Blue Lakes Trailhead now available and snow-free. I can't vouch for the hiking trail as I haven't been over it.
Blue Lakes Trailhead is now accessible via Ouray County Road 7, dry all the way to the top. The mudholes are dry too! The primitive campgrounds are plentiful and available. As far as I can tell, the trail to the Blue Lakes is open—I met some remarkably hardy outdoorsmen who can come over from Yankee Boy Basin on skis—they said they’d had to carry their skis the last few miles. It’s about 3 miles from the trailhead to the Blue Lakes.
Delightfully-scented flowers make for a fragrant Ouray County Road 7
I found some great wildflowers to add to the 2011 wildflower collection. The bush in the picture at the top of this post stands about 8 feet tall and bears large and highly-fragrant flowers (and my nose isn’t all that sensitive, so it must be very fragrant!). Also below is a photo of some clustered white flowers that I think are alpine yarrow.
Beautiful alpine yarrow along Ouray County Road 7