Montrose & Ouray, CO (7/1 & 7/3/2019)

Earlier this week, I began to feel fully recovered from the bug that kept me down for nearly two weeks.  While not at full strength yet, I felt good enough to drive to Black Canyon N P for the first time this year.  There had been reports of beautiful wildflowers, so why not check it out?  It was late in the day when I suddenly decided to make the trip and conditions looked good for a nice sunset.

The wildflowers were looking good, but were mostly located along the main road rather than any of the parking areas.  Traffic prevented me from stopping for photos at some of the better sites, so I settled for what was available to me.

There was also a young buck mule deer resting in the weeds.

Since it was almost time for sunset, I spent some time chatting with a young French couple on their vacation.  I gave them a few tips where they could park their rental RV for the night without paying for an RV park.  Once the sunset began, they joined me at the rim to get some photos.

On Wednesday I drove to Ouray to visit Yankee Boy Basin.  With the record-setting snowfall this year, the road to the top of Yankee Boy has only recently opened and I was hopeful there wouldn't be much traffic.  I certainly didn't want to wait until July 4th and definitely fight crowds. 

The effects of heavy snow were obvious right away, as all the streams were raging and waterfalls could be seen all over the valley.  The runoff had also produced numerous washouts across the road.

Avalanche damage was apparent in quite a few places.  Where avalanches had crossed the road, plows had carved a path leaving walls as much as ten feet high.

Normally, July is peak wildflower season here, but the heavy snowfall has delayed that happy event.  The only blooms in sight were dandelions.

Around the 12,000 foot level, Twin Falls came into view.  If you look closely, you'll see there are actually two "twin falls".  In some years, I've crossed the creek to view the falls from a different angle, but that isn't happening this year.

Water running down the trail has exposed lots of rocks and created sizable holes that tilt vehicles severely if they enter.  On the other hand, there isn't much room to go around the holes by driving near the edge of a drop-off.  One guy tried to avoid the hole and found the edge breaking off, causing his SUV to slide a couple feet.  It could have been worse, such as a rollover down twenty feet of rock.  A helpful Jeep owner quickly strapped onto the SUV and pulled it back.

As I drove up the canyon, I noticed a small group of young people looking up at the cliff.  I didn't see anything there, so asked them what they were looking at.  They explained that a friend had gotten killed there, so they were just honoring his memory.  Later, while hiking around the waterfalls, I came across a granite marker that I haven't seen before.  Someone apparently wished to have his ashes spread here and his family had placed a plaque in his memory..  Not a bad place to rest in peace.