Christmas is a good time to take a break from our usual geocentric lives and—with appropriate humility—fathom that neither the world nor the Universe revolves around us.
Well, the ominous 12 to 18 inches of snow forecast must have sputtered. We woke up this Christmas morning to a whopping quarter inch skiff. Guess I won't have to fire up the ole snowplow today.
So yesterday, with all Christmas goodies consumed...excepting a second box of Royal Riviera pears (thank you Brian and Lynn)...Bobbie and I needed a long hike. Something convenient, with 1700 feet of ups and downs.
As hikes go, you can't get more convenient than Lovely Ouray's Perimeter Trail. It's practically at your doorstep no matter where you live in town. We decided to do it clockwise, hoping to soak up some quick sun and warmth from (mostly) south-facing walls of rock.
The initial climb, however, had been packed into a solid block of ice by numerous hikers. Good thing we were wearing our micro-spike slip-ons (Icetrax). Bobbie bought us both a pair for Christmas, and what a wonderful difference they made on all the ice we encountered, especially after having given up on Yak Tracs that only seem to last one season before breaking. Now I won't need fear taking the trash down our bobsled run driveway every Wednesday. Yay.
Sure-footed, we set out to do the entire Perimeter Trail's 6 mile loop on a sunny, warm day that had us sweating in no time.
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| The trail's "Pool Wall" section is etched into a solid wall of rock that provides great views of town and surrounding mountains. Seeing numerous rocks on the trail always makes me wonder if I should wear a helmet... |
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| Cascade Falls: more Ice than Water during winter |
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| Some south-facing low overhanging bridges to duck under |
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| Ouray's sentinel "Twin Peaks" watches over town |
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| We found plenty of snow in the shade of trees and on north-facing slopes |
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| Topping out |
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| The olden bridge in the above photo has a 500 pound weight limit. We guessed that there was at least a thousand pounds of ice on it... |
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| View of Ouray with its red cliff surround...plus the colorful "Blow Out" to the left |
That's about it from "Our Town" this Christmas. Here's wishing all BCB readers good health and happiness in the coming new year.
Peace Out and Peace on Earth...
mark and bobbie
Merry Christmas to you both! Love those ice falls.
ReplyDeleteYep those ice falls and the mountains and the main-headliner photo (transposed like an impressionist card) are all eye-candy, love it! And especially nice with my choice of happy-go-lucky jazz music that makes that hike seem easy :) Thanks Mark and Bobbie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-rpi6NvxYI
DeleteMerry Christmas! Looks like a beautiful day!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you both from Jim & Allison!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you and Bobbie. Your hike looks lovely. The icetrax website is interesting, especially all of those poor people slipping and falling on ice.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas! Steps down from the tunnel looked a little precarious!
ReplyDeleteA good test for our new Icetrax. Didn't slip an inch!
DeleteStay Warm,
mark
So you lucked out and got a fine day for a Christmas hike around that unique little mountain we love so much. We both said we should have spent a Christmas in the San Juans just once but the years slipped by and now we find ourselves wondering if we will make it back for another fall visit. In any case we have photo albums lining the bookshelves in two rooms of our home with 24 years of lots a great memories spent right their under those star filled skies of the beautiful San Juans and wonderful memories of all the folks we have come to know over that time. No regrets, just counting our lucky stars. Should have won that JEEP though after all those bought tickets :)
ReplyDeleteThank you both for sharing your adventures with the World and showing us our World in Winter in all it's glory.
Doug & Al
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Thank you for the calendar. See you both in Arizona this (early) Spring
ReplyDelete