Fall in Telluride

Since the late 1980's when I first came to Telluride to hang glide this has been one of those magical places to visit. We (Bill, Cathy, Marlys and me) waited until the crowds from the Blues and Brew Festival had cleared out before heading over last Tuesday.

The storminess from the weekend and the previous week had broken and it was a beaut. The drive over took us just under six hours, but the views were spectacular even though the leaves had not started to change. Last week by this time we were past peak, but I think the late Summer rain may have had a part in holding off the Fall change over.

The camper allowed us to stay right in Town Park by what was (and maybe still is) known as the "Seizure" LZ (landing zone) as all of the approaches had some form of a obstacle. I am always amazed at how big a landing zone looks from the ground, and how small they look when you are flying into them. They still must be flying hang gliders and paraglider's in Telluride because both the Seizure and Leisure (big field outside of town) had a number of wind indicators.

One of our first stops after setting up was a bar I first visited 23 years ago, O'Bannons. The rear entrance framed one of those unforgettable up valley scenes for which the town is noted.

Phoenix and I use to stop in here for a Guinness on the way back to the condo after a day of flying.

It made for a nice place to relax after the drive over and we could walk back to the campsites.

It seems as if morning comes later (and evening earlier) in these valleys and the sun didn't make it over the peaks until after 8am the next morning.

After a trip to "Baked in Telluride" for donuts we started the drive up to Bridal Veil falls, but the road soon put a stop to that, as it was pretty rough, even rough then the road into Mt. Sherman on Monday. The look back into the valley to the west was pretty spectacular and you can understand why a number of celebrities call this place home.

Back in town we took the transit systems gondola over to the Mountain Village for lunch and shopping.

This is a great ride and its free.

After another night of eating and walking around the week was over and we headed back to Pinon Rock.

Summer is over and its time to get ready for the snow, skiing, and ....