Impression Evergreen

Ouray, Colorado Ouray is a small, mountain town wedged into a steep canyon below the San Juan Mountains. The magnificent setting is reminiscent of the European Alps so the high altitude community is often referred to as the “Switzerland of America”. The vacation resort is famous for it’s Box Canyon Falls which offers superb ice climbing during the winter and a relaxing hot springs that’s open all year round. It’s also the gateway to Yankee Boy Basin, a beautiful valley chock full of mining history and summer wildflowers. Connecting Ouray to the lofty city of Silverton, the Milion Dollar Highway is considered one of the most dangerous roads in America, but if you can handle the sharp turns, steep ledges and lack of guard rails, I believe its the most scenic passageway in Colorado.

Summit Lake After a delicious Father's Day breakfast served in bed by my two boys, we decided to drive to the summit of Mount Evans. To get to the top is a 30 mile drive from our front door. As we ascended the highest paved road in North America, our first wildlife sighting was a herd of elk, grazing high above timberline. In the summer the elk move up to higher elevations and cooler temperatures. Rocky Mountain Elk are built for the cold and don't tolerate heat very well. Our first stop was Summit Lake nestled high in a glacial basin just below the summit. This cold, clear lake is the headwater for Bear Creek and flows down into Evergreen Lake and then all the way to Denver. We really got our blood pumping by ascending to the top of Mount Spalding and looked down into the beautiful Chicago Basin. After getting some pictures of the lake, we drove the treacherous, winding road up to the summit parking lot. At the top, we explored a rocky structure know as the castle in