My Adventure Notes and Pictures: Back from Telluride

Late last night I made it back home to New York City from a wonderful week's vacation in Colorado. I hadn't been on vacation in quite a while so it was refreshing to get above sea level (13,000 feet!) and into the fresh cold air.

Here are some quick notes about my adventures, along with some pictures and a video of me jeeping around Imogene Pass.

Click here for pictures on Flickr.

I arrived last Saturday midday, landing at the Telluride airport, which I learned has the highest elevation landing strip in the US. I've landed in some hairy places before (including Hong Kong and Sao Paulo), but this is by far the scariest landing I've ever experienced. It was quite a thrill and since I was one of only 5 people on the plane I was able to see the view over the pilot's shoulder. I wouldn't want to do that one everyday, but it was fun.



First, I headed into Telluride with Scott and Roberta for lunch and then took the gondola up to Mountain Village and baked a little in the sun. Back down for a walk around town to shoot pictures, shop a bit, and get a sense of the town. My first impression: the residents of Telluride are pretty lucky.

Then we headed up to Hastings Mesa, my homebase for the week. It's about a 30 minute drive to the top from town and every inch of the drive is stunning. The switchback roads must be a real thrill in the winter.

Sunday was an all day adventure. A full 12 hours of jeeping over mountains with Lauren (who is the director of the Telluride Museum) and Scott. We went over Imogene Pass from Telluride to Ouray to Silverton. What a trip. Anyone of a hundred times I thought we were heading off the road and over a cliff.

When we got to Silverton we enjoyed a beer and game of pool at the local Miner's Union which was memorable for this bumper sticker on the wall:

EARTH FIRST. WE'LL MINE THE OTHER PLANETS LATER.

The next few days were jam packed with relaxation. Since I had lost my cell phone charger I could only turn my phone on twice a day to check messages which was a real blessing. Finally some relief from my blog, twitter, email, etc.

I spent a couple days at the nearby Hot Springs soaking with the locals and some other tourists. On Tuesday night we went to support Bobbie Jean Murphy and watch her play at the Silver Nugget Saloon.

Wednesday was another all day adventure to Mesa Verde where we walked around the ancient Cliff Dwellings of the Ute Indians. You could spend a year there and not see everything. Since we only had a few hours, we saw some of the main attractions.



Perhaps there is no better way to end a vacation than a live Bob Dylan show. He headlined a fundraiser for KOTO radio and My Morning Jacket opened. We had about 20 people in our party, although Vadra and I opted to cruise around the venue most of the time which was a lot of fun.

There were many other great adventures including staying up all night hanging with Vadra, having a black bear thrash our freezer in search of food, and too many scenic walks and drives to count. But those stories are for another time...