Telluride PhotosPhotos of Telluride Ski Area, Snowboarding, Hiking

I took a counter-clockwise hike on the Deep Creek to the Eider Creek trail loop.  I can’t remember how long it took, but it was about 2-3 hours and I took my time … actually traveling up the ridge line for 10 minutes past the junction where the Sneffels Highline and Deep Creek Trail head converge to get a view up and over the canopy of trees. The shot below was taken from this vantage point, where you can see the Telluride Ski Area on the right (lift 9 area):

Below is a macro shot of a cool looking mountain wild flower I came across. You might want to click on the photo and then go to the actual album and look at the largest size to really see the detail of this flower … which is truly amazing.

Below is a photo taken in macro mode of an Osha plant in Waterfall Canyon near Ophir, Colorado which has flowered recently.   It seems we’re pretty much in the peak season with respect to mountain wild flowers in the high country.

The roots of the Osha plant are often harvested for medicinal purposes; in particular treating upper respiratory cold and flu symptoms.

Osha is the term used for “bear root” by the Ute’s who apparently witnessed bears seeking out and consuming Osha root after hibernation or when sick or wounded.

Cow parsnip flower looks very similar to that of Osha, but normally has much broader leaves.

I went on a hike on the North side of the Ophir valley yesterday and tried to reach an old mine / tram station up near the Ophir Needles (few hundred yards to the east), but of course took the wrong path and overshot it to the west and underneath in terms of elevation. I believe I made it as far as St. Louis Gulch where I turned around due to not wanting to deal with a goat track on a very steep cliff wall. It would be much easier to traverse through this gulch at either a higher or lower elevation.

So, I backtracked slightly upwards & spotted the clearing of what I believe to be a shack which resides immediately adjacent to the mine I originally was looking to make it too … but it was good 300 vertical feet higher than where I was currently positioned and was too tired to go higher.

So, I opted to simply continue the bushwacking back east and try and locate the main trail in order to find the proper route the next time around. The general rule of thumb for hiking on northern side of Ophir is that you can generally find SOME sort of trail, be it: a full on jeep road, old miner’s trail, or a well defined Elk / animal route … if you simply bushwack it up or down in elevation. Of course, it is important to realize there are many rock outcroppings, cliffs, and other natural features of the terrain which might not allow direct egress. Below is a shot taken from the choke of what is referred to as the West Badger slide path:

I scrambled straight down through the choke … which is basically a narrowing or bottleneck of the gulch by rock formations. Chokes on ski runs are often scraped off and rocky, since most skiers and snowboarders have very little room to manuever in order to pass through & typically scrape off the existing snowbase.

Back to the hike at hand: I realized that after years of snowboarding, I’m now very conditioned to look at what is actually steep terrain below me as almost being flat!!! It’s a sort of trick of the eye. It normally serves me well snowboarding; however, in the context of hiking, it is much more difficult to negotiated a decent down a steep path avalanche path vs. what would otherwise be a few quick turns on my board.

Once I did make it below the choke, I accidently stumbled upon/near a nest of Gunnison Sage Grouse which was on the ground and very well camouflaged. Luckily I didn’t step on any of the little chicks (or whatever they’re called), but did scare away mom … who I’m sure she returned shortly after I left the nest.

Below the choke, I quickly picked up one of the jeep switchbacks and continued downward, on a very rocky pathway, but ultimately figured out where I initially took the wrong turn at the beginning … so next time, I’ll be fairly certain about the route.

Took a short hike up the Sneffels Highline Trail yesterday going counter clockwise.  Made it up to just shy of the hole in the rock or key hole slot … but managed to make it to one of the big lava looking rock outcroppings which afford a view of the ski area and bear creek across the way.

Below is the trunk of an Aspen tree which was split open and has an interesting red/rusty hue .  It’s interesting to see how some Aspen’s trunks near the very bottom have a very thick bark which is gray with thick ridges.   I’m not sure what type of plant appears in front of the Aspen?

Below is a shot of the Town of Telluride taken from the Jud Wiebe Trail … which is the first segment to access the Sneffels Highline Trail (unless you start at Mill Creek, or bushwack it)

According to the San Miguel County website, Ophir Pass is currently closed (as well as Imogene Pass and Black Bear Pass).

I did see a jeep tour ride come down the pass yesterday, but they very well could’ve drove a ways up and turned around.  Apparently, the hold up is due to downed trees vs. an overabundance of snowfall.  Here is a photo I took of the pass yesterday.  There is still plenty of snow visible at the higher elevations.  I’m sure there’s a fairly tall shaved wall of snow at the summit.

We’ve finally received an extended blast of warm dry weather which has introduced the summer season in Telluride.   I took a very short hike up Bear Creek yesterday.  Below is a shot of the rock outcropping which is situated just above the lowest waterfall in Bear Creek (which can be accessed via Telluride Town Park Campground):

This was take out of my car window, I believe near the Vandium clean-up site (in between Fall Creek & Telluride) over a week ago on September 30th. I wonder if there’s more to what’s going on there than is being officially stated (and there are radioactive concerns known to the public to begin with)?

In any case, the fall colors were just about peaking at that time; however, a couple weather fronts with high winds which moved in since have claimed the leaves on a large number of Aspen trees … which I believe encroached on the true “peak window” this season. In particular, we never quite had that full spectrum of colors present at a single time. Instead, many leaves first turned yellow, then were blown off the trees … yet they never turned gold/red (which would’ve happened about now). There are still trees which have green leaves and are in the process of turning now. In any case, just a theory … it’s hard to remember from year to year.

Gold King Basin is located immediately to the south of Alta Lakes and to the north of Ophir. The access road is the same one for Alta Lakes; located between Telluride and Ophir.

There are still old mining reminants scattered throughout the area as well as a single house … which appears to have built fairly recently. Here is a photo taken from the top tram station looking down valley:

I took a hike up to lizard head via the crossmountain trail, which has a trailhead located at the top of lizard head pass … about 15 miles south of Telluride.

Lizard Head can be seen from almost any vantage point within mountains surrounding the Telluride Ski Resort, and takes on many different shapes … depending upon one’s vantage point. Here’s a shot from the southern approach after nearing treeline:

Here’s a photo taken under Lizard Head near the saddle heading toward the Black Face trail: