Day 12: Thurs, 6/23: Ridgeway, Ouray

Gorgeous campsite with view of mountains, ponds, and river.  We slept to sound of river at night!

Day 12:  Thursday, 6/23: Fishing at Ridgeway campground and driving to Ouray for the day

The four of us went fishing in the ponds just below our campsite right after breakfast.   There was a beautiful blue heron who would “honk” like a goose and fly in low and then stalk fish.  We watched him catch and eat one only about 30 feet from us!  Predation at its finest J.   We had a lot of fun.

After lunch, we drove up to Ouray, dubbed “The Switzerland of the United States.”  What a cute town at over 9000 feet in a beautiful setting surrounded by alpine peaks!  It like a combination of the tall, jagged Swiss Alps and the impressive red rock of the southwest US.  We drove past the town to Crystal Lake along the “million dollar highway.”  Wow, that road is beautiful!  The weather was alternating between pouring rain and hail with thunder/lightening to partly cloudy/sunny skies.  After walking by the lake and enjoying the gorgeous peaks and the reflections in the lake, we headed back to Ouray, and ate afternoon treats—moose tracks ice cream, an oreo shake,  and a lemon cupcake.  We saw a few deer nearby on the way back to our campground. 

In the mid-afternoon, we all fished again but this time to catch them for dinner.  Sarah, Ryan and Andrea all caught a fish just before a lightening storm came rolling in!  It was scary with lightening and then only a 1 second delay between the loud cracking thunder.  Sarah, Andrea and Ryan hustled back to the RV to escape the lightening while Sam took the fish to the cleaning station the other way.  Andrea and the kids watched the lightening from inside the RV while Sam cowered in the men’s bathroom like a sissy waiting for the storm to go further away before cleaning the fish at the outdoor station.  We then fried the trout we caught.  They were so good, even Ryan liked them J.

After dinner, we saw bunnies, blue birds, magpies, and a deer in the campground.   Sarah and Mom walked over to the deer and got to within about 20 feet of it.  She was beautiful.  We saw the heron catch and eat another fish.  Then Sam took Sarah and Ryan fishing again as it was getting dark while Andrea got some relaxing time to herself in camp. They each caught and released 3 fish (9 total).  Sam and Sarah were fishing with their fly-fishing rods and flies and a few of the low flying bats were going after them.  We got back to the RV after 930 pm and went to bed.  It was a fun day.

Giant Blue Heron stalking trout near Ryan!  Awesome predation--we watched him catch a fish from here!

Ryan catching us a 10 inch trout for dinner!  He caught 4 fish today!

Sarah casting with the heron on log right in front of her hands in picture.  

I love this picture.  The kids were cold at Crystal lake--over 10,000 feet high in the Rockies.

Ouray, CO

"The Switzertland of America."  This picture doesn't do it justice.  We took this picture out the window driving by without a wide-angle lens.  Nice shot of the sign Sarah while we were driving by!!!

Southwest US (red rock 1/3 of the way in from left) meet the Swiss Alps???