America’s Switzerland

After a good night’s sleep and a morning that did not require an alarm, we got our hiking gear together and headed out to our first hiking adventure in Ouray. Called “The Switzerland of America” due to the Alps-like peaks that surround the town, it’s elevation of 7760 meant our first hike of the trip would most likely be a struggle. After a quick stop in the visitor’s center, where we were greeted warmly by knowledgeable staff (and free cookies and sunscreen), we headed out to the Perimeter Trail, which encircles the town. This trail is no gentle hike..it starts out steeply uphill, and we were surprised at how difficult it was…we really felt out of shape, But the views we got of the town as we climbed were simply breath-taking, no pun intended. We made our way to Cascade Falls and stopped for some photos.

We hopped off the trail and headed into town for some lunch before tackling Box Cañon. We decided to dine outside at Maggies Kitchen,…the burgers were delicious and the staff delightfully entertaining. We found out one of them was from Virginia, so perhaps there was some kindred spirit thing going on!

After lunch we walked through town popping in and out of shops, eventually making our way to Box Cañon. What a site to see! The incredible force of nature on display with a 285 foot waterfall plummeting into a narrow canyon.

We were intrigued by the list posted outside the visitor center of wildlife recently seen…we felt bad for the “lesser chipmunk” (which I think is actually the “least chipmunk”) for its unfortunate name indicating a substandard species!

On our way back to Olathe, we took a side trip to view Mt Sneffels, one of the most photographed sites in Colorado. Words and pictures don’t do it justice, but I’ll leave it at this: wow.

The five of us had joked about giving ourselves trail names, like Appalachian Trail through hikers do. Well, I’m the first to get mine. I’m now called Nature Nerd, and I’m okay with that. As my niece said, it’s good to be a nature nerd because someday, someone’s going to have a specific nature question, and you’ll be able to teach them something. And considering we are striving to learn something new each day of this trip, I might be able o make sure that happens.

Early departure tomorrow….headed to Mesa Verde National Park!