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Outdoors

When snow falls in Telluride in May, even the most rugged mountain souls dream of an escape. Luckily, for those of us who get to call Telluride home, there is a flipside to our paradise: road tripping over to Utah. Southeast Utah has all of the things that we lack right now—snow-free trails, electric green aspens, beautiful camping, and most importantly: warmth. Gathering Wild Flowers Chasing up a campsite on a Friday night in Moab, Utah, however, can be trickier than winning an evening plane flight with a young Robert Redford over Africa. Everyone wants in (or maybe that’s just me with that metaphor?)—Regardless, everyone wants in, and not everyone can have in. Utah residents have a joke about this Colorado infiltration that my husband, Andy, likes to tell everyone until they're nauseated: “You know how you know it’s spring in the desert? The license plates turn green.” Because of this Moab chaos, Andy and I have started heading south of Moab to camp out with our girls. On our most recent trip, we went back right back to a spot we’ve been to before: Indian Creek.
18 May, 2011 /
[click "Play", Jagged Edge's Erik Dalton speaks with Susan]

 

Kayak swap Friday, May 20, 7 p.m., Telluride's Jagged Edge hosts a movie night. The featured film is Young Gun Production's "Source."  Saturday, May 21, 9 a.m. to close, the store hosts a river gear and kayak swap. Both events are fundraisers for the San Miguel Whitewater Association, Telluride's local paddling/whitewater club.

"Source" provides unique insight into the lives of some of the biggest names in kayaking, their appreciation for diverse and challenging rivers and what keeps them up at night. We follow them on their global journey to experience new cultures from Vietnam to the high Sierras, meet new people, and, of course, push their limits in spectacular whitewater. Experience global first descents, explore new heights in freestyle, and witness the descent of the tallest waterfall ever paddled. “Source” captures stunning action in impossible locations.

18 May, 2011 /

by J James McTigue

What is Boggy Draw?

It sounds like a place Kermit the Frog lives. And, perhaps he does; but we didn’t find him. We did find ponds with leeches, horny toads, miles of mellow single track, and a few cacti stuck in the sole of our shoe.

We also didn’t find facilities. You have to bring your own water, pack out your trash and for the other: dig a hole; hold it; or pack it out.

Boggy Draw is essentially an open park of San Juan National Forest, situated about four miles above Dolores. The development is minimal: a trailhead, single-track and a dirt road to access sheltered alcoves among the Ponderosa pines -- stellar for car camping.

 

12 May, 2011 /

Let's get it out from the beginning: I never leave Telluride because I'VE JUST GOT TO GET OUT OF THE BOX CANYON! I leave because I haven't seen family for a while, or maybe there's someplace else calling me. I made my living traveling,...

10 May, 2011 /

 WishingWell_alessandra_final3 
Bridal Veil Living Classroom Director,
Alessandra Jacobson, with the Wishing Well

We are pleased to announce the return of the Wishing Well! Long term locals will remember the fund-raising successes of the Well when it was planted in Elk’s park to help with the purchase of the Valley Floor. More recently, the Well was anchored near the Beach at Mountain Village where it attracted coinage for the Green Gondola campaign organized by Ben Williams. The Wishing Well aptly illustrates how big projects can be accomplished bit by bit.

The Wishing Well was commissioned by the Telluride Institute and was originally built by the late Glenn Harcourt, Rodney Porsche, and other Steep Rock Joinery and Atlas Arkology members. It is hand crafted from a length of antique, 3 foot diameter, riveted culvert pipe. Heavy hewn timbers provide a frame for signage. Hi tech bullet proof glass seals the top of the cylinder. Donation slots were cut with a torch into the side of the Well. 

05 May, 2011 /

by Jon Lovekin

(Editor's note: One of the pleasures in publishing Telluride Inside... and Out is getting to know new  [to us] writers. Susan and I independently ran across Jon Lovekin on Twitter. She took the next step, checked out his writing, liked what she saw and asked if he would be interested in contributing to TIO. Herewith, another article from Jon.)

Ranchland Clouds built over the plains as they always do each day this time of year.  The wind blew soft and hot keeping the gnats at bay.  Mud was deep around the building we were working on after the record setting 6 inch rain over the weekend.  The sun burned deep into the skin and I thought of that boy working on that ranch 29 years ago and only 30 miles away. I had thought of the Rancher now that I worked in La Junta again and looked up his name in the phone book.

I didn’t recognize him at first when I pulled up to the address in Fowler where the phone book said he lived.  There was an old man in a jump suit sitting in a porch swing connected to an oxygen tank who was staring at me as I looked again at the house number.  I got out, strode around the truck and said, “Hello, does Ken live here?”

“He used to” replied the man who I knew instantly was him.

02 May, 2011 /

by J James McTigue

“Road Trip” conjures many images–-recollections of Kerouac, laissez-faire college summers, U2’s Joshua Tree album. Memories of road trips make me sigh, reliving those days when we could just hop in the car and take off, without a care in the world.

Road trip Though the circumstances of my life have changed (I’m married with two kids) I still hang on to the romantic vision of road tripping. So much so, that when the lifts closed, we packed the family, skis, road bikes, pack-n-play, and coloring books into the car and headed west. This was a far cry from the spontaneous road trips of yesteryear, in which the plan was not to have one. Every night of this road trip was accounted for, a combination of staying at friends’ houses, getting “bros. deals” at nice resorts and paying for a few crappy hotels. The trip would take us from Telluride, to Northern California down to Southern California then east to Phoenix and back to Telluride, with a lot of stops in between. 

When I divulged my plans to my seemingly more practical friends, whose off-season plans included a plane ticket, a beach and a condo, they unconvincingly  commented, (more accurately questioned) “That will be fun?”

 

24 April, 2011 /

By Jon Lovekin

(Editor's note: One of the pleasures in publishing Telluride Inside... and Out is getting to know new  [to us] writers. Susan and I independently ran across Jon Lovekin on Twitter. She took the next step, checked out his writing, liked what she saw and asked if he would be interested in contributing to TIO. Herewith, another article from Jon.)

Chugwater The Powder River Basin is one of America's sacrificial lands for our energy needs. Oil derricks, oil and gas pipelines, industrial roads that seem to go nowhere, and the largest open-pit coal mine in the United States. This vast region occupies an area approximately 120 by 200 miles or 24,000 square miles of open prairie, desert, high mountains, isolated buttes and deep rivers. This was home to the Ab-Sa-Ra-Ka or the Crow Indians and remains remote and unknown to much of America. Camping on Casper Mountain near the North Platte the view north remains crisp of the Big Horn Mountains near Montana hundreds of miles away.

24 April, 2011 /

 

by J James McTigue

 If Telluride is a ski town, then San Anselmo, CA is a bike town.

San Anselmo is one of many small hamlets tucked in the rolling Marin hills. Traveling north from the Golden Gate Bridge, there is a series of towns like San Anselmo— Sausalito, Mill Valley, Larkspur, and San Rafael.  Each is linked to the next by bike trails, bike lanes and winding back roads, perfect for the bike commuter, the recreational rider and the competitor.


Biker From San Anselmo, riders can bike to Nicasio Valley and further north to Pt. Reyes, or circle back on a loop called Lucas Valley. The country is rural. Horses roam the green fields and cows graze against the rolling hills. At this time of year, pink cherry blossoms are in full bloom and their fallen petals silence the sound of your front bike wheel as it rolls over them.

18 April, 2011 /