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Editor's note: For eight years, Telluride local/mountaineer Ben Clark and a few friends/professional colleagues have made Spring treks to the majestic Himalayas. Follow his adventures on Telluride Inside... and Out, including links to his regular podcasts. If you have missed any of Ben's posts, just type "Ben Clark" into Lijit Search to find them all.

Folks, this is my ninth Himalayan Expedition. I have seen crazy stuff happen before, but never anything like this.  We are on our way to the mountains but nowhere near where I thought when we landed in the heart of the Annapurna range just days ago.   21a.thumbnail
 
If you know me well, you know I often joke about getting a tattoo across my chest of two tigers holding hands with the statement "Expect the Unexpected" emblazoned underneath. Well...it is because my life as an adventurer and explorer has put me into some of the most twisted realities I can or can't imagine. I live life daily and this week has been no different.
23 October, 2010 /

IMGP1958 Telluride Inside... and Out wants to talk bull with you. Mega bull: Zeus when he seduced Europa. Here's the story:

Overwhelmed by love for Europa, a Phoenician princess, Zeus transformed himself into a magnificent white bull and appeared on the sea shore where Europa was playing with her maidens.The great bull walked gently over to where Europa stood and knelt at her feet. Overcoming her natural fear of the great beast, she climbed onto his back. What ensued is the ancient Greeks' answer to date rape.
23 October, 2010 /

Most of us haven’t thought of wearing a pair of cargo pants since the 90s, but guess what? They’re back! Skinny cargos have become a staple in most fashion magazines and in many a closet throughout Hollywood. -1

Some might say that skinny cargos are an oxymoron.  Well, in a sense, yes they are! When we think of cargos, we think of bulk and oversized pockets, but the latest trend of the pant is everything but. The new skinny cargos have a sleeker silhouette, and the pockets sit to flatter to the body, which keeps them from adding extra bulk and width to the legs.

One of the best things about skinny cargo pants is that they are easily incorporated into your wardrobe. They work with baggy or tight tops, heels, flats, and boots. Pair them with a sweater, denim jacket or blazer. And the skinny cargo also looks flattering on all body types – it’s all about finding the right fit and style to work with your shape.

21 October, 2010 /
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While staying in Athens, Telluride Inside... and Out visited Corinth. The ancient city was upon a time a nearly impregnable fortress with a reputation for lewd and licentious behavior in the name of the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. St. Paul must have found the profligates irresistible: he founded a church in Corinth during an 18-month stay.
"Golden" Mycenae was once the most powerful city state in Greece, with the whole of the Peloponnese under its dominion. 
The entrance to Mycenae's acropolis is through the Lion Gate, the oldest example of monumental sculpture in Europe. Inside the walls, excavations have uncovered a palace complex, Grave Circle A with its six royal tombs, courtier's houses, craft areas, sanctuaries, and other important buildings. Off the acropolis lie more finds: Grave Circle B with its 14 royal tombs and the tombs of 12 private homes. On a nearby hill is one of the most memorable edifices of Mycenaen architecture, the Treasure of Atreus, also known as the Beehive Tomb of Agamemnon.
20 October, 2010 /

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Fall has not yet subsided into winter, and if you're still out hiking in Telluride, there's one last trail you should check out: Hawn Mountain. Anyone who has ever tried to walk over a talus slope or a scree field, putting their ankles in jeopardy on the shifting rocks and sometimes ending up on their backsides, will appreciate the sheer genius of the Hawn Mountain trail. Gray Head developer and longime local Steve Catsman designed this and all 16 miles of the Gray Head trails, as well as the Keystone Gorge Trail on the other side of the Telluride Valley. The trail’s switchbacks pass through ferrous rock, sharp pieces of grey and rust-colored granite. But instead of picking your way through the stones, take the stairs—an intricate staircase has been fashioned from the rocks, giving hikers a firm footing over which to pass through the scree field.

