Wilson Meadows Hike

Earlier this week we had a family hike to Wilson Meadows. The beginning is actually the Lizard Head Trail which starts at the Lizard Head Pass summit right behind the bathrooms.

The higher we got into the trees, the worse the mosquitoes were. Jay said it was like we were in, Lord of the Flies in this area.

The Lizard Head Trail splits off into the Wilson Meadows trail.

It is 3 miles to Wilson Meadows, which made it a 6 mile hike. The elevation gain is 1,000 feet, putting Wilson Meadows at about 11,000 feet above sea level.

We had no idea just how large the meadow would be, and there was an excellent view of Lizard Head Peak!

The meadow is very marshy and muddy with Wilson Creek running through.

Maralee and Jay were getting in the Wilson Creek a little bit here. Sunshine Peak is in the background. Wilson Peak isn't too far away from here, but isn't in view from the meadow.

Jay accidentally took this one of me, but I like it.

Everyone got ahead of me on the way down.

Maralee was leading us on most of the hike and did a great job.

There is a nice view Trout Lake from the trail, just on the other side of highway 145.

I took a video of Maralee running around the meadow. She was having a blast!

Best Telluride Winter Video Ever!!

Jay and I saw this video several times during the Mountainfilm Festival. Today my friend Steve Garufi from ColoradoGuy.com shared the link to the video on The Adventure Life. Click HERE to see the video, and be sure to have your sound turned up. You won't regret it!

It only seemed fitting to post a snowy photo with a blog entry like this one! I've posted this before, but it's a great view from the top of Kids Hill.

Placer Gulch

After completing California Pass we had the option of driving to Animas Forks or taking the long way around through Placer Gulch. Since we have been to Animas so many times, we picked Placer Gulch even though it was pouring down rain the whole drive. I have read that this is a great location to see wildflowers, but it's still a little early in this area.

The gulch is full of old mines, mills and buildings. If the weather had been better it would have been fun to explore the area a little more. I think this is the Sound Democrat Mill.

The gray building is the Treasure Mountain Mill. I couldn't get a good photo of Treasure Mountain due to the weather.

For the last two photos I used the Picasa "warmify" because I liked the effect it had on them.

Treasure Mountain Boardinghouse.

This waterfall was right by the road. Yes, we were listening to John Denver!! It was totally appropriate for the scenery.

Hurricane Pass and Calfornia Pass/Gulch

The Corkscrew Gulch trail leads right onto Hurricane Pass. Last summer we did part of Hurricane Pass before it was open. The cloudy skies made the scenery look quite a bit different this time.

There are still huge walls of snow to drive through before reaching the summit. Hurricane is an easy trail, rated on the harder side of easy.

The summit sign must have been damaged in the winter. Jay found it laying on the ground. Hurricane Pass reaches an elevation of 12,407 feet.

View of Lake Como from the summit of Hurricane Pass.

Hurricane Pass leads right into California Pass. This is the point where Poughkeepsie Gulch begins, a difficult trail that Jay wants to drive.

As you can see, Poughkeepsie is still snowed in.

I can't imagine what the story is behind this!

Summit of California Pass, elevation 12,930 feet.

Savanna is trying to catch some hail here. It hailed on us for a couple of minutes at the summit.

We walked up the steep hill behind the summit sign, and when I reached the top I saw Wetterhorn, Matterhorn and Uncompahgre Peaks. It felt like running into friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.

Zoomed in view of Wetterhorn, Matterhorn and Uncompahgre. It is still weird to think about Jay and Garrett standing on top of Uncompaghre last year.

I'm sure the view of Lake Como from California Pass is much better when it isn't dark and cloudy.

Descending into California Gulch.

We had seen someone hiking through the snow in the gulch. I assume this is his camp. Looks like a great place for tent camping.

At the bottom of the gulch we stopped to decide which way we wanted to go from there. A couple drove up to us from Placer Gulch asking if the way we came from would take them back to Silverton. I just happened to be taking a video!

Corkscrew Gulch

This year Jay and I decided to drive the Jeep trails that we have never been on before. Imogene and Black Bear Passes are still closed, so this week seemed like a good time to head for the trails near Ouray and Silverton. We began Corkscrew Gulch about 7.7 miles from Ouray up highway 550 at the sign for Idarado Mining. This is the best place to start if planning to go further on to more of the trails that connect to Corkscrew.


The clouds had moved in and luckily we didn't get rained on during the drive over Corkscrew. The trail is easy, but can become difficult when muddy. There are some steep switchbacks and since the mud can become like clay, this can make the trail more difficult.

Corkscrew winds around in between Red Mountains 1 and 2. I'm surprised we haven't driven on this trail before since I do love the Red Mountains so much!

There is nothing like Jeeping up into the alpine tundra!!

Garrett was with us this time!! He hates to have his picture taken for some reason.

I didn't take very many photos of the road, but it is an easy trail and relatively wide. We descended into the Gladstone area.

I should mention Corkscrew is only 4.8 miles long and only takes about 30 minutes, but is well worth the trip!

Bluegrass Festival Fun for Kids

Most of my best photos at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival were taken while doing activities with my kids. Savanna and Maralee loved this huge Connect Four game. It was so tall that Maralee had to have some help.

Savanna trying to keep us cool.

Jugglers' Grove.

Savanna learning to juggle.

Maralee decorating a hoola-hoop.

