Coming Full Circle

With just a few days left before Tuesday’s return flight, we knew we wanted to get back into Colorado and we thought it’d be nice if we could keep the same campsite for our last three nights under the stars (Monday we’re in a hotel so we can re-pack everything). After a less-than-helpful stop at the Colorado Welcome Center in Cortez, we decided to come back to the area we fell in love with as we drove to Mesa Verde and decided to give Ridgway State Park a try because of its ideal location, between Telluride and Ouray (YOU-ray).

We nailed this one. Turns out National Geographic named this the best Colorado state park and it’s easy to see why. The facilities are spacious and immaculate. The walk-in tent sites in Pa-Co-Chu-Puk Campground, while a good distance from the parking spaces, are across the Uncompaghre River and have sweeping vistas. The area has phenomenal hiking, cute towns, and gorgeous scenery.

Today we opted for the Bear Creek Trail, the first 2.4 miles of which go to the Grizzly Bear Mine. While the mine itself was a tad disappointing, this was by far our most challenging (climbing 1600' in elevation, much of it over a strange rock) – and most rewarding – hike to date.