Our first morning in Ouray we met at the local park for the Start of the Mt. Sneffels Half Marathon. It was freezing outside but I was super excited. I was under the impression it would be a fun downhill run.
Unfortunately the first two miles were pretty steep and I was feeling a little winded. It dawned on me that the 7800 feet elevation might have an effect on my performance. By mile 9 I was sick to my stomach and weak. I had originally thought I might get a PR on this race but by then I just wanted to finish still standing. Ryan finished with a PR of 1:53 or so and I finished with a normal time of 2:20. I wasn't thrilled but considering how I felt when I was done I was glad I made it to the end. It was a beautiful run and I think I would like to do it again if I could get over the elevation challenge.
The best part was definitely hopping in the hot springs back at the hotel. Ouray is full of natural hot springs and our hotel happened to have it's own pool. It was wonderful.
After we got cleaned up and had a great lunch we decided to take a drive up one of the dirt roads to Yankee Boy Basin. The basin is at around 11,800 feet with is the same as the top of Timpanogos. Too bad you can't drive to the top of Timp!
Ouray is surrounded by 54 mountain peaks that are over 14,000 feet. That must be one of the reasons why I love it so much. It's so beautiful!
You can't really tell but it was raining pretty hard in this picture. It rained off and on during the weekend but that just made it more beautiful.
This was as far as we made it. Ryan wanted to get out and walk around but I was having trouble seeing straight. I guess high elevations and I don't get along.
We didn't make it all the way to the basin but it was really beautiful up here. There is a race that goes from Telluride through these mountains to Ouray. It's 17 miles long and I can't even imagine the elevation change but I bet it's a gorgeous run. Too bad there's no way I'd ever be able to do it.
The way back was a lot more stressful than the drive up. The overhangs and steep drop offs really had me freaked out.
The town of Ouray at the bottom of the pass.
When we got back we had a wonderful dinner and a great restaurant and then went for a walk around the small town. It was fun to see deer wandering around town and lounging in people's backyards.
I think Ouray may be one of my all time favorite places.
1 comment:
Wow, two days of pics. It surely is a beautiful area. Looks like you had a really great time. 15 years - Really!
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