Clown getting everyone in line for the children's parade.

Everyone was lined up and ready for the children's parade, when the clown announced something that no parent wanted to hear, "The band has decided to play an encore. Do you know what that means?" I said, "That means we have to wait." HAHA!!

This photo looks like total chaos, but it is actually us parading through the Bluegrass crowd.

I just liked the way this huge musical note looked next to Ajax Peak.

Kids group photo.

I finally figured out how to get videos from my new camera to the computer. This is a great one of Savanna.

The 36th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival

I spent a few hours at the Bluegrass Festival on Sunday afternoon. This is the big festival that can make our town grow from 2,000 people to 20,000. With a some town jobs, like Jay's, it seems there are preparations year-round to accommodate this big crowd. Jay works several days in a row and is completely exhausted by the end.

One important thing I have never witnessed is the daily "running of the tarps." People line up at the park in the wee hours of the morning to get a number for who gets in first when the gates open at 10 am. People go running in like crazy to get their perfect festival spot. I usually sit somewhere on the side in the back since we hardly ever sit in our chairs, anyway. The girls would rather spend all of their time in the family tent area.

Bluegrass is a great time to people-watch!

This is the first time a photo has been taken of me with my new camera.

Maralee spends most of her time running around at the festivals.

Can you see the dust devil spinning in the center behind the crowd?

This is the reason I only spent a few hours at the festival this year, even missed seeing Emmylou Harris. Kristen came to town!!! Ari was here working as a Reserve Deputy, and after spending time with her sister, Kristen arrived around 4 p.m. We only got to see each other for one evening before they drove back up to Grand Junction to fly home to LA. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they can both come back for Blues and Brews.

Life is Good in a Jeep

Tuesday we finally began our 2009 Jeeping! We started by going over Ophir Pass and headed for Silverton with no real plan in mind. I didn't really get any outstanding photos due to the overcast skies, but I admit sometimes it's relaxing to not take a photo every 3 minutes and just sit back and enjoy the trip all for myself.

This first photo is of the shelf road of Ophir Pass, the only scary part of the trail if you are scared of heights.

There is still quite a bit of snow around the summit.

We arrived in Silverton just in time to see the Durango Silverton train leaving after lunch.

We drove up toward Animas Forks and saw the sign for Stony Pass and thought we would check it out. We ended up driving the whole pass, turning around where the sign said it would be 47 more miles to Creede.

I'm not sure what happened to this vehicle from Montana! Must be an interesting story. Maybe they tried to drive the pass before it was clear of snow and slid off the road.

I had no idea the summit of Stony Pass was so high! 12,650 feet! We had left all of our maps and guide books at home.

One more summit photo.

Most of the time I know several of the names of mountains that we see from the trails, but I have no idea what any of them are on this side of Silverton.

The road was in really good condition. It is rated as the most difficult of the easy trails. There are a lot of narrow, steep places that I'm sure my mother wouldn't like even if it was paved.

Jay tested the water to see if we could cross to Beartown. We decided we didn't have enough time, so he got his feet numb for nothing. :)

The deer were curious as to what we were doing up there. We also saw around 20 marmots, all racing around the road and up and down the mountains.

Back to civilization in Silverton. This is the Silverton City Hall.

Lastly is my girls with the guy at Handlebars. I ate a great chicken fried steak!! Jay had the trout. If you are wondering why there are no pictures of Garrett, he stayed in town with his friend and left with him for an overnight trip to Durango. Next time we drive over Stony Pass, we plan on camping near Creede and possibly visit the Wheeler Geological Area. If you have never heard of Wheeler, you should Google it and look at the photos. It's a pretty amazing and little known place.

Savanna the Tourist

Savanna doesn't like to be mistaken for a tourist. We joke about wearing t-shirts that say, "I'm not a tourist!" This week she went to Durango with me and pretended to enjoy being in cheesy tourist photos. I had a dermatology appointment that I had to leave really early for, and Savanna went along with me. Here she is holding her mocha latte with a shot of espresso near the Durango Silverton train depot. Savanna is crazy about coffee! I, however, can't stand it.


Horse sculpture in front of the Durango Silverton train depot.

Of course we had to stop at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory!! I had a HUGE chocolate covered strawberry and Savanna had chocolate covered cherries. We ate lunch at the huge Mexican restaurant Francisco's before making a Wal-Mart run and heading home. Any day is a good day to be in Durango!

Telluride Heritage Festival and Wild West Fest

The Saturday during the Wild West Fest brought a brand new festival, the Telluride Heritage Festival. The main event was the Butch Cassidy bank robbery reenactment. I guess it's a little known fact that he robbed his first bank here!! I have had several comments from people that had no idea. The reenactment took place in front of the Appaloosa Trading Company. Appaloosa is a great western wear shop and they have a new shop in town with home and ranch furniture and accessories. We also have shopped at their store in Durango.

A lot of people really got into the festival with costumes.

This is the vault that Butch Cassidy robbed. After the original San Miguel Valley Bank burned down, the vault was moved to what is now the Sunglass HQ shop.

Maralee and I went for a stagecoach ride around town.

There were a lot of activities for kids. This is Maralee at the make your own tipi tent.

Savanna and Maralee are both here at the tug-of-war wearing purple tops, on the left.

It was a fun day for everyone, and I hope the new festival was considered a success so it can continue to grow!