Jun 12, 2012 - Matterhorn NF Campground

We arrived at Matterhorn NF Campground at Trout Lake near Telluride on June 12th from Cortez and departed to Montrose on June 15th. The detailed description of our activities in this area will be in our next entry titled Cortez to Montrose, dated June 15. The map location shown for this stop is for Telluride.

May 16, 2012 - Telluride, Colorado

Monday, May 14, 2012 - Telluride I awoke at 7:45, but it was too cold (47 inside), so I turned on the furnace and went back to bed until it warmed the motor home up. When I got up, it was still only 58 degrees, but the sun was shining completely on the RV, causing it to warm up within an hour. I studied my maps and discovered that I am still about 35 miles from Telluride, so will drive over and see what there is to see. Well, after writing and posting my blog, sorting and tweaking all of the photos, uploading them, which took forever, it...

Jun 16, 2011 - Riding the "Last Dollar Road"

Today we ventured out for scenic road trip on a back road called "Last Dollar". It runs out of Ridgeway North of Ouray and ends at Telluride. It's one of those roads that won't rattle your teeth. Majority of it is smoother than my driveway back home. It cuts through several large ranches and climbs up to 9000 feet and ends above the Telluride airport. Many of you are probably familiar with RIdgeway and the country side if you saw the John Wayne movie;True Grit. The hanging scene was filmed in the city park of Ridgeway and at the the...

Aug 27, 2010 - Friday, San Juan Skyway - Ouray/Telluride

The 232 mile San Juan Mountains Skyway loop is one of the most scenic drives in America and spans elevations from 6,200 feet outside of Durango to 11,008 feet at Red Mountain Pass. On our drive today we took in beautiful views of alpine forests, scenic mountains, cattle ranges and the towns of Silverton, Ouray and Telluride. Telluride’s real estate is a bit pricey – with a 1200 sq. ft. plain looking house listing for $799,000. Telluride has a celebrity status – it is rumored that such big names as Oprah have a house there. The dogs had a...

Aug 23, 2010 - Ouray

Ouray is a quaint, charming, touristy little town located in a spectacular valley. It's called the "Switzerland of America" by many. I've not been to Switzerland to compare, but it surely is beautiful there. We stayed at a full hookup campground walking distance from downtown and both of us enjoyed our visit in this delightful little town. Check out the pictures and enjoy!

Aug 21, 2010 - Evening at Sunshine NF

After we got back from our trip over Ophir Pass we had decided that we would be moving to Ouray. I took one last walk around the park and took my camera. On our drive into the park I had spotted a photo op that I just had to investigate. This was such a beautiful area up off Hwy 145. We look forward to revisiting this area. Here are the results of my walk...

Aug 21, 2010 - Trip Over Ophir Pass

We left about 8:30 am to drive the Ophir Pass Road over Ophir Pass toward Silverton. It's about a 70 mile drive the regular way, but only 9.8 miles between Rt 145 south of Telluride to Rt 550 north of Silverton. We expected it to be rougher than it turned out to be which was fine by us. We were in 4 X 4 low range all the way, but for the most part it was a very well maintained road thru some stunningly beautiful area. We stopped many times to take pictures and just to stand in awe of the beauty. We encountered a number of cars along the...

Aug 19, 2010 - Trout Lake

About 1 1/2 miles south of Matterhorn CG and 6 1/2 miles south of Sunshine CG is Trout Lake which is a spectacularly beautiful man made lake surrounded by the San Juan Mountains. We don't have fishing licenses so we were there to enjoy the scenery from our Sea Eagle kayak and to spend time with Carl and Clara while they fish for trout in their float tubes. They caught 2 small trout which they put back because they were too small for their liking. Nancy and I paddled all around the one end of Trout Lake in the Sea Eagle and found it to be...

Aug 19, 2010 - Morning Views

It rained a good bit overnight with thunder and big flashes of lightning, and we awoke this morning to pretty heavy cloud cover with with the sun peaking thru every little bit. Hopefully that means that it will eventually clear up and we'll get a nice sunny day, but I wouldn't bet on it. The changing moods of these big mountains is really something special to watch. Sunshine Mountain is 12,930 ft tall and Wilson Peak which is to the right and behind it is 14,017 ft tall. Those are big mountains by anyone's standards. To me, the scene that...

Aug 18, 2010 - Sunshine NF Campground

This morning we made the 4 mile drive from Matterhorn NF campground to Sunshine NF campground and are now back to boondocking. We will be here for at least 5 days depending on the weather. We hope that you enjoy the pictures of our new home for several days.

Aug 16, 2010 - Matterhorn NF Campground/Telluride

Monday morning we left Mavresso NF campground heading north on Rt 145 to Matterhorn NF campground which is about a 60 mile drive. Matterhorn NF campground is very nice and has a bunch of full hookup sites, which was very welcome after 17 days of boondocking. We will be spending 2 nights here, and then moving about 4 miles further north to Sunshine NF campground for some more boondocking. Full hookup sites cost $18 per night with my Golden Age card. That's a great bargain as private campgrounds around here range upward from $35 per night....

Jul 8, 2009 - "To Hell You Ride!"

When the miners digging for gold or silver in these rugged mountains needed to go into town for supplies or entertainment, the only town was many miles away over steep and dangerous trails but it had to be done. As they left their partners back at the mine to protect the interests and started off with empty pack mules, those who stayed behind would warn them: "To Hell You Ride" .....thereby giving birth to the name of Telluride! Hi Everyone: Today was the most rewarding of our trip so far. We only had to travel 65 miles over two more...