A Ride to Telluride
Travel, I would say is a wonderful companion. Just like reading and writing. But unlike reading or writing travel costs a lot more of both time and money. So, it is not something all of us get to do as much as we like. However, a recent business trip for my hubby was very long and I was feeling very lonely staying at home. So, after much thought decided to pack my bags and join him. Using the few ‘miles’ I had accumulated, I decided to book a ticket to join him on his trip to Telluride.
Telluride is like a piece of heaven from the fairy tale. Though my visit was not in the winter when the snow fairies waltzed around and partied up in the mountains (that definitely sounds fairy tale-ish, right?), my summer trip wasn’t bad either. It was, in fact, one of the best trips I have ever made.
Nestled in the San Juan mountain ranges that are a part of the great Rockies, this small town was once known for its infamous mining industries. It was the place known to have lured the gold diggers. Associated with the great robbery (the first bank robbery by Butch Cassidy) during the mining era, this place is now a cozy little tourist spot for hikers, bikers, and skiers. If you are a nature lover, active vacationer, adventure junkie, or may be a honeymooner, please visit this place.
The town itself is not too big and is well connected. Almost all roads are parallel to each other so much so that you would never get lost and even if you do, you will surely navigate to your destination. The town has a main street, Colorado Avenue, which gives the view of the beautiful mountain range ahead with a beautiful waterfall, Ingram falls. Either side of the street has local stores, eateries, and cutesy residential cottages.
The beauty of this place was that there were no chain stores, be it for eateries or stores. The only branded store that I saw there was that of North Face (mountain village), which makes sense for the kind of winter they have and the popularity of this brand for winter and outdoor wear. The stores tried to source as many local products as possible, though there were many ‘Made in Chinas’ as well.
Restaurants are an interesting mix of cuisines and there were a handful of cafes. The coffees (lattes) were really expensive like that of SFO. The road had a space good enough for two columns of vehicles on each side. However, they just let one on each side. The road’s center was wide enough for parking temporarily or for a group of photo crazy tourists (yours truly included) trying to get all of the beauty of the San Juan and Ingram falls along with the street.
A few of us were greedy enough to even get ourselves in that frame. Thankfully, I had taken a selfie stick as I was exploring the place on my own while my busy hubby was attending to his meetings. The speed limit for the vehicles was strictly restricted to 15 miles/hour and the pedestrians had the right of way while crossing the road. With a plenty of stop signs and speed limits like this, it surely was a walker’s paradise.
Perched at an altitude of 8750 ft (2670 m), Telluride is well connected with solar powered gondolas or rope cars or winches. There are two types — one which was closed like a covered cocoon nest and the other like an open swing for two. The open swing type was only available during the winter as it was for skiers to carry their gears all the way up easily. Since my visit was in the summer, I couldn’t use the swing type. The gondolas were available for free and throughout the year. It is surely a wonderful and eco-friendly way of transport. There are three stations- Telluride, Mountain Village, and the middle station, which offers access to hiking, biking trails, and a high-altitude restaurant.
If you do visit this place, please make sure you take a couple of gondola rides. All for free. The view from the top was ethereal that I did a couple of rides. As I mentioned, we can stop at any station and decide to walk back up or down via the trails. The gondolas were well timed, and well manned with a chart board outside the station that listed the trails and their status and timings. From up there, the view will show the beautiful stretch of the city that is nestled beautifully in the mountains. We can see the tiny strip of the airport runway that had a couple of flights and only used to land mostly private and chartered flights.
Speaking of which, I need to tell you that the prices for a ticket to reach this airport was way too expensive (almost equivalent to an India trip). I had decided to fly to Denver and from there we decided to drive to Telluride. There a couple of routes you can choose and the one we took to reach Telluride took us about 7 hours which includes a stop for lunch and coffee. I loved the drive from Montrose to Telluride the best and though it was later in the evening and the sun was almost down for the day, it was a wonderful view. With the partial snow capped mountains, pinkish sky of the setting sun, rain lashing out once a while, and the wonderful smell of pine trees, it was one beautiful drive.
Being very sensitive to the rising altitude and motion sickness, it was hard for me to be on the passenger side. I had (wanted) to drive and it was just wonderful to be in control (which is what my hubby says- I need to be in control). Ears popped, had a slight pressure in my head that caused a headache, but none of it mattered for the beauty of the place was such that, I would do it all over again. This surely was one of the most beautiful trips and I got to do a lot on my own.
There is so much more to share and so, will do it in two parts. So, please follow this page to know more about my adventures in this beautiful little mountain town. If you travel a lot and hopefully you love this post, please share your adventure stories and if you don’t love so much travel, then do share if this inspired you to pack your bags. If this post didn’t make much sense, then I’m sure, to a traveler, this won’t change anything and for the non-traveler again it doesn’t change anything either ;)
Note: All pictures are using iPhone camera
