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Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026Day 55 - May 25, 2026Maroon Bells was first on the itinerary today, two iconic 14,0...
05/26/2026

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026

Day 55 - May 25, 2026

Maroon Bells was first on the itinerary today, two iconic 14,000 foot mountain peaks, south of Aspen Colorado. It's famous for being one of the most photographed mountain scenes in North America. The name came from some semi-famous person, I can't recall his name, said the peaks reminded him of bells and the mountains looked maroon, hence the name "Maroon Bells". The story I heard anyway. It's a beautiful place with a few hiking trails around the lake, up the mountain and down the mountain. Becky and I opted for the 1.8 mile scenic lake loop trail. Turns out the lake trail I walked today was more like 2.45 miles, hikes seem to always be longer than advertised. Personal autos are not permitted during peak times, 7am to something after 5pm so we had to take a $10 per senior citizen shuttle bus, plus $45 to park. Wasn't a bad deal though as we weren't charged any other fees and we didn't have to worry bout parking.

Second up was a visit to John Henry Holiday's grave, better know as 'Doc' Holiday. After a moderately strenuous half mile, hike up the side of a mountain, we found his grave. Although he actually isn't buried there, little did I know. Seems the day he was to be buried it had been raining and the Hearst Wagon could not make it up the, moderately strenuous, trail to Linwood Cemetery. So, he was buried and the foot of the mountain to be moved up ⁹to the cemetery when the trail was dry. Of course, that never happened and no one knows where the Doc is buried. So a lucky home owner may just have ole Doc buried in their yard and don't know it.

Tomorrow is dedicated to taking care of a much needed oil change. Seems I underestimated the trip mileage and have exceeded the miles between changes. Becky will spend the morning in the laundry mat. No idea what we may do after our chores are completed.

A couple things I noticed while driving to Maroon Bells today:
1) I was driving in the right lane and kept noticing diamond shapes in the lane, like a "HOV" or "Car-Sharing Lane. But that couldn't be it, I was in the right lane. Lo and behold, it was. The HOV lane was the right lane. Can't quite understand.

2) I saw a sign that read "Road Rage - Dial 277". I think that's a great idea. Not quite sold on the right lane an HOV lane though.

Y'all take care, till tomorrow.

Cheers ❤️✌️

05/25/2026

Daily video #2. And is like your help please. Which video do you like best, further out or up closer?

Enjoy!

05/25/2026

Time for the daily video! Just outside Aspen Colorado.

Cheers❤️✌️

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026Day 54 - May 24, 2026It seems we always find something to do besides drive on our t...
05/25/2026

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026

Day 54 - May 24, 2026

It seems we always find something to do besides drive on our travel days. This morning we left Ouray for our next stop, Glenwood Springs, Colorado. About all I know about Glenwood Springs is Doc Holiday died and is buried there and Maroon Bells is a great place to see.

Anyway, we stopped at two different places on the drive today, the planned stop at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and an unexpected little gem, Hayes Creek Falls along highway 133.

Black Canyon was a
repeat so we stopped by a couple of overlooks we missed the other day. Painted Wall, a 1 of 4 "have to see" overlooks, was one spot we missed last trip so it was the first one we hit today. Painted Wall is the highest shear cliff in Colorado, with a height of 2,250 feet tall, and 3rd tallest in the contiguous 48 states. The other stop at the park involved driving the East Portal Road to reach the bottom of the canyon. At least, the road was paved and in great shape but was very curvy and steep, reaching a 16% grade in places. We've driven many mountain roads over the years and until today an 8% grade is about the steepest grade we've seen. The road needed to be driven in low gear to keep the brakes from overheating. Well worth the effort though.

Not a lot to say about Hayes Creek Falls but what a great surpirse. Very short short walk to the 40 foot beautiful falls. We had actually passed it and had to back track just a bit. So glad we did stop.

Tomorrow's agenda, visit Maroon Bells somewhere near Aspen is all I know. And, if time allows, go see Doc's grave. So stay tuned to hear more about Maroon Bell and hopefully Doc.

Be cool folks!

Cheers ❤️✌️

05/24/2026

Today's video! From Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park!

Cheers ❤️✌️

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026Day 53 - May 23, 2026Box Canyon, remember me talking about going to Box Canyon? We...
05/24/2026

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026

Day 53 - May 23, 2026

Box Canyon, remember me talking about going to Box Canyon? Well we made it to the falls today. But not before taking a pleasant drive to Telluride, couldn't even even tell where the house fell off the trailer yesterday. Telluride's year round population fluctuates between 2,100 and 2,500 people yearly. It's annual snow fall exceeds 200 inches a year. One of the locals told us the winters there were "brutal". Telluride is the most expensive ski resort in the US, topping both Aspen and Vail. It sure seemed very expensive to me just based on the few things we bought. But it's not too expense for Oprah, she has a 60 acre estate there, Jerry Seinfeld has a 12,000 square foot home and many more celebs have property there. The weather is great this time of year but wouldn't want to be up there in the winter.

