For folks living in mountain towns, essential winter gear puts function before style (but in the best case scenarios incorporates both) and isn’t limited to apparel, but is comprised of custom items invented and engineered specifically for mountain living. To experience all Telluride has to offer...
Telluride has been announced as one of the host towns for the 2012 USA Pro Cycling Challenge. The first stage will start in Durango, climb over 10,200+ foot Lizard Head Pass, and down into Telluride (don't forget the 2 mile climb out of Ophir Loop...
Wildness does not go away because we bring it indoors. This is especially true of animals. Tom had two Malamutes, Neshka and Ashi, named for Eskimo heroes he had read about. He lived with them in a one room cabin up Coal Creek Canyon. The...
It snowed off-and-on for a few days in Telluride. I wouldn't call it a blizzard, but when Monday morning dawned clear and cold, with about 4 or 5 inches of new fluffy snow, it was time to quit work early (is 9 AM too early?)...
It’s ski season and the lifts are open -- but only Lift Four, Lift Five and Lift Six to See Forever. What’s a ski bum to do with only a few groomers to cruise on? The way I see it is you have two choices: 1)...
By Jesse James McTigue
Moab, Utah is full of some of the most mind-boggling spectacles and seeming impossibilities. Flowers bloom among the arid, desert landscape; rock-towers spiral skyward; and delicate arches perforate smooth rock formations.
Every October, in the middle of all of this natural wonderment, an even more mind-boggling spectacle occurs – the 24 Hours of Moab mountain bike race.
The race occurs at the end of the mountain biking season and has contenders racing from noon Saturday to noon Sunday, for 24 hours straight. Most competitors race on a four or five person team, requiring each individual rider to complete the 15-mile course three or four times. There are also competitors who compete as solo and duo riders and some of these folks do it on a single-speed—a mountain bike with one fixed gear.
Every year, I am amazed at how many people are willing to subject themselves to this race (including myself). Competitors range from professional cyclists to groups of friends looking for a good time and a personal challenge. Some teams are raising money for a cause; others are just hoping to survive.
When the snow flies early in Telluride as it did last week, we like to escape to Utah. Last weekend, instead of heading to Moab, we decided to go to a place that we hadn’t visited in a while: Comb Wash and the Cedar Mesa Plateau.
Comb Wash is an hour further than Moab but much quieter. It is filled with fantastic ruins and hikes. Located just southwest of Blanding, Utah, this is the beautiful spot that is infamously battled over in Ed Abbey’s fictional tale, The Monkey Wrench Gang.
We also love Comb Wash because great camping is simple to find. Andy and I were slow to get out of the house Saturday morning, and we still scored a great spot by the river. Our girls had the best time dipping in and out of the river, wallowing in the mud and building mud cakes.
When we finally convinced them to leave the mud, we wandered up South Mule Canyon to the Fire House Ruin. Photographers love this spot because the early morning light causes the ruins to glow. As we wandered up-canyon, we saw a handful of photographers traveling back with tripods and cameras. I didn’t really believe in the “fire” though, until I found these photos. (By the time we got there, it was midday.)
by Jon Lovekin
Happily exhausted, we lay down in the back of the truck with the Muz (our dog) snuggled between us. The night was cool, going on to cold. We had eaten our supper while trying to absorb the view to the west. It was as if Yosemite had collided with Rocky Mountain National Park and dumped out all the tourists along the way. The only crowds here were the swarms of mosquitoes trying to find a drilling point on what little flesh we still had exposed.
You can get to Telluride from Bristol, RI, and vice versa.
Telluride Inside... and Out has been East for nearly a month, mostly with Susan's parents in Hackensack, NJ. Among the side trips while we've been here, we were recently in Great Barrington, MA with Susan's aunt and cousin, then on to Providence, RI to share some time with new friends, the Pavlides family. Three year old Odysseas is one of my favorite people in the world, and I thought he would be interested in seeing how sailboats are built.
Hence our visit to Shannon Yachts in Bristol, RI, just a half hour down the road from Providence.
How does Telluride fit into this picture? Well, it's like this:
by Emily Brendler Shoff
There are some things in life that you just have to bow down and give thanks for, even if you’ve never had an interest in praying before. For me, it’s my friend Molly and Avalanche Ranch.
Molly and her family’s ranch just outside of Carbondale is one of those places where the stars have aligned, and a river runs through it. It’s right at the base of Mt. Sopris and nestled in the foothills along the Crystal River, has just the right blend of farmland and mountain topography. When I first visited it on a weekend away from Colorado College, I wanted to cry. I missed my family in Baltimore, and my heart felt frozen with pain. But more than anything, I couldn’t believe that Molly had grown up here. My god, to think, she got to see this everyday?!