The stairway is truly amazing, maybe even as spectacular as the vantage points you reach on the hike. Doug Wolfe and his crew helped construct the rock route, and Wolfe said it took him a good two weeks to stand up without pain after it was completed.

19 October, 2010 /

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By Lisa Barlow

 

Editor's note: This is the first weekly column from new TIO contributor Lisa Barlow. Barlow is a writer and photographer who divides her time between New York, Telluride and San Pancho, Mexico. An enthusiastic omnivore, she specializes in stories about food. The photos above, from left to right: glazed beetroot and apples; poached eggs and radishes; pork neck and bulrushes, violets and malt.  LB2

It’s easy now to imagine how Babette might have coped at the end of Babette’s Feast when she had revealed herself to be a kick ass French chef, but had run out of money and was destined to remain as a cook and housekeeper for two ascetic spinsters in the remote and unforgiving landscape of Jutland in Denmark. Forget the foie gras and the Veuve Cliquot, all she had to do to look for extraordinary ingredients and inspiration was to open her front door.

19 October, 2010 /

DSC02439 Our experience is that  upon venturing outside the bubble we call Telluride, it takes awhile to find our sea legs. Or in this case, our way around the kitchen.

Greece has it when it comes to food: the Pelopponese is a kind of Eden, growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables, producing amazing wines , cheeses, meats and olive oils too. Crete, where we are headed today,  is another food mecca. So it is no big surprise that Athens is a food town, with a wide range of choices of eateries from down and dirty tavernas to Michelin-starred restaurants. (There's one right next store to our hotel, Eridanus, but we failed to score a reservation.)

18 October, 2010 /

Editor's note: For eight years, Telluride local/mountaineer Ben Clark and a few friends/professional colleagues have made Spring treks to the majestic Himalayas. Follow his adventures on Telluride Inside... and Out, including links to his regular podcasts. If you have missed any of Ben's posts, just type "Ben Clark" into Lijit Search to find them all.

When I broke my ankle on May 1 last spring, I was at 17,600’ on 23,390' Baruntse, also known as my own personal Moby Dick for reasons you can research at www.skithehimalayas.com. Unlike Ahab, I was rescued by a vessel rather than doomed to one. Lifted into the skies, wrapped in bandages, worked over through weeks of PT and now here I am again today, returning to wrestle with ambition and not the ankle. Hopefully stronger, admittedly risk averse and yet still with an appetite for the unknown. The whale is gone though, off my range for a spell. 

17 October, 2010 /

Dateline: Athens, 10/16/2010

IMGP1701 You know you are not in Kansas – Telluride either – when the view outside your window is, yes, a mountain, but not a very big one, and on top of that mountain –  or "Sacred Rock," the name locals gave it – is a cluster of ancient buildings, marble masterpieces dating back to the late fifth century B.C., the Golden Age of Athens.

The temples on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon, are among the most important monuments in the Western world. Yesterday, day #2 in Greece, we made the required pilgrimage. I say "required," not "desired," because the place is on everyone else's bucket list too, and so even now, the tail end of tourist season, there is barely room to turn around. But I am getting ahead of myself.

17 October, 2010 /

IMGP1708 Regular readers of Telluride Inside... and Out will recognize a familiar voice at the helm: Deb Dion has the con while Susan and I are on the road. Thanks for taking control, Deb.

We had a good week in Hackensack, NJ, with Susan's parents, with a few side trips into New York for art, theatre (if you're in New York, don't miss "Little Foxes" at New York Theatre Workshop) and catching up with friends. We had good pass rider karma on Delta Airlines, with seats in Business Class for the 10 hour flight to Athens. That set us up to hit the ground running when we arrived.

Construction and traffic delays related to labor strikes (protesting austerity measures mandated by EU bailouts in Greece) slowed our ride into the city. Our driver, Stevios, had plenty of stories to fill the time. Our first home-away-from-home, the Eridanus Luxury Art Hotel, has proven helpful beyond measure, as well as beautiful. The view of the Acropolis from our patio is also a major benefit.

15 October, 2010 /