Day 6: September 23, 2001
Hiking in Telluride, drive to Santa Fe, NM

Jed Wiebe trail Telluride, CO

Today's plan was to take a hike near Telluride and then meander our way through southern CO along the scenic roads, and wind up someplace in south-central CO. We woke early and were out of the hotel by 8:45. I had chosen a hike that was a 2.7 mile loop called the Jed Wiebe train. It gained 1,200 feet in elevation (starting from about 8,500 feet) so Walendo was a little hesitant about it.

Jed Wiebe trail Telluride, CO

Still, he agreed to start it with me and if it got too stenuous, he'd head back. The trail starts just at the end of Aspen Street in town, so it was very easy to get to. We were getting our stuff together to head up the trail when Walendo realized we'd left Libby's dog bed back at the room. It's a good thing the trail was so close! We went back to get it and then returned to the trail head.

After going over a short bridge, you turn left and almost immediately, you start climbing. It was good that it was early in the day because the air was still cool, which helped. We stopped a few times to rest, and Walendo almost decided to head back but then I started to take pictures and I guess he realized that he'd have plenty of time to rest along the way. I was proud of him for continuing on. The trail was ablaze with the bright yellow and hints of orange of the Aspen trees. Yesterday I'd taken lots of shots from the road, but I wanted to get closeups and I took every chance I got. I took all kinds of shots of the leaves and the branches from all angles, ultimately going through a roll and a half of Velvia. It was grrrreat! (These are shots from the Digital Elph -- I'll replace them with the better shots when I get them back.)

View of Telluride from Jed Wiebe trail

Aspen trees Telluride, CO

The trail basically goes up for about 1.5 miles and then goes down for 1.5 miles. The sun was pretty hot, but the trail went in and out of shade, so we didn't get overheated. We plodded along, up and up, with Walendo going ahead as I stopped to take a few shots, and then him waiting for me after I'd gotten my fill at that spot. It worked out well, because I felt like I had plenty of time to take as many pictures as I wanted from as many spots and I wanted. Since we were resting a lot, it didn't feel that strenuous, although it was definitely good exercise. Of course we had Libby with us, and most of the people we met on the trail also had their dogs with them. Telluride is definitely a good town for dogs.

The second (east) half of the trail wasn't as amazing as the first, which was good because I can get overwhelmed if the great shots continue on and on. It's nice to just be able to walk and enjoy the feeling of the place without the urge to stop and take yet more pictures. Overall, it was a perfect trail. The right distance, good exercise, and wonderful views all along the way. I was very happy.

Puppy parking in Telluride

When we finished it was around 11:30 and we were both hungry, so we decided to walk around the downtown and get some lunch. As we approached the main street, we saw a little "puppy parking" area, which was like a hitching post with hooks for leashes. There was even a dog waiting there, so we took a shot of it. (There was an empty leash, and Walendo thought he looked like he had eaten the other dog.) We checked the dog store for nail cutters but it was closed on Sundays. We walked along looking for a deli and found one called The Deli Downstairs. We got some sandwiches and ate them outside on a bench in the warm sun. (The sandwiches were pretty ordinary.) Walendo wasn't very enamored of the town. It seemed a little too much like Santa Cruz hippies mixed with upscale chic. He observed that every other shop was either a real estate office or a tchatchke shop. I didn't mind it so much, but I saw what he meant. It didn't feel like a place where you'd want to live.

Patriotic hotdog stand Telluride, CO

Somewhere in here Walendo suggested we get more serious about documenting all the displays of patriotism in the places we went. I want to put up a web site to show all the ways people around the country are showing their support. So we took some shots of homes with flags and shops with flags in the displays and cars with flags on them. There was even a hotdog cart with a flag on it.

