Author: Jeeping and RVing in Colorado

Pics failed first time, let’s try again. l

Today Jeff S and Jeff H hit Engineer pass. At an elevation of over 12,800 feet it makes the list of one of the most exciting, rugged and highest mountain passes in Colorado. We crossed creek beds, climbed or crawled over shelf rock roads. We stumbled across old miner’s cabins, tram cables and old boarding houses from back in time when this was a big mining area.

The pictures just can’t do it justice. If the pic has the hood of the Jeep in it, then that is the road. Not for the faint of heart if you are scared of heights.

The Jeffs went jeeping and the Kims went hiking today!  Kim2 and I took off this morning about 8 a.m. and hiked up to Box Canyon Falls from our RV park, then once inside the park we hiked to the upper and lower falls and then walked along the the native plant loop.  Box Canyon Falls are really beautiful.  On the upper falls you take a suspended bridge over the falls into a tunnel that’s about 100 feet long.  The tunnel use to provide a route for a water pipeline, however now it’s just a very cool spectacle and a great place to get out of the sun. On the lower falls you can get right beside the falls by a stairwell that goes down inside the canyon.  Box Canyon Falls provide water to the Ouray Hot Springs.  The water is between 100 and 150 degrees when coming off the waterfall. The chipmunks are plentiful at the entrance of the park.  Jeff and I hiked it last year, and it was a great three hour trip for Kim & I today. You have the choice to drive to Box Canyon Falls and park there and enter, but we chose to hike it from the RV Park.  No wimps here!!

Box Canyon is a box canyon in Ouray County, Colorado, United States.^[1] It was founded as a mining camp and helped the city of Ouray establish itself as a permanent community.^[2] Box Canyon is home to Box Canyon Falls, a 285 feet (87 m) waterfall, with quartzite walls that extend almost one hundred feet past the falls.^[3] Access to the canyon is through a short, 500 feet (150 m) foot trail to the base of the falls or a steep trail leading to the top of the falls.

Silver shield.

Twin peaks

Perimeter trail

More pics from the hike.

Here are a few more hiking pics from yesterday.

The first are the beginning of the hike and then the last of the hike. JS

First of all, my apologies for not posting anything about the hike yesterday.  I seriously was more tired than I have ever been in my life.  So, here goes… we hiked Silvershield Trail yesterday. Here’s the history that we read before taking off to hike….

Trails leading from Ouray generally date to the 19th Century and were constructed to access mining properties. Varying in length and elevation gain, these hikes will generally be more challenging than the Perimeter Trail but will offer very similar scenic rewards.

Silvershield trail provides a scenic connection with the Twin Peaks and Oak Creek trails above Ouray. Round trip to the Twin Peaks Trail junction and overlook is 4.6 miles with an altitude gain of 1,680 feet. The start is fairly steep, but after 0.3 mile you come to an overlook and memorial with an imposing view of numerous old mines across the valley. The trail ascends into the forest, reaching a junction with the Oak Creek Trail at 1.1 miles. Follow the left fork another 0.3 mile where the trail again gives good views across the valley. After passing Rock of Ages Mine, you will come out in the open at 2 miles. Straight ahead will be a grand view of Ouray, the Uncompahgre Gorge, and Cañon Creek. Pick up the trail along the cliffs and you will find the junction with The Twin Peaks Trail at 2.3 miles.  From this junction, you can take a pleasant loop with varied scenery southward to Oak Street, near Box Cañon. A return north along the river completes a 6.2 mile round trip.

SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS:Parts of the trail are close to steep cliffs which demand caution. Keep children close to you so they do not run ahead into danger.

SERIOUSLY, LIKELY STORY.  This hike was DIFFICULT!  I’ll set the tone saying I’ve only been on about three hikes in my lifetime and just bought some trekking sticks.  THIS TRAIL took us 10 hours.  We left at 8:30 a.m. and finally got home at 6:30 p.m.  So what was suppose to be a 4 hour pleasant hike turned into a 10 hour hike.  Jeff is convinced that the trail is 8 miles, not 6.2.  The other Jeff and Kim went with us and Jeff2’s Fitbit said it was over 8 miles.  Serious incline on the way up and even more serious decline on the way down.  Kim2 and I thanked God that we bought trekking sticks to help us out.

