Oak Creek Hike

I had the luck of getting out of work a couple hours early this week, so I took the opportunity to squeeze in another hike.  I didn't have the energy or the time for a long trek to the top of a mountain and back, but I still was able to find my way to a very nice waterfall hidden deep in a canyon just outside of Ouray.  The trail I took was Oak Creek trail which ultimately takes you to a high viewpoint and then loops around and meets up with several other trails that can take you far into the wilderness should you choose those paths.  I choose to hike up to the waterfall and back which came out to a little over five miles round trip.

The trail climbs through alternating pine and aspen forests.

Every once in a while the trees would open up and reveal a view up the valley to the left of the mountain I was hiking on.  As I hiked I could see smoke making it's way down the valley.  The smoke was likely from the large wildfires burning to the south and west of the valley.  We are all hoping that this area escapes the fires this year, but there is a lot of dead trees and the conditions are very dry, so the threat of fire here is very real.

This is a different side of Mount Abrams than I usually see, but this picturesque mountain is still very imposing from this angle.  To the left of Abrams you can just see the top of Red Mountain in the distance.

After a while the trail begins to veer away from this valley and makes it's way up the north side of the mountain.  Through the dense trees you can make out steep canyon walls on the other side of Oak Creek and then suddenly this imposing peak comes into view above the canyon.

After this view the trail begins to level out for a while and the sound of rushing water becomes louder and louder as I walked farther up the canyon.

Oak creek becomes a series of waterfalls as the sides of the canyon come together and there is a relatively easy crossing here in this dry summer.  In wetter years I bet this can be a bit tricky to get across.

I spent some time here with Oak Creek and dipped my hands into it's icy waters.  The cool water felt very refreshing after a very warm hike up the mountain.

Down stream the creek falls very steeply as the bottom of the canyon drops away.  It is hard to see where the water goes as the canyon is very winding and deep.

Upstream the canyon is not very steep or deep either.  If I had more time I would have explored this area a bit further, but I wanted to get back before daylight started to fade.

As I began to head back down the mountain I came upon some good vantage points to the view across the valley.  The Amphitheater stands out through the haze and fills the view to the west.

 To the left of the Amphitheater is the bright orange-yellow gash that I believe is the blowout that I hiked around a couple weeks ago.  I find it interesting to explore an area this thoroughly because you get to see how the land is laid out from many different points of view.  I love getting that kind of perspective about a place.

 There weren't a ton of wildflowers along this trail, but that doesn't mean that there weren't beautiful things to see along the way.  This little rainbow of a plant stood out to me as I was coming down the trail.  It's these little things that also make a hike more memorable.

This hike wasn't the most exciting or difficult hike I have ever done, but I got a feel for the trail and I will likely hike here again this summer.  There are several different trails that all begin in the same area, so I might take a longer day and check those out too.  Many of them loop around and meet up with this trail, and some even meet up with trails that can take you to Ridgway and beyond.  If I ever get a good block of time off I may try a couple of overnighters on those trails too.