A mix-up with respect too transportation found me alone at the hotel on Sunday, while Kay, Karyn, and the kids toured Garden of the Gods and Pike’s Peak near Colorado Springs. Matt toured the area independently. I spent most of the day processing photographs. Kay posted photos of their trip on Facebook.

We didn’t need much of an excuse to escape the sweltering heat and humidity of Arkansas! And the soccer tournament was just the thing. In that regard we added a few days to the the trip to the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. Our initial plans were to depart Thornton on Monday morning to drive Skyline Drive in Rocky Mountain National Park; however a permit is required because of the crowds and we didn’t have one. Instead, we drove to near Ridgway where reservations at the Double G Ranch had been made. What was supposed to be a relaxing drive took us an extra hour and a half because of a detour caused by a potential bridge failure over the Blue Mesa Reservoir. The detour included a lot of stand still-time on a long gravel road (maybe 15 miles of gravel). We stopped for dinner in Montrose and arrived at the Double G Ranch early in the evening. After unloading luggage and being shown our room, we adjourned to the deck enjoying the mountain views, cool evening, and lots of hummingbirds.

Our only “agenda” item for Tuesday was to visit Telluride and like to the 365-foot Bridal Veil Waterfallsl at the end of the box canyon overlooking Telluride.

The “moderate to difficult” 1.8 mile one-way hike proved to be too dangerous for us, and we aborted after hiking only a short distance, though a few photographs along the trail were made. Following the aborted hike, we drove to the gondola upper parking area and rode the free gondola up the mountain and then down to Telluride. Too many people and too much commercialization resulted in our return to the gondola and back to the parking area.

From Telluride, we drove to Ouray, a lovely old western mining town. It too is drawing large crowds, and we opted to drive the streets rather than maneuver the sidewalk traffic. With time on our hands, we drove the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton, another lovely old western mining town that is also too crowded. These towns reminded us of Red Lodge, Montana, which was absolutely delightful in the 1980s, but has now been taken over by commercial development and crowds.

The drive along the switchbacked portion of the Million Dollar Highway was well worth the time and effort with beautiful scenery virtually everywhere. Most conspicuous was Red Mountain.

We also say a young male moose between Silverton and Ouray on our return to the Double G Ranch.

The couple who own and operate the Double G Ranch are German expats. We opted to have dinner at the ranch, and it was good—bratwurst, masked potatoes, and sauerkraut, followed by a delicious dessert with a homemade berry sauce poured over ice cream. After dinner we enjoyed the deck and the buzzing of Rufous and Red-throated Hummingbirds.

We extended another night at the Double G Ranch as our plans were to spend another four or five days in Colorado. However, after seeing Telluride, Ouray, and Silverton yesterday, we were wearing thin on crowds. Consequently, we spent Wednesday chasing wildflowers and animals in the San Juan Mountains, driving a well-maintained gravel road through the Uncompahgre National Forest, cresting Owl Creek Pass at 10,114 feet, turning around at the Silver Jack Reservoir. .John Wayne loved this country, as both How the West Was Won and True Grit were filmed along this magnificent route winding through national forest and river basin country. The stunning peaks of Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain pierced the blue Colorado sky as we journeyed along this 1885 cattle-drive trail.

Tall white-barked aspen trees, spruce and fir, rivers, reservoirs, and seas of wildflowers were nestled among towering peaks. It was indeed a spectacular drive.

After returning to the Double G Ranch, we dined on grass-fed steaks cooked in a German specialty sauce, with German noodles. And of course, dessert followed.