Nonetheless, I do recall the events and that Laura and I were so happy to be together. The first morning we headed out towards the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We planned to hike down the 1,500 ft to the canyon floor and camp by the Gunnison River. We drove around the park some and then stopped into the ranger station and talked to the ranger about getting a wilderness permit to hike. He warned us about how difficult it was, showed us pictures of the route meant to scare us off, and when I told him I was hiking the Continental Divide Trail, he said, "the keyword there is trail." I knew we didn't have anything to worry about when he said that. Again, I'm amazed by how inept our National Park rangers are. They are programmed from a script to try and scare anyone who plans to head out into the woods and don't take into account people's skills and abilities. Of course, I'm sure a lot of people overestimate those skills, but when someone says they hiked through the San Juan's in the highest May snow year in the last 30 years, you'd expect he might realize that we aren't the typical tourist needing a scare.
In any case, Laura thought he was a cute, older man so she just laughed it off. We took a little driving tour around the canyon rim, admiring the sheer, red cliffs and taking a few short walks, trying to size up what we were actually getting ourselves into.
We headed down into the canyon around 1pm. At first, the trail is pretty level and well-maintained. A quarter-mile down, the trail cuts off down into the wilderness and it became less maintained and a lot steeper. The rocks were pretty loose and it was definitely a Class III scramble. At one point, there was even a chain to haul yourself down for stability. We worked our way slowly down, enjoying one another's company along the way and enjoying the ever-changing views of the cliffs and the Gunnison river.
We made it down to the bottom by around 3:30pm and setup a leisurely camp. We relaxed by the river and drank our two beers and fixed ramen for dinner. After dinner we discovered a large pile of fresh bear poop about 30 yards from our tent. Laura was adamant that it wasn't there when we walked in. She wasn't sure we were going to make it through the night.
The next morning, we shared our Pop-tarts and headed back up the canyon walls before the sun's morning rays reached down into the bowels of the river. It was much easier going uphill and you had to be a lot less careful than going down with all the loose rock. Me and Laura shared my hiking poles which definitely made the going easier. We made back up in an hour and a half and checked back-in with the rangers, letting them know we had survived.
We hung out in the ranger station for a bit, mostly asking about good breakfast places nearby, and then headed out for Montrose, CO the closest town. We ended up at Starvin' Arvins which turned out to be a wonderful little spot, famous for it's homemade biscuits and generous portions. It was perfect for us. Laura had the French Toast and I got a breakfast scramble with an enormous, fresh-baked biscuit. We each had coffee and just hung out, trying to figure out our next move.
We decided we'd head to Ouray, CO and try to find some hot springs along the way or in town. Ouray is a cute, old mining town set in a picturesque location right at the base of the San Juan's, probably close around 9,000 ft. We found a motel there with a 'vapor cave' and were intrigued since the public hot spring was closed for maintenance. We got a good deal with the room so decided to check it out.
The rooms were nice enough, but the vapor cave was really cool. Back in the 70's they'd blasted out this underground cave, with enough space for probably 20 people to lounge in various hot spring pools. The water flows directly out of the rock and into the pools at 103 degrees, which is perfect for soaking, but not too long. It was a bit hot for Laura, but I really enjoyed it. The steam was trapped in by the cave, so you not only had the water soaking your body, but the steam enveloping you. We soaked on and our for 20 minute intervals, reading local travel magazines in lawn chairs in between.
Later that day we walked around town got coffee, some jerky, and generally browsed around town. I took a run around the 5-mile perimeter trail, which took me to a beautiful waterfall, billion year-old rock, their ice climbing park (melted), and a narrow tunnel through the cliffs. I imagined this being my local running trail and was very jealous. It was also the first run I'd been on in nearly two months, so it was slow. I had no problem going uphill, but I definitely felt it - my muscles just felt a bit heavy. I felt like I could run uphill forever, but just not very fast.
We went out for dinner at the Ouray Brewery and had some beers. It was a good night. The next day we soaked some more and then started heading back towards Lake City. On our way we made a detour south to Telluride and hung out in town there. We went up to the Mountain Village in the free Gondola. It was super eerie going up that way, surrounded by billions of dollars in real estate, yet almost no one was there during the summer. It's crazy to think that all these houses are empty so much of the year, not only here, but in every resort town across Colorado. What made it even stranger is that all the shops were still open, despite the fact that no one was around. We got some coffee and I had a donut before we made our way back up and down towards Telluride.
Back down in Telluride we took a short walk and then grabbed some pizza and wine for dinner before heading back to Montrose to sleep at the Black Canyon motel. We were exhausted and sad this would be our last night together before we went our separate ways.
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