Telluride and Montrose

July 1-7, 2021

TL;DR: Telluride and Montrose were pretty different mountain towns, but each with their own merits, and it was fun to explore in and around both over the 4th of July weekend. Took a free gondola ride, restored our faith in long, high-elevation hikes, and went to an excellent speakeasy.

The stats

Hikes: 2
Hiking miles: 14.4 (3,168 ft elevation gain)
Miles in Eric: 375
Miles in Layla: 84
New wines discovered: 2
Marmots seen: 3
Gondolas riden: 1
Secret passwords: 1
Sharon Stone movies watched: 2

The sights

Telluride

Pretty cute ski town that reminded us of Jackson, Park City, and Sun Valley. We stayed here overnight at a hotel since it was over an hour from our RV spot and we wanted to have a nice dinner and explore for more than just a quick visit.

Smuggler’s Cove Brewery was about two minutes from our hotel and home to excellent cocktails and beer. Had a nice outdoor area, too. Apparently there was a big music festival starting that weekend, so there were a lot of people in town for that. We also went to 221 Oak for a very nice dinner in a yurt.

The farmer’s market the next day was absolutely adorable and very ample, with tons of produce vendors, jewelry, baskets, clothes, etc. The main street, West Colorado Avenue, has tons of great little shops and places to stop, including the Last Dollar Saloon, which has an excellent rooftop deck. We also stopped at Stronghouse Pub, which is one of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood.

We went on the Telluride and Mountain Village Gondola, which is free, and amazing. It was originally built in 1996 to keep cars off the road, and has since shuttled approximately 2.8 million riders up the 10,500-foot mountain every year. It provides pretty incredible views of the San Juan mountains, aspen groves, and waterfalls. On a clear day, you can apparently see all the way to the La Sal Range in Utah (!). It’s even doggo-friendly!

If you keep going just past Telluride, you’ll run into Bridal Veil Falls, which is a 365-foot waterfall at the end of the canyon. You can hike to the top (we did not….), and see the hydroelectric power plant. In the winter, it’s frozen solid and an inviting challenge for ice climbers. Thanks, but no thanks.

On our second visit, we drove to Ophir, which is close by, but nothing more than a lot of gorgeous houses. Also passed Mountain Village, which is sort of like a Squaw Valley/community situation.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Really gorgeous park with a 2,000-foot-deep canyon. We drove the South Rim Trail for seven miles from Tomichi Point to High Point, which has 12 overlooks with varying views of the magnificent canyon below. It’s named “Black Canyon” because part of the gorge only receive 33 minutes of sunlight a day (!). It’s also home to “Painted Wall” which is the tallest sheer cliff in Colorado at 2,250 feet.

Montrose

Sort of a funky town that was relatively quiet, even during the weekend of July 4th. It’s in a pretty convenient location that allowed us to head south to Telluride/Silverton/Durango, east to Gunnison/Crested Butte/Salida, or north up to Grand Junction. Had some beer and “trashcan nachos” (they arrive in a tin and our waiter slowly lifted it off? Haha) at Horsefly Brewing. Beers were sort of meh but it was a nice outdoor spot and good for people watching.

One incredibly surprising spot was Phelanie’s, named after owners Phil and Melanie, and the fact that a speakeasy was a felony during Prohibition. Again, we needed a password — “I never forget a face but in your case I’ll make an exception” — but this time, we got a “sample” coup of a cocktail on our way in from who we can only imagine was Phil. The secret ingredient? Powerade. Drinks were incredibly delicious: Jess got a Pink Lady cocktail and Bri got a Sazerac.

For July 4th, we went to Ridgway State Park, and walked about one mile down the Enchanted Mesa Trail, which was pretty steep to start. Then we drove to another part of the park, Dallas Creek, which was a bit less busy than the rest, and found a little spot where we had a nice picnic and dipped in the water a few times.

Swung by LaNoue DuBois Winery on our way back, and apparently they opened on Mothers’ Day and were doing well. They were also having the first few months of patrons sign corks so they could make a cork wall, so we went ahead and put our name in the jar!

