Twenty-five dollars a night is pretty steep for a campground that doesn’t provide free showers, but with no other good options available (apparently, the campgrounds in the area fill up fast in the summer months), we stayed at what wound up being a very nice walk-in campsite in Ridgway State Park.  The park is between Telluride and Ouray, which positioned us well to check out the two towns we were interested in exploring in the area.

We spent our first full day in the area checking out Telluride.  We had wanted to hike up to Bridal Veil Falls, but due to a road failure earlier in the season, the road to the trailhead was closed, as was the trail.  We parked our car at the construction zone, proceeded to walk directly through the construction zone (Van was in heaven) and walked as far as we could to glimpse a view of the falls.  Although we disappointingly missed out on hiking to the falls, we did spy the large white house perched on the cliff above.  We wondered to ourselves, and with a couple of folks from New Mexico who had also made their way through the construction site, who was crazy enough to build a home and live in it on that cliff edge.  A little later in the day, we learned that the pretty white house was not a residence, but was instead a power plant.  I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a more attractive power plant and I’m not sure I ever will.

Since we were excited to do some hiking, we simply turned around and hiked in the other direction.  Our hike eventually lead us right into the center of town.  Fortuitous, indeed!

Views Along Our Hike in Telluride

We wandered around town for a while, and while looking for a spot for lunch, Alan spotted a small sign pointing down a street that said Free Gondola.  What?  Free and gondola in the same sentence?  Well, actually the sentence was only two words, but still.  As soon as we finished lunch, we headed in the direction the sign pointed and a few short minutes later we were walking right onto the gondola and heading up and over the mountain.  Van was wide-eyed for most of his first gondola ride and was equally excited to ride a second time back to the center of Telluride.  Definitely a must-do if you ever find yourself in this beautiful mountain town.

Van’s First Gondola Ride

Downtown Telluride

After a full day in Telluride, we spent the next day exploring Ouray, which is also known as Little Switzerland.  It’s in a beautiful location and I understand how it received the moniker, though I hate when things are referred to as “little (something more famous)” or things of the like.  I think it cheapens the place and makes it less special.  Ouray is a tourist town with steep, imposing mountains rising on both sides.  The location is great, but we weren’t enthralled by the town.  We spent the morning checking out a nearby waterfall and taking a walk around town, but decided the afternoon would be better spent running errands and getting Van to nap in the tent.  Van normally naps in the car, but we were excited to actually get him down for a nap in the tent with the bright sun shining through.  The nap was short-lived, though, as a thunderstorm rolled in and the lightning was handily breaking the 30/30 rule (less than 30 seconds between lightning and thunder).  We wound up spending a fair amount of the afternoon sitting in the only safe place nearby – our car.  We didn’t realize it at the time, but this was just a harbinger of things to come for us over the next week.

Ouray

A Happy Life!

Falls in Ouray

Falls in Ouray

Stacey and Van Enjoying the Falls in Ouray

Falls in Ouray

We awoke on our last morning in Ridgway State Park, excited for our drive down the Million Dollar Highway to Durango.  We were right to be excited – it was beautiful!  Every turn provided exciting new views, completely different from what we had just driven through.  Towards the end of the drive, we drove through the western town of Silverton, also touristy, but a whole lot cooler looking than Ouray (at least according to us).  Enjoy the photos below from our drive over the aptly named highway.