Telluride Arrival

We woke up early Tuesday.  We were heading to Telluride Colorado and the mountains are best flown during the still morning hours.  I had planned a scenic route through the Rockies to Telluride.  Nature had other ideas though. 

The wildfires around Kremmling and others further West had made for some pretty thick smoke in places. Also we had to be out of Telluride on Saturday latest and the weather forecast was looking like it might not be a good day to depart.

While I really wanted to land at TEX, (Telluride), the second highest airport in the USA, I felt that with a new plane and many unknowns I needed a safer plan.  Plan B was Durango.  Durango is 50 miles South but sits on a plain at only 6689 feet.  I also changed our route to fly South along the front range, cut over Hayden Pass and then Fly South around the last of the really high terrain into Durango, CO.

It was a great flight, we started at 10,500 and stepped up to 12,500 for the pass and some terrain to the West. We got flight following and easily flew our route.  The views were only marginal though with the smoke and haze.  I had called ahead to Durango on Monday and they were expecting us, we had great service, were marshalled into a good spot and they brought the rental car to the plane.

Mountain fuel is expensive but if you bought 20 gallons they waved all fees.  The fees without buying gas were $100 so it’s a no brainer to get gas.  I have found that in most places they really incentivize you to get some gas over paying the fees. Figuring parking was worth at least $15/night parking, it was some of the cheapest fuel we bought.

All of our stops have had nice FBOs and Durango was no exception.  The facility is nice, the people are friendly, the service is good, and they even sent us off with cold waters and snacks.

Landing at Durango meant we had to drive up to Telluride, or I should say we got to drive up as it is a beautiful trip and just 2 hours.  You start on the plain and then ascend the Rockies to reach Telluride.  As we were driving the weather was changing though. By the time we arrived there were dark clouds.  This is another reason why you fly early in the mountains.

Our first afternoon was a bit rainy but we dropped by to see some friends and had a great time chatting and snacking.  Our friends put out a spontaneous feast of cheese, fruit, sweets, and other goodies.  After the rain we head out to explore the town.

Telluride the town is about 1 mile by .25 miles but the northern part of town is mostly houses so it is basically a mile of shops 3 blocks wide.  Everything is walkable which makes it convenient to get around.   We walked to the park and the down Main Street.  The place was pretty busy.

Telluride also has some satellite areas up the mountain.   There is a free gondola that takes you up to Mountain Village so we decided to take a joy ride.  The gondola was put in to reduce vehicle traffic and facilitate tourism.  We went up and down and enjoyed the views.  We didn’t have time to sightsee because we were getting hungry.  When we got down we ordered some food and called it a night.

Doing Time

After 2 days enjoying the great outdoors, it was time to head inside.  We headed over to the Wyoming Territorial Prison.  The facility was used from the 1870s to 1903 and held such notable prisoners as Butch Cassidy. 

When we were in New Zealand we visited a prison that was used continuously from 1855-1991 with literally no upgrades, they just doubled the number of prisoners per cell so it really just had downgrades.  I guess in some sense there were the good old days when you had 12 square feet each in your cell.

Much of this facility has been restored to better than new condition.  After it closed for convicts it was used to hold barnyard animals and apparently they made a mess.  The prison has a self guided tour option which we took.  We enjoyed visiting the warden’s house, the cell blocks, the broom factory and the yard.  They had some other historical exhibits we perused as well.

Our next stop was back to the University of Wyoming to see the geology museum.  It’s not big place but has some cool Dino bones.  Even better it was free.   Sort of wild to imagine the terror you might experience if you ever ran into one of these guys. The smaller dude was just dug up in 1991 so he is sort of fresh.

We had had enough of inside so we headed towards Cheyenne. First stop was the Lincoln Memorial.  Not the one in DC, this is a big Lincoln bust a local man decided to create to commemorate the Lincoln Highway. It now resides at a rest stop off I-80.  It is a bit odd, you see his head but not well because of the angle, and it’s not clear where the body is.  It is a popular stop though and since it was right on the way, you sort of have to stop and stare.

We did not ponder this too long as we were off to Vedauwoo. This is an interesting rock formation near Cheyenne.  It is very popular with climbers and can be pretty dangerous.  We drove around to various positions and enjoyed the views.  

There is also a nice path through the center which we hiked.  My days of high risk rock climbing are well behind me.

Hiked is a strong word, it is flat and mostly paved.   After the rocks we were off to Cheyenne to check on the plane.  All was well so we got some rest in preparation for our morning flight.   Did I mention the state has lots of really nice flowers?

Art On A Wall

Laramie has a surprising amount of art.  One obvious example is the mural project started in 2011 that utilizes local artists to create art on the downtown buildings. 

I downloaded the map of the official murals and Sunday afternoon we were off on a walking tour.

One thing we noticed quickly was that there were murals that were not part of the official project.  It is an interesting collection, I liked some, others not so much.  Monday must be garbage day as some murals had cans out for the next days pick up.  Not sure whether that added to the charm but most art exhibits don’t include the trash. 

We wandered about and took pictures.  I had a secret weapon.  When I changed cameras last year, one downside is that the micro 4/3 system has a 2x magnification factor.  Thus a 50 mm lens is really a 100.  My zoom is now 28-280 mm compared to my last system where I had a 21-300. The top end is covered by the higher resolution sensor but wide shots are an issue.

The girls got me a cool little lens for my Birthday.  It is a 7.5mm or effectively a 15mm with a 110 degree field of view.  It is tiny, fully manual and different than my other glass but the perfect lens for landscapes and murals.

In addition to art, they have lots of flowers. Enjoy the natural and man made art!