you weren't with us... this might look a little strange...

 

 

until you watch this video!

 

sorry guys, but i had to share just wish i had the one of you going over Diane so people could see that it actually works... usually

[dzJeepChic 525]

That's down right funny. A great stunt gone wrong, very wrong. I'm glad we have so much fun out there even when we're out of the rigs. d

[Goose 3]

so if you weren't with us... this might look a little strange...

 

 

until you watch this video!

 

sorry guys, but i had to share just wish i had the one of you going over Diane so people could see that it actually works... usually

 

I've been told that I sometimes have my head up my a$$, but that pics makes it look like I have it up someone else's.

[Goose 3]

I finally got Terri's/Susan's pictures off Terri's camera and uploaded.

 

Here are a couple samples:

 

 

 

The rest are here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/DRGW497/OffroadPassportOurayJuly10#

[dzJeepChic 525]

Wow, Terri's camera takes great pictures! Thanks for sharing them, I wrote you a couple comments/questions. d

[stockjeep 0]

Gwen & I had a great time, thanks for everything.