Tuesday 9-6 Leaving Big Meadow and Traveling to Ouray

 

Big Meadow Campground

Today we said good-bye to Big Meadow Campground. We spent a week there camping, hiking, barbecuing and enjoying the site. We hiked 5 hikes for a total of 23 miles. We saw a buck, doe, pika, grouse, marmot, fox and many chipmunks. We had a super time.

I woke up a little before 7:00, we wanted an early start because we were going to make few stops and we had a few mountain passes to cross. We put everything down and secured. We had a quick breakfast, a protein shake and granola bars. Larry drove the Minnie off the blocks and put them away. We were on the road by 7:40. On the way out we stopped by the dumpsters to get rid of our trash. 

By the end of the day Larry drove 180 miles. Much of the drive was through gorgeous mountain passes. The roads through the mountains were two lanes with some passing lanes and run away ramps for trucks. One of the run away ramps had an over turned 18 wheeler. We drove past Wolf Creek Ski Area.

Snow tunnel

Beautiful mountain range

 

Tunnel right before Ouray

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The first tunnel on the highway right out of Big Meadows

First stop was Pagosa Springs to take a shower at their Community Center. It was a beautiful facility. The parking wasn't good for RVs, we were lucky we had a small RV and we were there early. We were walking to the building but we weren't sure which entrance to use and a lady told us if we wanted a shower it was the other entrance. We thanked her. The lady at the desk was very friendly, she took our money and told us where the showers were. The showers were great.

Next stop was Durango. We stopped at Walmart and did some grocery shopping. After shopping I made sandwiches for lunch. Then we went across the road and filled the Minnie with gas at the Marathon. Then we went next door to Tarplay RV to dump the tanks. They had a free dump station. It was very nice. We wanted to fill our water tank but their water outlet was very close to the dump and there was no sign indicating it was safe to drink. After dumping the tanks we were on the road again.

We drove another 46 miles towards Silverton. The mountains were red rock and very beautiful. We drove to Little Molas Lake Recreation Area. The campground was a mile down a dirt road, it was  a free dispersed camping area, there was no water, restrooms or dumpsters. The road was a little rough and usually Larry doesn't like going down them but it was only a mile. It was a very nice campground near a lake and multiple hiking trails but unfortunately it was full.

Larry knew of another campground with hiking in Ouray, which was another 20 miles over another mountain pass. We drove through Silverton, which was a mining town many years ago. The mountain road had a lot of tight curves and was very narrow. At places you were on the edge of the road and no shoulders or guard rails. As we were driving through Silverton we saw a motorcycle laying in the middle of the road. The rider was ok, his buddies was helping him up and out of the road. Once he was out of the road his two buddies got the bike up. He was lucky he was riding with friends and was dressed properly. 

The road up the mountain from Ouray was very curvy. Ouray is another old mining town. The campground is called Amphitheater and is run by the National Forest Service. The campground area was created by a volcano eruption and the mountain range looks like an amphitheater. 

We arrived there at 3:00 and were thrilled to get a site, the later in the day the less likely you will find an open site. This is a small campground, there are 35 sites, some are reservable and many of them are too small even for our small RV. Larry parked and walked over to the camp host asking about available sites, the site we parked at was available and it was a great site so we took it. there were only two RV sites available and a few tent sites. The camp hosts were very nice and helpful. Our site is perfect it's right by the bathroom and very level. The sites don't have power or water but there is water at the bathrooms. It's a beautiful campground and from places you can look down and see Ouray. There are hiking trails. One of them takes you to town and while you can see the town it is way down below us. Not sure if we want to hike down that far since we would then have to hike back up.  Around 5:00 the campground was full.

Part of the mountain range at Amphitheater Campground

 

Ouray from the campground overlook 

We set the Minnie up for a few days. It was too hot in the Minnie so we setup our chairs and enjoyed the campsite. When it was time for dinner Larry barbecued hamburgers and we ate outside. 

There is a heat wave going through Colorado and for the next few days our daytime highs are predicted to be in the mid 80's. We are not looking forward to that but hopefully it will soon cool down.

After dinner we walked around and to the overlook. It didn't take us too long about 15 minutes. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.