From Irvin Lake campground we noticed that there is a more straight road towards Gunnison, but we had to give it up after a short try – it was too narrow and bumpy. So we returned to Crested Butte, which is about 12mi from the campground and were pleased that the road leading to Gunnison was wide and paved. In Gunnison, we walked a little, had a very rich in caloriesￂﾠ and cheeses cowboy lunch and headed towards Montrose. The drive was beautiful, partially by artificial lakes:
and there was a road to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, but we didn’t turn towards there. And then we again found ourselves on the plains. Colorado is in our imagination a state of mountains, but it seems that mountains occupy just a little part of it in patches. Montrose is also a western cowboy town. very similar as was Gunnison. But it has a Nepalese buffet! Wow, what a loss. We were so full after our cowboy lunch. And after the drive to Ridgeway is on plains, only there you start seeing mountains. You head towards them and here you are – in a goblet called Ouray:
The main attractions of Ouray are hiking, of course, and also the hot springs! They bring the warm water from hot springs somewhere further and up the mountains and fill the new pools with it. For my joy there was a lap pool. But for soaking – there are several extensive pools of creative shapes. 
In Ouray we stayed at this Bridal Veil B&B, the left side of the duplex:
It was one of the best B&Bs we ever stayed at! WE had the whole first floor, meaning a bedroom and a bathroom and the entrance hall – how much more can we need. It was quiet, we were fed upstairs with super fancy breakfasts, which were spoiling us tremendously and kicking us out of our healthy eating habits. The owners Connie and Greg were very pleasant and informative. Connie tended for 36 orchids in their home! And Greg is a big hiker and a canioneering specialist. Here are their orchids and Connie’s breakfasts. Each day we had a different orchid on the table matched with the foods and plates served:
The pictures of Ouray are from he Primeter trail. Yes, there is a trail on the edges of the mountains surrounding Ouray. but we had no time to do the whole thing, we did only a part of it (but a scary one) till we reached the falls:
The first evening Andrei went to a hotel with a complicated German name and spent half an hour in their peculiar hot springsￂﾠￂﾠ -they have a cave under the hotel and you can enter it only if you haven’t smoked for 3 months and also if you buy a ticket :-). Smoking was not the reason I didn’t go. I just felt tired. Saved my energy for tomorrow’s swimming in the main hot sprigs pool!
Here are some pictures of Ouray town:
The building on the right is an opera house! Here is the interior of the hotel we see on the left:
We did some more hiking on the last morning, but very little, so much more is left for another time!
Very big crevices in Colorado, I would say – they are scary to those who have sensitivity to it. We also drove to Silverton for a short visit, but that is in another post!