Uncompaghre River ( I spell it as it sounds)

After our huge day of hiking - we decided we needed a leisurely hike to work out the kinks in our legs, and work up an appetite. Of course - we were doing a mini Thanksgiving dinner at the VRBO Later in the day. 

So we took the Uncompaghre River walk - I think it is about 3 miles, but we took a few detours to sight see.... so it made it about 4 miles for us.  PERFECT!!

Oh!! and QuiltingJetGirl - TONS of camp sites along the river ;-)

We could leave right from our house and get on the trail. It had about a 58 foot elevation change across the whole trail - that sounded very do-able.

My Hiking buddies. I love that they are so up for anything. We have a great time traveling together. 

They do stay happier when there is the promise of food later tho 😉

The mountain at the middle of the photo is Mt Ouray ( elev 13961ft)  .  Isn't is gorgeous? 

The trail was pretty cool, there was a little offshoot that took you to the Hot Springs. So realistically , we could have walked from our house to the Hot springs and soaked. We did not, it was $30 per person , and we wouldn't have stayed long enough to make it worth the $.

Plus - Hubby has stitches he couldn't get wet, and I don't do long periods of heat.

Ouray is very rich in Mining heritage. So we found little things all over - that showed you what equipment was used. 

I am going to preface this - I am starting to feel like my Grandpa when I make statements like this. 

I think people today have NO idea how to work as hard as these miners did. I think , somedays, my life is so rough, and then I come back to electricity, running water, and heat.... 

I took the photo above just to show me how far we hiked up the day before - that very top peak - we were about 100 feet below that on our hike. Crazy right??

At the Hot Springs there is the Terrapin Station. Rumor has it that in the olden days two alligators lived here, until there was a flood. Apparently one Alligator was never found...

Isn't that fish HUGE? 

He kept following me, I think he could see my shadow and thought I had food for him. 

The River Walk is Circular - top photo - looking at the whole trail, 

Bottom Photo - Looking Up river just because.

Then it was back to the house to cook dinner. We ham, Roasted Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts and Mashed Potatoes, Biscuits and Ice Cream!  Its a little strange cooking in a house you don't live in - the utensils might be spotty - but I think we did okay. We were all stuffed!

oh!! PS - we brought most of our food with us. I didn't know what size grocery store Ouray might have ( population 800) but it had a nice one. They had locally raised steak and condiments - but I was very glad to have brought my veggies etc.

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