Colorful Colorado

Telluride’s Valley Floor

Wow.  Wow.  Wow.  What an extraordinary end of summer/fall it has been.  We’ve had nearly three weeks of breathtakingly-beautiful weather here in the Rockies and the forecast promises more sun and warmth for the upcoming week.  The colors have popped.  It looks like the leaves in the San Juan Mountains, the range located in the southwestern corner of Colorado, will be peaking this weekend.  Usually when that happens, a snowstorm blows in, but this year we’re to be blessed with more fine leaf-peeping days throughout a good part of October.  Scenery like this makes me wonder why people battle the crowds and traffic jams of New England for their annual fall foliage tour.  I recommend you sign up for the wide, open spaces and shimmering aspens of the Rockies next year!

The festivals continue here in Telluride.  This week marked the culmination of the first annual Telluride Photo Festival, an event that drew world-class photographers from near and far.  Mother Nature cooperated generously, making it a kick off to remember.  Conservation and fine arts photographer Robert Glenn Ketchum was among the distinguished experts giving workshops and presentations.  Neil Hastings, Sales & Marketing Director of Mountain Lodge Telluride, became so impressed with Mr. Ketchum’s emphasis on the importance and responsibility of bringing nature conservation into your work, that he ventured out to take the above picture of Telluride’s Valley Floor.  “I wanted to honor his (Robert Glenn Ketchum) work and bring attention to the Valley Floor, a land that will remain forever wild,” Neil says.  “Let the elk and bear roam free,” he adds.  Well Neil, with pictures like this you might just have to quit your day job!  In any event, keep up the inspiring work and thank you for sharing this image with me.

Oh yes, I mentioned the continuation of festivals here in T-ride.  The Telluride Horror Show, a three-day horror film festival, will be making its creepy debut mid-October.  The old, dry leaves should be swirling and rustling about our Victorian mining town by then and although always stunning, our scenery might appear more foreboding by the time the ghouls sweep into town.

Thank you again to Neil Hastings for the above image.  Be sure to click on it to enlarge it to take in its full splendor.