Llamas, The Wind River Range, and the Titcom Basin.

It was a short drive from Pinedale to the trailhead where we met our llamas.

The panniers were weighed to keep the loads balanced. (A llama weighs a couple hundred pounds and can carry 50 or 60 pounds. We had 9 llamas for our group of 9.)

Then it was off into the wilderness. A 5 day trip, walking 4 to 8 miles a day. The llamas carried group gear (food, tents, etc) plus 10 pounds of personal gear for each of us. So we had the luxury of walking with only day packs.

The weather was ideal (only 1 night with a few sprinkles). And the wildflowers were an unexpected bonus.

Our morning routine included brushing the llamas to eliminate hair ad debris knots under their saddles (the result of rolling in the grass and dirt while staked out at night).

Day 3 was the highlight. A walk (without llamas) to a massive glacial cirque, the Ticomb Basin.

This short video clip may give you a better feel of the place. It is being added to my list of  "Top 10 beautiful places I have visited."

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMmGQffBeZYiEdS3HqmoZOQeqmfJzkNQN7dprLhWUfJiFyY8WLEGqE3_25jpxd6jA/photo/AF1QipOVDRU2neWgyGNEfWfnS_dXbQVH1S7WAZteGcti?key=Y3hzS293bGFwX2IyMGRBUnk1VjR2Uk9QWGF5Sk1B

The last few days were anti climactic as we headed back to the van. Kathy did manage a swim at our last camp.

We led the same llama each day. They each have their own personalities, and we had 5 days to bond.  I am going to miss mine, Wally.  

Here is Kathy with her llama, Sarge. 

If you'd like a few more pictures of the Wind River Range, here is a link:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QRxP5TQReSiz5oP39

The llama trek was a great ending to a trip to our amazing 2 1/2 week, decadal birthday road trip.

North to meet the Llamas.

As we left Ouray, we made a stop to walk into the Box Canyon. About 3 miles outside of town, it is a narrow canyon created by a shift in a local fault. The uplift left ancient metamorphic rock on one side of the canyon, and sedimentary rock on the other. And the river took advantage of the rift.

There is enough water flowing in the canyon that it could power the entire city (a dam was never built), and being on a fault, ground water seeps down to the hot magma and returns in a series of hot springs. The hot springs water from the canyon itself is piped into hot springs spas that make Ouray a popular tourist spot today.

The canyon is one of 2 places that the endangered black swift  (200 nesting pairs) can be found.  They nest behind waterfalls, and we were lucky enough to actually see a nest on the canyon wall with a hatchling (squint and you can make it out). The other location? Behind a waterfall we also saw on our boat trip in the Black Canyon.

On our way north we once again drove through some amazing country. Barren and arid. Starkly beautiful. Here is a view of Flaming Gorge National Monument. The reservoir is the result of damming of the Green River (just like Lake Powell further downstream), and just watching the scenery made the time in the car fly by.

After a stop at Dinosaur National Monument, it was onward to Pinedale where we were to meet our group...and the Llamas.

In my final trip blog you will join us on the second highlight of our trip - llama packing into the Titcomb Basin in the Wind River Range.

The Mining Towns of Colorado

After Crested Butte we visited a few of the more famous mining towns of Colorado.

Crested Butte was a great place to start. The town had a real mining town feel with few "upgraded" buildings.  Most of the commercial buildings had plaques indicating they were built between 1880 and 1890, and the residential buildings were almost all single story and 900 - 1000 square feet at most.

The residents add to the small town feel. The preferred mode of transportation is the bicycle,  kids play in the side streets (the yards are small and there are no sidewalks),  and hiking boots and shorts are the preferred dress.

But small was not = inexpensive. These small jewels, if you can find one for sale, go for 1.5 to 2 million dollars. But the entire town has been designated a historic district,  so I'm sure it's almost impossible to do any significant expansions or remodels.  The safety valve for the really big money with their MacMansions is the ski area a few miles north of town where you do see plenty of 5 bedroom, 5000 square foot ski homes.

From Crested Butte we headed south to Ouray,  making a short detour to Telluride for lunch.

(Yes, those are a few afternoon thundershower raindrops on the gondola window.)

Telluride is the perfect example of what happens when a mining town meets $$.  Although the main street has a couple blocks of pre-1900s buildings, the majority of the homes and businesses are of a more recent vintage, and on some side streets everything is two and three story condos with shops below.  Not much history here aside from the name.

A good example of the difference was our experience at the visitor centers. In Crested Butte it was manned by a 20 something who had her mountain bike parked at the door while in Telluride we thought we had walked into an art gallery and the hostess looked like she had just returned from a photo shoot for an Elle ad.

After our burger it was on to Ouray,  located at the north end of the Million Dollar Highway. The name comes from the millions of dollars of silver and gold taken out of the hills between Ouray and Silverton.

Ouray is much like Crested Butte. Almost all historic buildings, set at the end of a canyon that makes it almost impossible to add condos or upgrades easily. Plenty of tourism as it is on the only major road south to Durango, but a town that has real businesses and hardware stores.

We had 2 nice hikes out of Ouray.

The first was a climb up to a ridge 2000 feet above town, on a trail originally developed for the Alpine Mine. You can still see the remains of the operation.

The second day we walked to Ice Lakes, reportedly the most walked hike in Colorado. We did see a few people, had clear blue skies, and ended up at the most impressive azure blue lake we had ever seen. I suspect there are some minerals dissolved in the water that add to the color as it is unlike any of the ice melt lakes I have seen in walks in the Cascades or Canada.

The hike was 5 or 6 miles from Silverton,  so we visited our last mining town and had lunch before heading back to Ouray.  And were lucky enough to see the Durango to Silverton steam locomotive loading for it's afternoon trip back to Durango.

We have been so lucky with weather, there have been afternoon showers, but we did our hikes early and have managed to stayed dry.

For more pictures - https://photos.app.goo.gl/zaskJ3N94LzKXGZw6

Crested Butte - The BIG Day.

If I was forced to pick one place to live in the US, it would be a tough choice between Colorado and Northern California - Marin County just north of San Francisco.


We drove the scenic route between the Black Canyon and Crested Butte. The road needed a little work, but the extra time was definitely worth it. High peaks, aspen trees, and very few people.

The biggest challenge of our 2 day stay was picking where to  hike.  We had seen a high, open area that looked promising as we crossed Kebler Pass into crested Butte, and the next day drove back to the pass to do a walk up to Scarpa Ridge.

It is amazing how easy it is to get 360 degree views with only a 30 minute drive and a 2 mile walk. The wild flowers were just past their prime, but I'm sure we saw at least 3 dozen different blooms before we quit counting..

Day 2 in Crested Butte was The Day.  I was warned that I could only wish a Happy Birthday once (but I really did manage another 2 or 3).

We started the day with an early morning walk near town, and later in the day walked up to another ridge with views in all directions.

Then it was home for a quick shower and off to Soupcon, a small 5 or 6 table establishment that marries a french style of cooking with farm-to-table. The entrance was off an alley, and I think it was in an old garage. But they served some of the best lamb and beef I have had in quite a long time. It was almost enough to make me question my vegetarian leanings.

Our thanks to Martha and Tom for the bottle of fine bubbly we shared to toast the day.

And then on to a great meal finished with something special (with a candle) for Kathy. 

Happy Birthday, Kathy!!

For more pictures - https://photos.app.goo.gl/zaskJ3N94LzKXGZw6