Box Canyon Falls
Jul. 12th, 2022 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerColorado Travelog #20
Ouray, CO - Tuesday, 5 Jul 2022, 5:30pm
As we finished our round-trip drive on the Million Dollar Highway (part 1, part 2) we arrived back in Ouray. Despite the still-crummy weather the day was not over, though. We still had two more waterfalls to hike!
The first waterfall in town we visited was Box Canyon Falls. We picked it first because it was just off the main road as we returned to Ouray from Silverton. A big sign even announces it:
A historical plaque in the park explains that this sign dates to c. 1905. Yes, it says "BOX CANON" for Box Canyon. I can only guess the locals 117 years ago either were semi-literate and dropped the Y from canyon or meant the letters to read "Box Cañon", cañon being the Spanish work for canyon, but couldn't find a sign maker who understood what a tilde was.
The sign, like many things in these Colorado mining towns, fell into disrepair by the mid-20th century and was only fixed up in the past 20 or so years. But still no Y or tilde.
Box Canyon is an interesting area. A geological fault created a narrow crevice between rocky bluffs, and a creek flows through it. Except after hours of rain like we've had today, a creak roars through it. The water is brown with sediment, and spray from the engorged flow is everywhere.
As if the metal catwalk into the canyon weren't close enough to the water, a set of metal stairs leads several down to the bare rock near the bottom. We climbed down out of curiosity but found the surging water hard to appreciate from down here. The deadly current certainly wasn't anything we wanted to get closer to than several feet away on the slippery rocks.
We came back out of the chasm and explored other parts of the park. There's a trail that climbs up atop the chasm and crosses it on another catwalk. There's also a nature trail that winds a loop out of the canyon providing views across the valley.
This view across Ouray is interesting for two reasons. One, you can (barely) see the lower tier of Cascade Falls at the base of the far mountain. On a rainy day like today several tiers of Cascade Falls flow, dropping thousands of feet from near the top of the mountain to its foot. We'll hike to that lower tier next.
Two, this picture shows the two types of mountain that are part of the Rocky Mountains. The near mountain shows red rock in horizontal layers. This sedimentary rock is part of the older Rocky Mountains. It's rock that was an ancient seabed and was pushed upwards. The ridges beyond it, in the distance, are examples of the newer Rocky Mountains. Their dark, purple-ish rock is volcanic and is much younger than the sedimentary layers.
Ouray, CO - Tuesday, 5 Jul 2022, 5:30pm
As we finished our round-trip drive on the Million Dollar Highway (part 1, part 2) we arrived back in Ouray. Despite the still-crummy weather the day was not over, though. We still had two more waterfalls to hike!
The first waterfall in town we visited was Box Canyon Falls. We picked it first because it was just off the main road as we returned to Ouray from Silverton. A big sign even announces it:
A historical plaque in the park explains that this sign dates to c. 1905. Yes, it says "BOX CANON" for Box Canyon. I can only guess the locals 117 years ago either were semi-literate and dropped the Y from canyon or meant the letters to read "Box Cañon", cañon being the Spanish work for canyon, but couldn't find a sign maker who understood what a tilde was.
The sign, like many things in these Colorado mining towns, fell into disrepair by the mid-20th century and was only fixed up in the past 20 or so years. But still no Y or tilde.
Box Canyon is an interesting area. A geological fault created a narrow crevice between rocky bluffs, and a creek flows through it. Except after hours of rain like we've had today, a creak roars through it. The water is brown with sediment, and spray from the engorged flow is everywhere.
As if the metal catwalk into the canyon weren't close enough to the water, a set of metal stairs leads several down to the bare rock near the bottom. We climbed down out of curiosity but found the surging water hard to appreciate from down here. The deadly current certainly wasn't anything we wanted to get closer to than several feet away on the slippery rocks.
We came back out of the chasm and explored other parts of the park. There's a trail that climbs up atop the chasm and crosses it on another catwalk. There's also a nature trail that winds a loop out of the canyon providing views across the valley.
This view across Ouray is interesting for two reasons. One, you can (barely) see the lower tier of Cascade Falls at the base of the far mountain. On a rainy day like today several tiers of Cascade Falls flow, dropping thousands of feet from near the top of the mountain to its foot. We'll hike to that lower tier next.
Two, this picture shows the two types of mountain that are part of the Rocky Mountains. The near mountain shows red rock in horizontal layers. This sedimentary rock is part of the older Rocky Mountains. It's rock that was an ancient seabed and was pushed upwards. The ridges beyond it, in the distance, are examples of the newer Rocky Mountains. Their dark, purple-ish rock is volcanic and is much younger than the sedimentary layers.
