In the Year of the Pandemic, we decided on a fairly conservative vacation. We started by getting a condo in the town of Telluride. Our reasoning was that we could choose between eating outside, getting take-out, or just buying groceries and cooking in the full kitchen. As it turns out, virtually every restaurant in Telluride was closed for indoor dining, and the streets were closed to traffic and converted to outdoor food courts. Kudos to Telluride for providing a safe environment during this difficult time.
The first day of our vacation was just a drive to town. We took a brief walk in Glenwood Canyon to stretch our legs after the everyday construction traffic. We had a wonderful outdoor dinner in Ridgway, and made it to our destination shortly after.
The next morning, we left from our condo with hiking boots on, making Telluride feel like a European Alpine town. The streets themselves were steep as we hiked up to the even steeper Jud Wiebe Memorial Trail. This trail angled up the side of the valley, reminding me a bit of our horseback ride from Ouray a few years ago. We reached the trail junction, and I convinced the family to hike a way up the Sneffels Highline trail. I was trying to get above treelike for a view. Didn’t quite succeed, but found a nice overlook for lunch. The trail itself climbed through an idyllic aspen forest.
On the hike down, we came across a large family of grouse. We followed them and took lots of pictures as more and more little grouse chicks revealed themselves in the undergrowth.
Back at the junction, we continued east. Here the trail really opened up to grand views over the Telluride valley. The trail crossed some open meadows, giving great views of all of the surrounding peaks, with additional aspens sprinkled in. Fantastic viewpoint up towards Bridal Veil Falls and Black Bear Pass.
As we continued along the loop, we took some time out to rest and soak our feet in Cornet Creek. It’s been awhile since I’ve felt we had time for that kind of lolly-gagging, and it felt nice. We had occasional spritzes of rain as we finished the loop and walked into town on Tomboy Road (a.k.a. the road to Imogene Pass).
We explored a little bit through town before I headed home to a shower and beer. Dorinna and Nate played Pokemon Go for a little while before joining me. We had dinner at Steamies Burgers. Service was slow, but we had an outside table under a large atrium. Good way to start vacation.
7.4 miles
Das Haus von Ruh 