Saturday (7-10) & Sunday (7-11)
THE UNDERGROUND & A HAIRLESS SUMMIT
Click on thumbnails for larger images.

 
     
In a Silverton newspaper we saw an ad for the "Old Hundred Gold Mine Tour" and it sounded interesting. We suited up in yellow jackets and hard hats as instructed.
 
The Old Hundred Mine is no longer a producing mine but is now used for tours. We boarded mining cars and road a third of a mile into a mountain.
 
Our mining guide Dan, originally from Akron, OH, lead us through a portion of the mine. He provided us with much information about how the mining was done, and he demonstrated the use of mining equipment such as the mining drill shown in this picture. It was a very interesting tour.
 
Heading northward again we drove the Million Dollar Highway from Silverton to Ouray, so named because of the cost involved in routing the highway through such rugged terrain in the early 1900s.
 
Saturday night we camped at Ridgeway State Park north of Ouray. Sunday morning we headed back south to Ouray to hike. This picture shows a view towards Ouray from US550. The Town of Ouray is nestled in the middle of the San Juan Mountains, seen in the background of this picture.
     
 
We chose to hike a loop NW of Ouray that would give us the option to hike Baldy Peak. We left the traillhead beneath sunny skies. The temperature was in the lower 80's.  
 
It was 3.2 miles to the summit of Baldy Peak, which stands 10,603 feet above sea level. There was a cross supported by a cairn at the top of Baldy. The clouds look dark in this picture but no rain drops fell in our direction.
 
This panoramic image shows the views to the south and southwest from Baldy Peak.
 
The Sneffels Range is behind us in this picture atop Baldy Peak.
 
The trails we hiked are in the Uncompahgre National Forest. Like many public land areas in CO, livestock grazing is permitted. We returned to the Baldy Trailhead via the Storm Gulch trail, and we had to hike through a herd of cattle that were grazing and laying right on the trail. Aaron's cow talking skills, practiced in the backyard, came in handy.
 
After our wonderful, yet tiring hike we returned to Ridgeway State Park and camped in a different location than the nigt before. This picture shows a glimpse at the sunset we enjoyed from near our campsite.