Telluride

So here are pics I took this weekend in Telluride, Colorado.  But first, here's a camera phone pic I took of myself because, well, I'm vain.  (Spelled it right that time, didn't I?)

I'm so vain, this blog is probably about me.  And yes, I am smiling.

Just a non-operational ski lift.  It's still the "off-season," though the "on-season" starts in just a couple weeks and everyone seemed rather nervous because it's unusually warm for this time of year and the outlook for snow is poor.  The pile of snow you can see at the bottom of the frame is from an artificial snow machine, but it was climbing into the fifties in the afternoon so they couldn't keep it out of its liquid form.

A couple shots of the mountains surrounding the town.

A couple shots of the San Miguel River.  Don't look directly into the second picture, or you'll go blind from the sun shot.

From Google Earth - what it looks like entering Telluride from an almost ground-level perspective.

Various shots taken from inside the free gondola ride to the top of the mountain.

Telluride from space.  No, I didn't take this one!  It's from Google Earth.

If you take the gondola all the way to the top, and refuse to get off, it goes back down the other slope and deposits you in a quaint little mountain village called... Mountain Village.  (Someone lost their marketing job over that one, I'm sure.)  It's not a real village, but a shopping and resort area built by the gnomes of Telluride to fleece the fleece-wearing tourists.

Some ski lifts in Mountain Village.

Here are some kids in Mountain Village doing some really down-scaled snowboarding on what little artificial snow had survived the warm afternoons of the last few days.  They were wearing shorts.

We can make snow.  We are as gods!

A statue of a Ute Warrior in Mountain Village.  The plaque could have read, alternately, "You stole the lands of my ancestors and all I got was this lousy statue," or "Ute all have a good time in Mountain Village, now, y'hear?"

A statue of a woman skiing, with Farah hair and seventies sunglasses.  The ski pole in her left hand is bent, presumably where somebody thought it would be fun to climb the statue, and to add insult to injury someone stuck a small pumpkin on the end of it.  Click on the picture for the large version - it's worth it.

The same statue from another angle, so you can see the pumpkin better.  I also, um, inadvertantly got a better shot of the skiier's backside.  I want to shake the sculptor's hand.

Between the woods and frozen... pond... on the coldest... warmest... okay, whatever.  Despite the temperatures being too warm for decent snow, it was cold enough, apparently, to make a thin layer of ice over this pond.

I got down on my butt to take a picture of these cat tails.  I hope it was worth it.

Rustic, ain't they?

An AED just out for anyone to use, which is a great idea.  This is for when the tourists realize how much they paid for a latte.

A climbing rock in the middle of the village.  All of the handholds had been removed, apparently to keep people off of it in the off season.

A sign outside in Mountain Village.  The sign within the sign (metaphysical!) says the following:

Skiers!

What to do if you encounter a snowboarder:

• Remain Calm
• Do Not make eye contact.
• Do Not make sudden or threatening movements.

We took the gondola back to the top of the mountain then got out to walk around a little and enjoy the view.  On the way out of the gondola shack, I had to stop and take a picture of this sign:

Do not touch indeed.

Various shots from the top of the mountain.

This was just a sign pointing to one of the ski slopes, but I found it interesting.  Just on the other side of the sign is a very, very steep drop.  Strapped to the front of the sign post is a big padded buffer.  All I can think of is it's there in case people lose control of their skis and hitting the sign is their only alternative to going straight down the mountainside.  Gee, I wonder why I've never wanted to take up skiing.

A view of the canyon/valley on the south side of the mountain.  Some of the buildings in Mountain Village can be seen, bottom left of the frame.

A paw print from something very large.  I don't know enough about animal tracks to tell what.

Another view of Telluride from the mountain.  I like this one because it's easy to see where the glacier had cut into the mountain slopes on the north side of the village.

A hole with a small bunch of flowers in it.  I've written a little story to explain why they are here, but it's long, so I'll post it tomorrow.

I have more pics, but it's getting late.  See ya.