On the Road Again (Part 1)

TLS and I have been sweltering here in Texas (along with about 25 million of our closest friends). Add to that the fact that we only took a stay-cation last year, and we were quite ready to get outta town for a real, honest-to-God vacation this year.  I have a theory about people: you are either a mountain person or a beach person. You can appreciate the beauty of your "opposite" place, but for absolute soul nurturing, it's gotta be one or the other. I, for one, am a mountain person. There is something about the views and the crisp mountain air that refreshes me like no place else.  I spent many vacations of my childhood in the mountains of Colorado and had introduced TLS to the central mountains of Colorado.  It had been several years since we'd been there, having gone to Yellowstone and northern Michigan on our last two vacations and I thought it might be nice to branch out to a new area of Colorado. I'd heard great things about Ouray, so I found a rental house right on a creek and booked a week there.

I guess there's only one word that describes my reaction to the area around the Ouray: WOW.  The peaks around there and Telluride (about a 30 minute drive west) are just spectacular. They are just "peak-ier"--sharper and more rugged. It's an area with a wide assortment of hiking trails. Our second day in town, we were looking at books on off-road trails in the local bookstore.  The scene went something like this:

TLS:  There's a trail called The Devil's Punchbowl.  It's a moderate trail. No wait, it's extreme.
Me:  (laughing) Yeah, anything called The Devil's Punchbowl has got to be extreme.
Woman seated nearby deciding on books to purchase:  (laughing)  I'd agree with that.
Me: Oh, I see you have In the Woods. I read that this year and it was wonderful.
Woman: Oh, thanks for the recommendation.

Everyone goes back to doing what they were doing.

Woman (getting up to make her puchase): Are you guys also going to be hiking while you're here?
Us:  Yes.
Woman:  I went on a hike to Blue Lakes today and they are just amazing.  Are you from around here?
Us: No, near Dallas.
Woman:  Oh, well, the lower lake hike isn't too bad. The first part is steep but as long as you take enough water and take your time, you should be fine.
Us: Thanks!

We ended up taking her suggestion later in the week and I'm certainly glad we did. Although, dang, she was definitely NOT kidding about the first part being steep. I said at one point to TLS, "It's probably not a good sign when you can feel your heart beat."  Kudos, Woman seated nearby deciding on books to purchase.  It's because of you that we were able to see this:

Next post, I'll talk about our second destination where we stayed in an old Forest Service fire tower.