Week 6: Tell Your Ride About Telluride

(Featured image: Jams in the mist of Bridal Veil falls.)

Thursday morning, Jams and I woke up on BLM land in Colorado. We were near a trailhead at the bottom of a canyon and followed the trail for about an hour in one direction. We were the only ones there. There was a little apprehension walking into the forest as we didn’t know what we might encounter (it was obvious the trail was not heavily used though well-marked) and we kept seeing various animal tracks. It was beautiful and the early morning light gave the forest a loving glow. Driving through the La Sal mountains on the path we took has probably been one of the most beautiful drives we’ve been on yet. The mountains were so close on the plains and everything was so crystalline crisp, it almost felt like we were in the Alps or one of the Nordic countries. (I highly recommend whatever we drove through.) We made a wrong turn at one point (which actually ended up being a right turn, literally and figuratively) and ended up in Telluride.

Harsh lighting on beautiful rushing water.

The drive to get to Telluride from the direction we came was beautiful as well. The river flowed right next to us as we delicately weaved our way through emerald hillsides. It felt wonderfully hobbit-ish. Jams and I can’t remember anymore if we got into town on Friday or Saturday but either way, we ended up in the mountain resort town of Telluride. This little town sits in a valley with mountains, waterfalls, and alpine lakes surrounding it in all directions. There is one road in and out of town. When we arrived a farmer’s market was going on as well as a graduation parade for the high school seniors…what a sight! After walking around town and satisfying our curiosity, Jams and I took the free gondola (the only free transportation of its kind) up to Mountain Village (the town on the other side of the mountain) and got a beer at a bar there. About two sips in we were satisfied (we don’t have a big beer tooth) but since we each had our own, we sat there oogling at the Babylon (modern society) we were surrounded by and slowly sipped our way back into it. When we were done, we walked over to the plaza where they had lawn games and played giant Jenga. Our game lasted way longer than Jams or I anticipated and we were shocked at how tall our tower got! We took the gondola back over and slept on the main street that night.

Our game of giant Jenga right before it fell!

Saturday we hiked up to Bridal Veil Falls and there was still snow on the ground at the top! Jams and I were going to try to hike to Blue Lake that was further up but with my inexperience and discomfort with snow, we decided to only go a short ways and had lunch on a snow covered hill. We hiked to a little spot in the river that fed the falls and dipped ourselves in for a quick ice bath! As we were hiking down the mountain, Jams wanted to go check out the climbs so we detoured past a creepy old mine that was filled with water (Telluride was a big mining town and there is still mining going on) and found the climb we would do the next day, Amy’s Way, 5.7 sport, 3 pitches. Once down the mountain and completely beat, we drove to the only market we could find. The price of food in Telluride played a big factor in how long Jams and I wanted to stay because on our $20/day budget, we could not survive here very long. That night we took the gondola again to Mountain Village and played giant checkers. (These games were a lot of fun!) On our return gondola we were just in time to catch the last of the sun as it passed through a red, velvet sky. We parked in the same spot as the night before and slept soundly.

Amy’s Way is to the right of the corner.  

At the top of the second pitch of Amy’s Way with the Telluride valley in the background.  

Jams with our favorite cookie at the top of the climb and the switchbacks of the hike to Bridal Veil falls in the background.  

Sunday, we hiked to our climbing spot and easily made our way up the climb. I had a lot of fun on this climb as it was cobblestone and moving from climbing sandstone to cobblestone helped me feel really confident. We ate lunch at the top and when we were ready, continued along a foot wide path that was carved into the mountainside to complete the Via Ferrata. The Via is an old mining path that the miners would use to traverse the mountainside and move from one place to another. The thing about the Via is it’s not all walking on a path, there are metal bars at foot and head height that you use to traverse across very exposed sections of the path. It is recommended that you have a harness and at least two anchor chains that you use to clip in into the cables that are above you. You are safe while doing it (as long as you don’t do anything stupid) it just becomes more of a mental game especially if you’ve never climbed before or done anything remotely like it. We passed an Australian tour group and one of the guys told us it was the most insane thing he’d ever done. Jams and I were a little shook by it as well but our climbing experience definitely helped us. A group of highliners had come into town around the same time we did and we were fortunate enough to see them up there highlining. Highlining is like slacklining but you’re somewhere around 400-800 ft. off the ground. Slacklining is balancing on about a one to two inch wide piece of webbing that is strung up between two points and is usually 3-4 ft. off the ground (though it varies and can be more). When you slackline the line is usually more taught which makes it easier but in highlining, the line is much looser (because it reaches further from one point to another), making it more difficult. We were fortunate to befriend some of the highliners, Jess, Shane, Anna Lea, and Chris along with their dogs, Ob”sid”ian, Lottie, and Japhy, respectively. That night we hung out with a big group of highliners and had a cook-out with them. We slept in the same spot that night.

A dedication on the Via.  

Sitting on the bench that was part of the dedication, taking in the view.  

On the most exposed part of the Via.  

The next day we hiked Bridalveil Falls with Jess, Ob”sid”ian, and Lottie. We ate lunch in the same spot we had the ice bath a day before and successfully removed a tick from one of the dogs. We hiked down and Jams and I went into town. There’s this wonderful Free Box in town where I left my tiny backpack purse in exchange for a more convenient fanny pack purse. It was a little heartbreaking to let my tiny backpack purse go, as I had it since I was four when one of my babysitters gave it to me, but I can’t hold on to things forever. Jams and I ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant that was a little less than satisfying. We left town that day.

A highliner highlining.  

I will end the week here so that I can more or less start at the beginning of the week for the next post.

[Bow; exit stage right.]

Blessings,

Pipes