Telluride PhotosPhotos of Telluride Ski Area, Snowboarding, Hiking

Sunshine Mountain can be seen in the background at the bottom right of the photo — taken during a recent sunset from a spot in old Ophir. It is visible to the west from many locations in the Ophir. Last summer I hiked almost to the treeline of Sunshine, which has great views of Ophir looking back to the east. There’s an old overgrown switchback entrance off of the galloping goose trail which fizzles out into a single track eventually … which doesn’t last very long and you bushwack and follow animal trails from there on out. The general idea is to stay near the ridgeline without drifting to far away, but it’s actually a fairly wide ridgeline “strip” up to treeline … so you can meander around a bit. There’s some dense forest areas with many fallen trees. There’s also many animal trails which go through the area. I can’t really say for sure how it goes past treeline, but it looks like a relatively tame route.

Perched up on the immediate western knob of the entrance to Waterfall Canyon at an elevation about equal to that of the top of the Ophir Needles, it is possible to see out of the Ophir Valley and into illium and beyond. If you look very closely at the photo below: just to the left of the Ophir Needles, you can see a very faint outline of the La Sal’s near Moab, UT – about 75 miles away.

It is very easy to feel claustraphobic in Ophir, for there are not may locations (especially on the valley floor) which allows one to see very far into the distance or simply have a clear view out to the horizon. The above location is one of them. At least in Telluride, there’s a fairly clear window out west from the valley floor. Even more so, atop the Telluride Ski Resort, there’s a much more vast view out to the west & into Utah. I would like to hike up to the top of one of the La Sal’s one day, I’ve heard the view back to Telluride is excellent!

Hiking in Ophir, Colorado is similar to that of Telluride, but there are some differences. In particular, the northern side of the ophir valley has a much more sustained steep pitch from top to bottom. With the exception of Stroudsberg basin (directly to the west of Spring Gulch) and near the Carbonero mine, most of the terrain on the north side of ophir goes straight up from the valley floor without much in the way of benches. On the other hand, in Telluride, there is a distinct bench on the northern side of town which can be found in most areas above the cliffband visible from town. There are also larger, more expansive basins up at higher elevations on the northern side of the Telluride valley floor.

So, if you’re hiking on Ophir’s north side, chances are you’re either going straight an avalanche run-out or your traversing to the east or west. There are a lot of old mining roads, not to mention elk trails, which criss-crosses the northern side. Here is a photo of the Town of Ophir, taken from one of such trails facing south. Waterfall canyon is in the background in the shadows.

The trails on the northern side of Ophir can be very rocky. Generally speaking, many trails in and around Ophir are a bit more rough round the edges vs. hiking trails near Telluride.

On the southern side of the ophir valley, there are two canyons which run perpendicular to the ophir valley: Waterfall Canyon to the west and Swamp Canyon to the east. Both have distinct benches with more flat terrain and are comparable with Bear Creek in Telluride in so far as general terrain profile.

Here’s a shot of a morning rainbow over the Ophir Needles today!

I wish I were a headlight, on a northbound train. Then I’d shine my light through that cool Colorado rain.

The Telluride Blues and Brews Festival is taking place this weekend. More photos from Telluride coming soon.

There are still a steady stream of vehicles making their way up and over Ophir Pass from Ophir to Silverton & vis versa. Below is a picture of the pond almost immediately below & to the west of ophir pass. You can see the ophir needles in the distance (looking out to the west).

I’m still struggling with how to categorize photos taken from the valley, but have a subject off in the distance. Ophir pass road is actually hidden, but cuts up and to the right through the foreground. If you look closely, you can find the Hans Blix trail which is an Ophir to Telluride route for hikers. It is situated on the first distinct saddle from the left and above the darker stand of Blue Spruce (unless it’s Douglas Fir).

I’ve found imovie on my macbook to be a very easy way to upload short video clips taken from my point & shoot (Canon Powershot) to youtube. Below is a 35 second video clip of an avalanche triggered by explosives dropped from a helicopter above Ophir, Colorado on January 8, 2008:

I believe they were able to make two slides run on a Tuesday — when the weather finally broke — after having the road into Ophir closed since the previous Saturday night when a natural release down the St. Louis slide path blocked the road.

