Our family had another great summer week in the San Juan Mountains!
We met up with Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa at the airport on Sunday. They just came back from Cousin Ben's wedding in Nashville. Flight was short and pleasant -- Jackson loved his videos on iPad and Norah enjoyed attention from all the adults.
We got the same setup as last year at Ouray KOA. It felt like home when we saw the familiar decor of the cabin, the creek by our front deck and the mountains near the campground.
Monday we hiked the Ouray perimeter trail to a small waterfall and a troll bridge. It's a little too steep and rocky for Norah. Jackson did great again and was the line leader for our hiking group. Norah didn't like to be carried since big brother wasn't carried. After nap, we did a mine tour in Bachelor Gulch. It's a 45 minutes tour with a hike in the mine. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and shared with us some disturbing facts of miners's working and living conditions back then. Jackson was focused the whole duration. Norah lost interest half way and Mother/daughter team did some gold panning in the nearby creek.
Tuesday we went to check out Ouray hot spring together. It is setup perfect for kids. Most of the open area are 3ft deep and water is just bath water warmth. After nap, we checked out the house we are going to rent for next year. KOA is so popular that the cabin we wanted are already sold out next August! We are going to change it to VRBO living next year and see how we like it. And we started our fire to make S'more! Jackson was so focused making his S'more and he had two. He had sugar high that night and couldn't sleep well but it was worth it for him. He tells daddy before bedtime that he will dream of deer and campfire.
Wednesday I went to Orvis hot spring by myself and the rest of the gang went jeeping. Orvis is a cloth optional hot spring. I overcame my fear of seeing nudity with my love of hot spring. This place is wonderful, with 7 different pools in a garden setting. The lobster pool is 112-114 degrees. I was able to get in there at the end of the day. My favorite is the main pool. It was under cleaning during the day since Orvis cleans every other Wednesday. I went back after dinner. The lights were dark and the main pool is very big. I didn't even notice much nudity around me and I saw the sun slowly sets behind the tall mountains. It was an unique experience and I will definitely go back next year. Everyone on the trail also had great time. Jackson says he will dream of mountain and jeeps.
Thursday Will and I got to go hike the famous Ice Lake Trail while grandparents took care of the kids. It was 7 miles round trip in high elevation. It started from Clear Lake Jeep Trail that we came last year. Ever from the start, the trail showed us spectacular view in every angle. Waterfalls surrounds us, creeks cut through the wide flower filled marsh, rock forms like mighty cathedrals only magnitudes larger. It was also a high elevation gain trail, we kept climbing till at the end, we spotted this magical blue lake. We continued climbing following a nice lady's direction to Island Lake and then join the trail down in the basin. Island lake looks like a place that could harbor it's own lake monster. There are also weird shaped boulders under the milky blue water. We continued on a not very clear path, felt more like an adventure now since we didn't read about this trail. There were nobody else on it. Actually even later I search for this trail description, it couldn't be found anywhere. But eventually the path got more clear and we got back to the main trail. This hike is a truly memorable one.
We rented Opal Friday and Saturday and went jeeping Corkscrew Gulch to Hurricane pass to Silverton. We found the sheep near where they were last year and two kids enjoyed seeing them covering the side of the mountain. We made a stop at Silverton ski resort and Silverton train track on the way back around 3pm. And we saw the train came back to pick up its passenger. What a treat! On our way back, we spotted Grandma and her jeep on the side of the road. We thought Grandpa was on a bio-stop and sneaked behind Grandma to surprise her. It turns out their jeep was broken. Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa drove a trailer with jeep to Montrose to their mechanic.
Saturday we went to Yankee Boy Basin with Opal. We also made stops at Governor basin and Sidney Basin. This trail is one of my favorite because of the open view and wide flowers and easy access to side hiking trails. Also it is the end of Blue Lake Trail, the one we would like to try next year. We had our lunch in Sidney basin near the big boulders. Jackson loved climbing the big rocks. We made the same stop at Yankee Boy Basin's small lake as last year. It was also challenging hiking a short distance at that high elevation to the Blue Lake ridge.
Sunday we hiked the Ouray Perimeter trail again to the tunnel and box canyons. And followed by ice cream after nap, s'more after dinner, our vacation is beautifully wrapped up. We are already planing to come back. In between, let's dream of deer, jeep, mountains and campfires!
