Three of us camped just outside O'Haver Lake Campground Monday night. A brief 15 minute drive to the unmarked trailhead for East route Ouray at 6am and we were underway.
The trail is clear and evident throughout the forest of beautiful Aspen groves with 6 stream crossings in the early hike. This route quickly gains elevation and increases slope as you near treeline. As you begin clearing the trees the trail becomes more difficult to find, but is well kairned as you approach the toe of the north slope of the east ridge.
Once at the toe of the slope there is no trail or kairns to follow. You must find the best lines to switchback up the slope mixed with bolder talus and grass. This is nearly 1,000 feet of gain in just over 1/2 mile to the east ridge. Once the ridge is gained the trail is once again picked up, but not easy to find or maintain.
The trail switchbacks up to 13,000+ elevation and then takes you along the south side of the ridge to the final pitch. The trail has some Kairns here and there, but not consistent. Once you finally pop over the ridge it is a short walk to the broad summit.
Ouray is a beautiful mountain that is a good challenge for Class 1 & 2 average hikers. I've completed 10 14ers and consider myself an average mountain hiker from Missouri. Ouray was the 3rd toughest hike I've completed due to 4,228 feet gain in just over 4 miles. However, the solitude and beauty were well worth it!
My GPS Tracks on Google Maps (made from a .GPX file upload):