Unbelievably, yesterday was the first time I ventured above the shelf up high in waterfall canyon and was blow away by both the approach, views down valley, as well as the high alpine terrain and flowers in the upper basin.

It only took about one and half hours to reach the top of the shelf. I bumped into my neighbor who told me it was about another two hours to make to one of the saddles which allows you to look over Ice Lakes to the south.

Will try to see if there’s a route which circles back on the western side of Waterfall Creek … possibly linking up with Janes.

We’ve been socked in for the past few days with some rainy weather. It hasn’t been 100% non-stop, so occasionally the sun will shine and every once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right!

The Telluride Mountain Film Festival is still underway in Telluride on this Memorial Day weekend. I haven’t seen any movies, but have heard there are some great ones, as always.

… at least it’s new to me! After running into Larry R. and Brian M. a couple weeks ago in Waterfall Canyon, we were looking at some elk way up high in the sunshine above tree line on the eastern ridgeline of the mouth of Watefall canyon. I asked about whether or not there was a trail to get up there, and they said yes & in fact was one of the best hikes around Ophir. I didn’t get exact directions, but was told the trail head is on the east side of the Opus loop and actually dead ends; requiring one to bushwhack it along the ridgeline.

So, I first started out by hiking to the east Ophir bridge and took an immediate left … I hiked about a 1/10 of a mile before approaching what was either a natural cave or old mine on the right with what looked to be tailings on the left (north) … all near the beaver ponds. I couldn’t find any distinct trails from this point on, so I backtracked and continued up the Opus trail. Eventually, I found smaller single track heading east. I stayed on that which climbed steadily along the mountainside. Eventually there was an old tram station with a mine probably very nearby (tailings present). I continued on another 1/4 mile or so and eventually came to the major drainage in between Swamp and Waterfall canyons. The intersection of the trail I was on and the drainage was basically just a wide choke with scree on either side of the water … which I hiked directly up about another 1/4 mile or so (I believe continuing on the trail would’ve brought me to Swamp Canyon.). I reached a slight plateau and noticed what was either human or elk trail cutting back west. Knowing the switchbacks I was after were back west (and possibly on the west face of the target ridgeline), I proceeded. The trail is almost certainly an elk trail … saw plenty of elk tracks as well as some bear tracks. I basically had to bushwack a traverse across the mountain side. Nothing too technical, but a fair amount of needling through relatively heavy foliage was necessary. I could look to my right (north) and occasionally see landmarks on the Ophir valley floor … so I was able to track where I was east – west. Eventually I wound up on a very well defined elk track on the target ridgline: so I was now at the mouth of Waterfall canyon (the canyon now being to my left [south]). The elk trail decended quickly on to what was clearly an old mining road, even though it was fairly well grown over by foliage.

I finally found the trail I was seeking and proceeded up, but was fairly well spent in terms of my feet condition … so only made it up a few switchbacks (which were fairly long). I was amazed to be able to peer downvalley and almost “around the corner” of the Ophir Needles! It’s kind of the ultimate relief for the often claustrophibic feeling of living in the Ophir valley. I did not see Sunshine Mountain, but I imagine if I were to go up higher it would all come into view. Waterfall canyon was also seen from a different perspective; from the east, but much more immersed in so far as everything being “right there” in front of you. Jane’s and the other popular backcountry routes were all visble as well. I imagine sunrise must be excellent; sunsets as well … especially when there’s a cloud ceiling which allows sunlight to pass through and illuminate the often colorful sky.

I’m not exactly sure what, but the wind is definitely whipping up and blowing (new) snow in Ophir this evening; it was also snowing in Telluride this afternoon. Heard rumors of snow accumulation in feet; however, my motto has always been “I don’t believe it until I see it”.

I have an MRI on my lower back scheduled for tomorrow in Montrose. Something just isn’t right after 4.5 months from my initial injury … so I figured it won’t hurt to find out more precisely what the issue might be. The scary part is possibly finding out that snowboarding will cause more damage & that I should stop. On the other hand, it would be great to know the true condition of my back as well.

In any case, if there’s more than a couple inches in the morning, I’ll try and make it out to wait in line at the bottom of lift 8 … since iff I can walk, I can surely dance!