We took off north thru Silverton and up the "million-dollar highway" to Ouray, Colorado, aka America's Switzerland. It was a pretty little town surrounded by mountains. Ouray is also known as the Jeeping capital of the world. And even though we didn't have a jeep, we attempted to take the CX-9 up to Little Boy Basin, where we could start our hike up Mount Sneffels (one of Colorado's Fourteners). The road, or rocky cliff, depending on what you want to call it, rose about 2,000 feet in 5 miles. The tires started to slide a little on the real steep sections (40-45 degree inclines) so we decided to park the CX-9 on the side of the mountain and hop a ride with a group of jeepers we had met. And good thing we did. The rocks we encountered next were HUGE! I was scared the Jeep wouldn't make it. So finally at 12,000 feet, we started our hike. Even though the trail book named this as a moderate hike, the footing was all loose rock, straight up, and as Scott learned, 12,000 feet is a lot cooler than down below! We have pictures of snow still being up there. So at 13,000 feet, because of hypothermia, hypoxia, and some weather moving in, we turned back. We made it to the car right before it started raining. (the car was located at about 11,000 feet). I hope to go back though, and make it to the top! We finished out our day playing pinball and soaking in the hot tub at the resort.
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