Day 8: Sun, 6/19: Dolores, Trout Lake, Telluride, Ridgway, CO

Day 8:  Sunday, 6/19:  Dolores, Trout Lake, Telluride, Ridgeway, CO 

After pulling up camp in Dolores, we drove about an hour north to beautiful Trout Lake.   This is absolutely beautiful to fish, kayak, swim, or paddleboard.  It felt like we were in the Alps.  But we were there only to drop off the motorhome.  After dropping off the RV there, we took our car and mountain bikes and drove 5 miles north into Telluride.  There were a lot of people there because of the Blue Grass Music Festival.  We got the 2^nd to last parking spot in the Gondola Parking lot at Mountain Village.  Then we took our mountain bikes and rode down Jurassic Trail (intermediate), Meadows (Intermediate), Valley Floor Trail (Beginner), and the San Miguel River Trail (Beginner).  The total distance was 6.6 miles with a 700 foot descent.  Mostly Sarah (but a little bit Ryan) was very timid on the first portion of the Jurassic trail since it was intermediate. But they did great and are better bike riders now than they were when they woke up this morning J.  The riding is so beautiful and scenic, going through pine forests and lush meadows, with sweeping views of green mountains, forests, a waterfall, and the river.  Riding next to the river with the cliffs and waterfall off in the distance was incredible.  Telluride would be a fun place to be in June/early July for tubing, paddleboarding/kayaking the river, hiking, and biking.  We ate lunch in town, walked around the cute, mining town for about 30 minutes and then took the 3 FREE gondolas back up to where we parked.   We then drove back to Trout Lake, hooked up the tow car and drove about an hour north to Ridgeway State Park.

Trout Lake near Telluride, CO

Mountain  Biking in Telluride, CO

Telluride, CO

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Telluride