After lunch, we headed out of town. We decided to follow the scenic roads, continuing on 145 up to 62, then north on 550 to Montrose. Although the roads were nice, they were not nearly as thick with fall colors as we'd seen before. In Montrose, we stopped quickly to take more shots of flags and patriotic displays in shop windows. Then we headed out east on Route 50, which is also marked as scenic, but it seemed like a typical road in the west. Lots of sage brush and few trees, with gray mountains lining the valley. After driving a while, we decided not to go as far on the supposedly scenic roads and instead head down toward Santa Fe on route 285 to 17.

Libby shaking off water Blue Mesa Reservoir

After a while, we came to the Blue Mesa reservoir, which is fairly nice. At least it breaks up the expanse of desert. Since Libby had been having so much fun romping in the water, we decided to stop to let her swim in the reservoir. Of course we chose a place where we had to scramble down among sharp bushes instead of stopping earlier where the road went right to the water. Dummyheads. Anyway, we brought a tennis ball and tossed it in the water, and Libby had a blast trouncing after it. She would bring it back and kick it our way again, begging us to throw it again, and again, and again. After a while, we made her dry out a little and then headed back to the car. Dog fun accomplished.

We continued on Route 50 listening to Angle of Repose. The scenery wasn't much, but the highlight was going over Gunnison Pass, which rose up and up and up. Welando brought out his GPS to see how high we were, and called out as we passed 9,600 feet, 9,800 feet, 10,000 feet, 10,500 feet, 11,000 feet, all the way up to 11,300 feet. That's pretty damn high! The trusty Expedition cruised along, not complaining a bit about the thin air.

Great Sand Dunes National Monument, CO

As we headed south, Walendo suggested we try to make it to the Sand Dunes National Monument in time for the late afternoon sun. I love taking pictures of sand dunes, so we went for it. We forked onto 17 and then drove due south for over 40 miles without ever moving the wheel. We listened to Angle of Repose most of this stretch. Finally we came in view of the sand dunes, but the sun was getting low. Still, it was right on the way, so we figured we'd go for it. We finally got to the park and I had about 30 minutes at best to take pictures. And I desperately needed to pee, so I wasted 5 of them running to the rest room.

Great Sand Dunes National Monument

Then it took about 15 minutes to trapse across the sand to get to the dunes, so I got in only about 10 minutes of picture taking. I doubt any of them will be anything special. Oh well, we tried. It still was kind of fun walking across the sand and just seeing the size of the dunes. I don't understand how they get there. Suddenly, on the edge of a wide open plain, nestled up against some peaks appears a huge expanse of dunes, just in this one area. Strange.

After that it was just a matter of heading south to Santa Fe. Since it was getting late (about 7pm), we called ahead to a Hampton Inn listed in our coupon book (since it said they took dogs and they were offering a good deal). We made our reservation and then continued on, listening to more of the book. It turned out the distance was further than we'd expected. We drove for another 2.5 hours and finally arrived at Taos. We considered staying in Taos, but we had our reservation in SFe, so we moved on. Santa Fe was another 65 miles away, which felt like a huge distance at that point, but we kept going. We looked for a place to eat, but we couldn't find anyplace open, not even a diner. Finally, in Espanola there was a diner called the Cowboy Family Restaurant, so we stopped. They were closing in a half hour. We'd had pretty good luck with dinner so far, but this was only okay. I ordered a chicken burrito, and a few minutes later the waitress came back and said "we are so out of chicken," which sounded right out of California, not Espanola, New Mexico. I got beef instead, and it was pretty mediocre, and Walendo had an ordinary club. But it was fine.

Finally, we arrived at Santa Fe and found the Hampton Inn (after going the right way but not far enough, then the wrong way, and then finally the right way). It turned out that they didn't even have our reservation, so we could have stopped earlier after all. Still, they had plenty of rooms so we got a nice room for the good rate. The woman behind the counter was especially friendly. She said that they were definitely much less busy since the terrorist attack, so we told her we were doing our part.

We settled into our room and I went to bed pretty soon afterward, too tired to write up the days events. Walendo logged in for a bit but then soon conked out as well.

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