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Ouray Perimeter Trail

By Susan Oloier

A sudden scream slashed open the peaceful sound of cascading water and the nearby fee-bee of a mountain chickadee. I hurried over the bridge and turned the corner. Tears streamed down the dirt-streaked face of my six-year-old. His chin was cut open, his nose bloodied. "What happened?" I asked, kneeling down to dually inspect and comfort him. "I tripped." I fished a dried-out antiseptic swab out of the backpack, doused it in water, and tidied up his wounds. Yet he continued to cry. Soon, his three-year-old brother, already tired of the carrier, joined in. The rush of water, the rustle of breeze over leaves, and the chirrup of birds had been completely blotted out, and we were only a quarter-mile into our hike.

We had traveled to Ouray. Though Jeff and I had hiked the Perimeter Trail before, I was anxious to make it a family outing. The ease of the hike makes it a perfect trail to do with the kids. We parked at the Amphitheater parking area and started a clockwise path where slate gray water rippled over the polished and grooved limestone basins of Baby Bathtubs. Violet larkspur shared the rocky ground with yellow buttercups, tucked within the evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs. The temperature hung in the mid-seventies. The stage was set for a perfect outing. Yet it was anything but perfect. The boys lost their mood for hiking, then subsequently, so did Jeff and I. The more people involved in an outing, the more agendas there are to deal with. The boys clearly wanted to be anywhere but on the trail, so I succumbed and headed back to camp with them while Jeff took a more rigorous hike up to Upper Cascade Falls.

Call me stubborn, but I wasn't ready to give up. Flexibility remains a key life skill where kids are involved. So, despite not being able to hike with the entire family along the approximate four-mile circumference trail that meanders the outskirts of Ouray, I returned the next day. Zane, suffering from a viral infection, slept back at camp with Jeff while I lured Justin back to the trail: we would start at Baby Bathtubs and end at the hot springs where Justin's reward would be playground time and swimming with his dad. "It's nice without fussing," Justin offered as we started out, referring to Zane's absence. Beneath the canopy of trees, we took the same clockwise path as in the previous day, winding our way past the rush of water and the clunking of boulders in the neighboring canyon.

When we made it past the quarter-mile mark without incident, I relaxed into the hike. We inched our way down the hardscrabble toward Highway 550, stopping to photograph an incidental pink flower or investigate a curious rock. "Why are there rocks anyway?" Justin inquired with his blossoming curiosity about the occurrence of everything from insects to God. "It's part of what the earth is made of?" "Why is there Earth?" he continued. The string of endless life questions could have continued indefinitely, but stopped when we rested near the glass-strewn rocks beside the trail for a granola bar and some water. The shards shimmered under the sun like a mirage - the broken remnants of someone's roadside drinking binge.

Swallows played tag among the cliffs as the bridge swept us over Box Canyon Falls where Justin held a death grip on the railing for fear of plunging into the Uncompahgre below. We descended along graveled Oak Street, meeting a local who walked her White European Golden retriever named Aspen. Petting and playing with the puppy was a side benefit to the hike for a kid who has wanted a pet for the last year. We finally separated from the woman and her dog as we wended our way along the trail, which eventually directs travelers through the main street of town, pushing foot traffic toward Lower Cascade Falls, ultimately returning to where we began. We ended our hike at the park where Jeff and Zane met up with us.

The Ouray Perimeter Trail is an ideal outing for a family (when everyone is feeling well and on their feet). It is the perfect hike for a citified person like me who uprooted from a populated life to a more rural one. It is easy, diverse, and as short as one wants to make it. Plus, if planned correctly, it can end on Ouray's Main Street with a much-deserved ice cream, a swim in the hot springs, or a rest in the park - which is precisely what Zane and I did while waiting for Jeff and Justin to towel off from their swim.