Westward 2013 – Part 2 (8/2 – Ouray, Ophir Pass, Telluride)

We left this morning for Ouray which is nestled deep in the mountains with a little stream running through.  We had lunch at Maggie’s Kitchen along with 8 “sister wives”.  Every inch inside the place was covered with writing and the burger was the best we have ever had.

We took the Jeep over Ophir Pass – Vaughan loved it; I was terrified.  Nothing but sheer cliffs and rocky/gravel roads of which parts were washed away from all the rain they had recently.  The pictures don’t do it justice – below is the youtube video. If you turn up the sound you can hear is me gasping for breath and crying.

http://youtu.be/SeMSiofIgfY

The road led us down to Telluride, a very upscale town also nestled in a valley between mountains with lots of waterfalls.  Luckily with the Jeep we could get up close and personal with these falls.

 Ouray is down in between these mountains.

 This is our table at Maggie's - Yikes

 This is Bear Creek Falls in Ouray located on the "Million Dollar" highway.  This 2 lane rode is unbelievable.  There are many places where the white line on the cliff side of the road has been eroded away.  This is compounded by the heavy truck traffic as well. The term "no shoulder" really applies here. Jeez.

 This is one of the views on Ophir Pass

 and one of the nicer cliffs we drove along

 and our Jeep on a nice wide cliff

 and us driving down the one way, rocky, narrow, cliff - well, you get the picture.  Actually if 2 way traffic is encountered here, the traffic going uphill has the right of way.  Imagine trying to find a spot where 2 vehicles can pass by each other!

 This is the town of Telluride.  The falls start at Black Bear pass.  We drove the jeep 3/4 of the way up the switchbacks leading up to the pass until the road became one-way only.  This trail is rated as one of the more dangerous jeep trails in Colorado. Last year Vaughan rode this pass on his motorcycle and had a fall just before the topmost part of the waterfall. He's talking about trying it again this year.

 Bridal Veil Waterfall in Telluride

Waterfalls down Black Bear Pass.