Ridgway, Colorado

One of my favorite things about living in Gallup, NM is that within 3-4 hours of driving you go from this:

Goodbye, New Mexico

To this:

Hello, Colorado!

The San Juan Mountains are so beautiful; we have enjoyed Durango and Silverton several times, so for a quick summer get-away we decided to drive up the western side of the San Juans from Cortez past Rico and Telluride, arriving at our destination in Ridgway ("Gateway to the San Juans").

On Thursday we hiked the Blue Lakes Trail, which unfortunately did not take us to the Blue Lakes (a particularly snowy winter meant the trail was still snowed in past the creek) but did give us some spectacular mountain views!

 We arrived that evening at our beautiful Bed and Breakfast in Ridgway.  The friendly couple who runs the B&B have a dog, two llamas, and breathtaking mountain views from their deck.

We had dinner at a local favorite, the Colorado Boy, and explored the town of Ridgway a little bit.

On Friday, after a trip to the local farmers market, we spent the morning hiking the Perimeter Trail around Ouray, CO ("The Switzerland of America").  This trail had a little of everything: rocks, forests, flowers, creeks, waterfalls, mountains, a tunnel, and views of the town from all angles.  It was a great hike!

As we ate lunch in Ouray it began to rain, so we had to abandon our hopes of swimming in the afternoon and instead went back to rest at the B&B. 

This morning we wound our way back through rainy, misty mountains home to sunny New Mexico.  As usual, we left with great memories of Colorado and the desire to return soon!