Box Canyon Falls is an awesome falls located just outside of Ouray, Colorado and was only a mile or so from our hotel. It's 285 foot waterfall that plunges thru a narrow Canyon, don't know if Box Canyon Falls is considered in a "slot canyon" but it does look like a slot to me. It was a fun time at Box Canyon and I can't remember ever seeing a waterfall like it.

So tomorrow we leave Ouray and head to Glenwood Springs, where Doc Holiday died and was buried. We plan on stopping by Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on the way and drive to the bottom of the canyon. That should be fun with the road we have to travel to get to the bottom.

Oh yeah, and you know something that puzzles me? At the last hotel we stayed, you had to press the "off" button on the remote to turn the TV on. Well, the hotel we're in now is the same way. Help me figure that one out.

Love and hugs to y'all!

Cheers ❤️✌️

05/23/2026

Time for video of the day! Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!

Cheers ❤️✌️

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026Day 52 - May 22, 2026Telluride was the plan for today. Was until we stopped by a l...
05/23/2026

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026

Day 52 - May 22, 2026

Telluride was the plan for today. Was until we stopped by a local farmers market in Ridgeway and was told the highway to Telluride was closed. Now I've been blocked by a closed road for wrecks, Bison, Big Horn Sheep, ice, snow, downed trees but this was a first for me, seems a pre-fab house sled off the trailer it was on. Apparently, the only paved road to Telluride is Hwy 62, the one closed by the sliding house. To detour around the wreck would be close to a 3 hour ride on a dirt road. So change of plan was in order.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park was the plan for ⁹when we leave Ouray and head to our next destination. Considering the options, we decided to visit Black Canyon today instead of when we leave Ouray. This Park makes the 13th National Park we've visited this trip and it's the 54th out of 63 NP we've explored over the years.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison got it's name from the Gunnison river which craved the canyon and because it is so narrow in some spots the canyon only gets a few minutes of sun light a day, making the canyon walls appear black. One fact I found interesting was the river's drop. Gunnison river averages a drop of 40 feet per mile and at it's steepest point in the park, it drops 240 feet a mile. For comparison, the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon drops an average of 7 feet per mile. I assume the rivers drop caused the erosion to cut through the rock faster creating a narrower canyon. At "The Narrows" the width at the river is only 40 feet and from rim to rim it measures 1,100 feet.

There's more interesting facts about the Black Canyon of the Gunnison if you wish to Google.

For tomorrow, we'll try our luck at Telluride and hopefully get in a trip to "Box Canyon" before we leave Sunday. So stay tuned

Cheers ❤️✌️

05/22/2026

Hey Folks,
Video of the day from Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. More to come so stay tuned.

❤️✌️

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026Day 51 - May 21, 2026Windshield time, we had plenty of it today, driving, no hikes...
05/22/2026

Ronnie and Becky West Coast Trip 2026

Day 51 - May 21, 2026

Windshield time, we had plenty of it today, driving, no hikes! Yes, the majority of the day was spent driving the 236 mile San Juan Skyway. The Skyway is a spectacular scenic loop of 14,000 foot high San Juan mountain peaks. The loop connects the mountain towns of Ouray, Telluride, Silverton, Durango and Cortez in southwest Colorado. The 25 mile stretch between Ouray and Silverton is known as the "Million Dollar Highway" because of it's stunning views. I could take a million pictures and never capture the true beauty held in these mountains.

During the awesome drive, we made several pull off stops along the way for those Kodak moments. We also had stops at Silverton and Durango. Silverton is an old mining town from the 1880's and hosts the Grand Imperial Hotel. Grand Imperial opened in 1888 and has been serving guests ever since, celebrating it's 144th anniversary of continous operations this year. Silverton has a year round population of between 600 and 700 people.

Durango was founded in September 1880 and incorporated in April 27, 1881. Durango is a historic city in the San Juan Mountains and is currently known for outdoor recreation, its Western heritage, and the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Originally, it was founded as a rail hub serving the areas mining towns. The population of Durango is around 20,000 with a metropolitan area population approximately 56,000.

We had a relaxing day though it was a lot of mountain driving. Looking forward to continuing our old mining town tour with a trip to Telluride tomorrow.

Till then,

Cheers ❤️✌️

05/21/2026

Double feature Thursday....

Enjoy ❤️✌️

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