Uncompahgre National Forest

Southwest of Montrose, this forest is home to the Blue Lakes Trailhead, which we thought would be relatively empty, but was actually quite busy. We got there early and by the time we were finished, there were about four times the cars. You can hike to three different lakes, and it’s just gorgeous the entire time. The first lake is stunningly blue, and then you sort of make your way up to the second two, which are still pretty, but not quite as stunning.

Wildflowers everywhere, and even though it was a relatively steep elevation—2,500 feet—the scenery was so distracting that it was easily worth it.

It also started raining on our way back, but fortunately not too bad before we got to the car. The clouds also provided some moody shadows on the mountains.

Curecanti National Recreation Area

This area encompasses three reservoirs: Blue Mesa, Morrow Point, and Crystal, which are on the upper part of the Gunnison River. There are lots of spots for fishing and hiking and boating, but a lot of the reservoirs are pretty low.

We drove by Dillon Pinacles, but decided against the hike and went straight onto Paonia, which was a cute little quiet town. On our way out we saw Big B’s, which we will definitely stop at next time (thanks for the rec, Lyss!).

Details, details, details

Jess drove behind Bri in Eric on the Million Dollar Highway, and it was cool to see Layla maneuver through the mountains.

Twenty miles after Ouray, you exit the mountains and it almost feels like you’re entering into a new world (similar to transitioning from New Mexico to Colorado).

Our waitress at 221 Oak in Telluride was also at the farmer’s market the next day making pork buns and Thai tea. Adorable.

Bri showed Jess The Quick and Dead with Gene Hackman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sharon Stone… and just, wow. Kept on the Sharon Stone kick with Basic Instinct on July 4th. Felt fitting.

The Blue Lakes hike definitely restored our faith in long, high-elevation hikes.

We got a pretty good show of fireworks on July 4th that we could see right from our RV park.

And then this happened…

Our waitress at Main and Vine in Montrose, named Candace, was apparently the July 4th Pinup Contest winner. We realllly wanted to see her in the parade the next day but didn’t make it.

Highway 50, in between Montrose and Sapinero, is under some serious construction. They’re very good about warning drivers, but it’s closed between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and then for another block after that, so you really have to travel accordingly. We got there right around 12:30 one day and had to wait about an hour to get through. Eric’s engine almost overheated but thankfully he pulled through!

Now we know

The tiny town of Ridgway (correct spelling FML) has about 1-2 bars and 1-2 restaurants, and one very expensive grocery store.

At the Telluride farmer’s market, we tasted a Cinsault from Buckel Winery, and fell in love. So delicious and would go with so many things. New favorite that we are now always on the lookout for. Had it in Crested Butte at The Breadery, and also found it at the liquor store there.

While at Phelanie’s in Montrose, we tried a 1.5-oz pour of a $1,300 bottle of Weller’s CYPB whiskey (Create Your Perfect Bourbon). It was good but not uh-mazing.

We were inspired to go to LaNoue DuBois winery because we saw a field of what we thought were inverted grape vines, but turns out, they’re hops!

There are a ton of campers on the Blue Lakes Trailhead, and apparently the night before we were there, it hailed. Yikes.

Roadfood

The Butcher and the Baker in Telluride has a constant line that goes fast for towering breakfast sandwiches, sweet potato burritos, apricot cheesecake and more. Would have liked to get everything, including the $25 grapefruit juice in the front case (it must have some kind of healing power).

Where we stayed

Night one: Camel’s Garden Hotel in Telluride, Colorado

Really amazing location right in the center of town and easy access to everything. There’s also a huge hot tub that we didn’t visit because 1) we didn’t bring our suits, and 2) we had a big jacuzzi bath in our room!

Nights two through seven: Riverbend RV Park and Resort, spot 47

Really lovely, well-landscaped RV park right next to the river and a sort of random pond. Not the strongest dryers, but otherwise really nice spot and jumping-off point for all of our adventures.