FULLTIMING WITH SUE, JOHN AND ARNIE Summer 2009 - Westward over the Mountains

Montrose & Ouray Jul 8, 2009

We left the Mesa RV Park on Monday morning and headed west on route 50. The presence of Blue Mesa Lake made the first part of the drive scenic. About 45 miles down the road we reached the entrance to The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We decided to take the See Ya towing the Escape up the winding road to the park. All went well and we were able to find a parking spot large enough to hold the See Ya, unhook the Escape, and tour the park.

The Black Canyon is impressive with a 2000 foot drop from the Visitors Center to the river below. We spent some time around the Visitor's Center and then drove part way along the Rim Road to a couple more overlooks. We decided that it would be more interesting to drive to the bottom of the canyon than to continue along the rim. The drive down has some steep grades and was interesting on the way down but disappointing at the bottom. Although we reached the river, the dam was barely visible and we were at a relatively quiet spot on the river.

We drove back up to the Visitor's Center, hooked up the Escape to the See Ya, drove back down to route 50 and headed west to Montrose. From Montrose we drove south on route 550 about eleven miles to the Centennial RV Park for a three night stay.

Today we drove 25 miles south from the campground to the town of Ouray that lies in a canyon just before 550 starts its climb to its summit at over 12000 feet. The drive from the campground south was scenic with it's view of the mountain ranges and the passing of Ridgeway Lake along the way.

We had planned some fairly heavy hiking in the Ouray area, but soon discovered that the more than 80 degree temperatures would limit that adventure. We drove up the side of the mountain a few hundred feet and did some hiking above the town. After tiring quickly from that activity we headed down to Ouray looking for a picnic spot. There is a trail in town that runs along the Uncompahgre River that gave us a two mile flat hike but no shade from the bright sun. We mostly ate while we walked and then managed to find a shady spot with some sittable rocks although there were a number of ants.

Although the trip to Ouray did not meet our expectations, it is still a very interesting town with it's cliff surroundings that once served as a site for gold mines. The scenery surrounding the town is extraordinary.

Tomorrow we head for Fruita!