Weekend getaway to Telluride

Twenty-six years in Colorado and I’d never been to Telluride. Every other major ski resort in the state, yes. But Telluride, nope.

It’s not that easy to get to, tucked in a box canyon in the southwest part of the state (about 4 hours from our Aspen-area home). But about 3 months into the COVID-19 outbreak here in the United States, Telluride was the ideal spot to spend a couple nights, continuing to physically distance from strangers as much as possible but still get away from my full house to enjoy the outdoors.

We rented perfectly located Airbnb apartment on the southeast side of town, two blocks from the main drag, kitty-corner from the Smuggler Union Restaurant & Brewery, and with a hot tub on the second-floor balcony.

Alas, on arrival Friday late afternoon, the skies darkened, and it started dumping rain, with wind whipping through towering trees just off our balcony. Womp womp womp.

It continued to rain — and hail, and thunder — all Saturday morning, and I was starting to think our weekend getaway was going to be a big ol’ bust. Thankfully, the skies cleared just after noon, and as soon as we figured the clouds were gone for good, we hopped in the car to hike one of the two trails I’d picked out for the weekend.

Hike #1: Bridal Veil Falls

Less than a 10-minute drive from downtown, the parking lot for the Bridal Veil Falls trail was surprisingly busy, overflowing a bit. (Everyone else in town headed out at the rain’s end, too!)

You can walk the dirt, 4WD road to the base of the falls or take the narrow hiking trail — both about 2 miles one-way. Hiking trail, of course, I said. That is, until we came upon the gnarly, rushing river we needed to cross by jumping from one boulder to another.

After I watched another woman half my age make the leap across the gap between boulders (which looks way smaller than it really is above the swollen river), during which she sort of biffed it, landing on all fours, and seeming to rough up the palms of her hands, I changed my mind.

Back down the narrow dirt trail we went, to begin our hike again on the wide dirt road, where the river crossing involved a culvert we could easily walk across.

What’s cool about this hike to Bridal Veil Falls, the tallest free-falling waterfall in Colorado, is that you spy multiple waterfalls along the way. I’m not sure what the name of the falls at upper right are called, but I love how they cascaded down the mountain.

The Bridal Veil Falls themselves are quite a spectacle. Thankfully, there wasn’t a crowd at all the base of them — though there were a few cars parked right there, since you can drive up. (Though I highly recommend the moderately inclined walk up the dirt road versus the bumpy drive.)

The falls are loud, and it’s not easy to take a photo of them at the base without getting soaked with spray.

Dinner at there… (yep, that’s the name of the restaurant)

We were in Telluride just as the pandemic restrictions on dining in restaurants had been lifted. Quite a few restaurants were still closed, but we booked a table at there…, a funky little hole-in-the-wall cocktail bar with plates to share.

We’re glad we made a reservation. With limited seating that’s even more limited with 50 percent capacity rules, we were sat at a four-top, but instructed to sit in the two-side-by-side chairs furthest from the couple sitting at the table opposite us, so we’d be 6 feet away, of course.

Other safety precautions: a bottle of hand sanitizer on the table and a masked server, though the poor fellow had a badly fitting that kept slipping below his nose, so we could see his mustache poking through.

He told us it was his first night back at the restaurant after a long, stay-at-home off-season, waiting on people in the dining area vs. simply serving take-out through a makeshift to-go window — and he was admittedly frazzled. No big deal on my end: He mixed up a killer champagne cocktail for me and a Moscow mule for my husband, and we happily noshed on savory salmon satay and sweet duck pork buns.

Hike #2: Bear Creek Falls

Sunday’s hike started just a couple blocks from our AirBnB — yes, I did intentionally book our accommodations just steps from the Bear Creek Falls trailhead. Gotta love easy access — and the reminder to be maintain physical distance along the trail.

Thankfully, we encountered few people on the 2.5-mile, wooded trek up to the falls — and those we did, were super friendly and kind about giving way as we passed (we did the same).

In all the public hikes I’ve done since the beginning of March, I can’t say I’ve encountered anyone who’s been intentionally jerky and taking up too much space on the trail. Like our experience in Moab, everyone we saw was just happy to be outside in gorgeous weather, getting good exercise in nature!

I especially like hike where you’re rewarded at the top, and Bear Creek Falls delivered. We didn’t get quite as up close and personal as we did with Bridal Creek Falls, but still made for an enjoyable “summit” before our return to town.

Final thoughts

I’m super glad I made it to Telluride for a weekend getaway — even in a pandemic. Town was quiet, and it will be generally quieter this summer than in years past, namely because all of its major festivals (Telluride Bluegrass, Mountainfilm and Telluride Jazz), have been canceled.

To me, Telluride is a cross between the high-altitude towns of Leadville, Crested Butte, and Aspen (my fellow Coloradoans, tell me if you think differently). I barely scratched the surface on this less-than-48-hours trip and will happily return again someday to eat at more restaurants, do some shopping (at the cute little boutiques I didn’t set foot in), and hit the trails for more killer mountain views.