After getting past Silverton (I hope to visit various towns tomorrow as there appears to be some pretty cool buildings in each of them) I continued north on Route 550 until I reached the little town of Ouray. These pictures document some of what I saw between 115pm and 4pm.
I felt bad that I couldn’t help these guys. Two young men (they were in the red truck) had just broken down and were trying to hitch a ride. There was no cell service but I told them I could rearrange things in my mobile man-cave but could only make room for one of them. I offered to take one of them far enough to get cell service to call for help and then bring them back. They thanked me, but passed. Fortunately another couple (in the white truck) stopped and gave them both a ride, presumably to the next town.
I continued on my way, following them until the next photo op.
This mineral-rich stream was running next to the road seen in the photos above.
I know the next 4 pictures are of the same hillside but I wanted to show the size and detail, as well as the fact that it is towering right above the town of Ouray.
I arrived in little Ouray, Colorado. I had hoped to continue north a little bit further before looping around to the west and returning to Durango on another set of roads but it was 4 o’clock and I didn’t think I’d make it back before dark, so for the second day in a row I turned around and took the same road back home. I’ll be taking that route tomorrow from Durango.
I had taken pictures of this lake earlier in the day but stopped again because there were a few folks out on it enjoying different types of recreation.
This couple was out on a raft.
This young lady was paddle boarding (I think that’s what they call this).
And when she reached calmer water (like it was really rough…) she started fly fishing.
And this guy was coming to shore in a kayak.
As I walked back to my car I got more pictures of this really neat plant growing by the side of the road.
It looks really cool, quietly waving in the breeze.
And I finally made it back to Silverton, which is at the base of this mountain.
It had gotten very cloudy between Silverton and Durango so I just drove on without stopping to take any more pictures.