Some days on a road trip are about how much you can fit in. Today felt better because we had time to simply enjoy where we were.
Day 3 took us from Montrose to Telluride and then on to Ouray, right through some of the prettiest fall scenery we’ve seen on this trip.
The drive toward Telluride was beautiful from the start. The San Juan Mountains kept getting closer, and the fall colors seemed to get better around every bend. Hillsides were covered in yellow and gold aspens, with patches of orange mixed in and darker evergreens running through them.
It was the kind of drive where you keep looking out of the window and saying, “Look at that!”
Then we reached Telluride.
I had seen plenty of pictures before this trip, but the setting is something else when you’re standing there. The town sits deep inside a box canyon, surrounded by huge mountains, and in fall the whole place feels like someone turned the saturation up.
The gondola was easily our favorite part of the day.
It’s free, which still feels slightly unbelievable considering the views you get. We climbed from Telluride toward San Sophia, reaching 10,540 feet, with the town slowly getting smaller beneath us.
And the colors from up there! ❤️🍂
From the gondola, we could see entire mountainsides covered in aspens. Bright yellow trees filled the slopes below us, framed by the rugged San Juan Mountains in the distance. Every few minutes the view changed, and every new angle seemed worthy of another photo.
We got off at San Sophia and spent some time taking it all in before continuing toward Mountain Village.
The ride down the other side was just as beautiful.
Mountain Village had a completely different feel from Telluride. We walked around for a while, had lunch, enjoyed the mountain air and then did something we were all quite happy to do again.
We got back on the gondola. 😄
Usually the return journey feels like transportation. This one felt like another attraction.
We rode back over the mountain, through San Sophia and down toward Telluride, getting another long look at those fall-covered slopes. Seeing Telluride appear beneath us as the gondola descended was probably one of my favorite views of the trip so far.
After spending a little more time around town, we got back into the car and headed toward Ouray.
The drive continued the theme of the day. Mountains, winding roads and fall colors everywhere. We weren’t trying to rush through it either. When the scenery is this good, the drive itself becomes part of the day rather than the bit between destinations.
By the time we reached Ouray, we were ready for a break.
We checked into the Hot Springs Inn, dropped our bags and rested for a while. After a few busy days, doing absolutely nothing for a bit felt pretty good.
Later in the evening, we headed out for a walk along the river toward the hot springs.
Ouray feels almost tucked away from the rest of the world. Mountains rise sharply around the little town in every direction, which makes the “Switzerland of America” nickname easy to understand.
The evening was quiet and cool as we walked toward the hot springs, with the mountains surrounding us and the light beginning to fade.
Back at the inn, Ana and I found the perfect way to end the day.
We stepped into the open-air hot tub, surrounded by mountains, with the cool Colorado air around us and the warm water making it very difficult to want to leave. After a day of driving through fall colors, riding gondolas high above Telluride and taking in one mountain view after another, sitting there together felt pretty special.
Just the two of us in a hot tub, mountains all around, winding down after another beautiful day in Colorado!
Tomorrow, we drive the Million Dollar Highway!
