Daniel 3:57
Bless the Lord, mountains and hills; sing praise to him and highly exalt him forever.
We visited these two towns on two separate days during our Ridgway stay. They were both very similar; however, I noticed the farther we traveled south down Colorado highway 550, the more Western it became.
Both towns we visited with a purpose other than just visiting the town, but that is what happens when you are traveling across the county. We visited Ouray on a Sunday because it had the only Catholic church within miles. So we planned our hike and lunch in this town. After church, we started the Perimeter Trail around Ouray. This was a trail that, as its name indicates, encircled the town from above. We hiked about 5.3 miles from an altitude of 7,700 feet to 8,500 feet. Let’s just say, even after a few days at the Ridgway altitude, the uphills were still difficult for me. Michael and Sebastian did fine. The different views from the hike were spectacular. After our hike, we stopped at The Smokehouse at the Ouray Riverside RV resort. The food was average, but the service was good. The wait staff was having a competition, so Michael gave our server a great review on Google.
The old mining towns still influence the watershed in this part of the Rockies. The Uncompahgre River is remarkably yellow from the high concentrations of heavy metal, especially iron, and all the abandoned hard-rock mines that are above the river. It still looked beautiful, maybe not as inviting as a river that runs clear.
Our time in Silverton was due to the laundromat. The other towns had some sort of laundry, but this was situated in a small town that we wanted to see. The laundromat was between the old jailhouse and the train station. We walked the town and had lunch at Lacey Rose Saloon. The Saloon had a history of serving outlaws like Doc Holladay and Wyatt Earp and was contained in the Grand Imperial Hotel. The bar had a gentleman playing an antique piano,and the hotel lobby had a chess board with mushroom pieces.
After completing our tour of the town, getting our fill of grub, and collecting our laundry, we headed back to Ridgway. We stopped at a the Christ of the Mines on the way out of town before our journey back to Ridgway.
Up Next:
Carbondale – Denver – Blue Mesa Reservoir – Bedrock Recreation Area