The incline was rough to start, but we were just starting out and chatting it up so it went relatively fast.  It was about 45 degrees, but the humidity is so low it doesn’t seem cold. It took about three hours before we made our way upon what could have been a rock avalanche.  At that point, we stopped for a rest and the difficult decision was made to continue on the trail and not turn back.  We were looking for the amazing meadow that overlooked the town of Ouray.  We passed some other hikers that said it was about a mile ahead…LIES LIES LIES!!!! SERIOUS LIES!  It was like 2.5 – 3 miles ahead up some serious inclines.  On every incline and switchback we would think that the meadow was resting beautifully on the other side….because that’s what those other hikers said… NOT.  About the time we were convinced there was no meadow and that there was an entire conspiracy regarding the meadow….we found the top of the mountain and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  There was a MEADOW!  By that time, I wanted to just lay down in the meadow and stay the night.  The whole trip up was totally worth the view!! Little did we know the decline would be equally or more difficult.  Something about a steep decline and your toes being rammed into the front of your hiking shoes is not pleasant.  Having to take tiny steps sideways not to fall off of a mountain isn’t pleasant.  The sign said “CAUTION STEEP AND DIFFICULT TRAIL”  and it wasn’t kidding. The only thing they left off was “NEW HIKERS TURN BACK NOW”.  I am so thankful for my friends Jeff2 and Kim2…they were troopers and they helped make the hike more pleasant.  My Jeff was amazing. He was so patient with me and never complained.  He let me drink more water than he did, and boy was I thankful.  Well he said it was either that or hear me wine down the entire mountain. He followed that up with “you didn’t complain that much”.  I do remember screaming off the mountain at some points.  Darn emotions.  Jeff amazes me with just about everything he does.  I remember Jeff2 at one point said “y’all this just isn’t fun anymore”.  We all cracked up.  It just wasn’t.   But, he was supportive of his Kim and my Jeff was supportive of me. I wouldn’t have wanted to hike that messy trail with any other people.

To my dismay, we woke up this morning and we weren’t dying.  We can walk and still talk.  It all seems like a bad dream today.  But, like I told them yesterday…”by the time we do this…we will have really done something”!   Something to be proud of, and I am so proud we made it and it was harder than sitting on my couch on a Saturday afternoon.  I am extremely proud that we battled the elements and made it down safely and supported each other through every second of the trail.  Thank you Kim and Jeff2 for being there and for Annalee who stayed with us the entire time.  It was a different experience and it was difficult, but we made it!

I also want to thank Barbara at the office because I told her if we weren’t back by 5 pm to call Rescue.  She called us at 4:49 pm to make sure everyone was ok. I think when Kim2 sent her a message that said something like “Send Rescue” it might have concerned her a bit.  But, then Kim2 put her phone in the backpack that Jeff2 was holding and Barb couldn’t get through.  She was genuinely concerned and I know she would have sent a posse to help us! We appreciate you Barbara!

Kim & Kim2

Should have said GO BACK!

Ouray!

Getting it!

About to die!

The Crew

The emotion of AGONY!

The emotion of ….that was really fake, i was still in agony!

Ouray from about 1/2 way up.

The City of Ouray from about 1/3 of the way up our hike.

My friend text me these great pictures of Jeff from the hike yesterday! He is so handsome! What an incredible view!

We have been in Ouray for 10 days now.  Whew, seems like longer because we have packed so much in.  But, we have some observations about the area, the people and living in an RV.

1. Living in a smaller space doesn’t seem to bother us at all.  We are living in about 400 square feet and loving it.  Storage is key and we have tons of storage.  We haven’t had one negative thought about living in a smaller space.  We realize we don’t need a lot.  If we have each other, everything else is gravy.
2. If we don’t live super close to retail shops and Walmart, we don’t bring home a lot of stuff to “fill our house”.
3. Opening the windows in May and letting the cool air seep in is a wonderful feeling. We left Florida and it was almost 100 degrees, so the refreshing cooler summer will be nice.
4.  Having trails and waterfalls all around us is an incredible feeling.
5.  I have managed to keep three plants and three succulents alive longer than one week.  I am babying these plants like crazy to prove Jeff wrong.  LOL.
6. People coming in to camp are the nicest people for the most part.  I love the customer facing front desk job that I have. Meeting people with a smile is an awesome feeling.
7. The owners of the park are amazing.  Amber and Jason are supportive and they have a great operation here that we are proud to be a part of.  Our workamping co-workers are such great team members.  Everyone jumps in to help.
8. We miss our family and friends, but I probably talk to them more that I am out here.  Don’t know why…just wanting to check and make sure that they are ok and don’t need us.  I have lots to fill them in on.
9.  We have realized there’s all kind of people that choose to RV full time to get away from the rat race and see the country their way.
10. Campers/RV’ers really want to talk and help each other.
11. We always walk to town, rarely do we drive.  We walk so much more in CO than we did in FL.
12. We eat out much less here.  We enjoy dining in our RV.
13. Wildlife is so fun to watch.
14. We watch TV less here.  Honestly we could disconnect the Dish and not feel it.
15. We can clean the RV in 15 minutes.  That’s top to bottom.
16. You don’t need a brand new RV to make a home.   Our RV has everything we need.
17. It doesn’t take much to immerse yourself into the local population in Ouray.  Most everyone here is super friendly.
18. The sights we are seeing now we will never take for granted.   We realize that this is a blessing from God and we are so thankful to him for this and all of our blessings.  We realize things could be much different.
19. Everyday is Saturday.  There’s a clock that tells you the day of the week that Jeff says I need.
20. We plan our weekly meals at home because when you don’t have a huge pantry, you don’t stock a huge pantry.  We only stock what we will eat and I think that’s a lesson I’ll take home.

More observations will come!!

We went on a little hike today with another couple named Jeff and Kim. It’s a small world when you run into a couple with the same names in the same rv park living in a motorhome and living the winter in Panama City Beach.

Short hike of 2 to 3 miles. Up hill both ways! It felt that way. And the temp was 50 when we started, 65 when we finished.

Just a couple of the pics of the hike.