Ouray - June 30th

Ouray has two major waterfalls, the Cascade Falls which we saw yesterday and the Box Canyon Falls we visited today. There are the falls themselves and a trail above the falls which takes you on a walk around the cliffs above the town.

Intrepid souls heading on a hike to the falls

Chipmunks are along the trail

On the trail to the falls

Rushing waters

Stairs take you to the water level

Greta stayed on top

Mandy on the steps

Looking up at the high bridge

Julie on the walkway into the falls

Climbing to the high bridge trail

Taking pictures of the town

Nestled in the mountains

The trail up to the bridge

A little rough in places

Daughter and Mom

Beaumont Hotel

Crossing the high bridge

Wesley getting ready to enter the tunnel

Hiking thru the tunnel

Down the steps on the other side

Lots of steps

The trail surrounds the town

Julie overlooking Ouray

Ouray - June 29th

We are in Ouray Colorado exploring the town and surrounding area with my youngest daughter and her family.

The fellow who runs the Rivers Edge Motel was a professional florist before purchasing the motel. He has created beautiful flowering plants all over the motel.

Julie relaxing on the porch before heading out for the day

We hiked to the Cascade Falls above town to check out the waterfall

The spray from the falls is intense

Greta, Mandy, Wesley and Sean at the falls

We went four wheeling on Red Mountain

Checking out the old mine buildings

Looking down from the National Belle head frame

Rails removed from a mine

Looking out from mine trackage

Wesley with his rock collection

This is the remains of the building where the miners stored their hard hats between shifts

Enjoying the day

Jeeping to the Yankee Girl head frame

Yankee Girl

Checking the hoist area

One of the survivors of the mine buildings

Georgetown Loop

West of Denver is a clever bit of railroad engineering.

The rise in vertical distance the railroad had to travel between Georgetown and Silver Plume was so great it exceeded what steam engines of the time could move uphill.

One clever railroad engineer found that if the railroad looped back upon itself it could take enough distance to keep the rise in grade reasonable (at least for mountain railroads) This loop in the rail line became known as the Georgetown Loop. It became quite a tourist destination in its day and it remains so today.

The track and bridges were all removed when the railroad was abandoned, but thru the efforts of the historical society they were replaced in 1984 and the historic section of railroad engineering was ready for riders once again.

We experience the railroad with my oldest daughter and her family in June.

This shows a map of the route the track takes to make the grade

We enjoyed a picnic before our ride

Looking down the train

At the Silver Plume station

View down from the High Bridge

We were behind a Shay - fun to watch the gears move...