Happy Halloween

The creepy dead skier waves his/her hand as you walk by! I thought this was cute and very creative. I took it these photos the day before the snow started.

Happy Halloween! Hope everyone enjoys lots of good candy.

SkyWatch Friday: Snowy Sky

A little blue was trying to break through during the snowstorm on Wednesday. This weekend will be my first white Halloween!

To see more beautiful skies all over the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Whistle While You Work

This guy was actually whistling as he shoveled the sidewalk yesterday in front of Baked In Telluride. I wonder if he will still be whistling come January and February? For the first big snowstorm of the season, most people I encounter are happy and smiling.

Colorado Snowstorm

Much of the state is getting a bunch of snow today and tomorrow! This is this morning at Ah Haa School For the Arts. The gondola is above and currently closed for the off-season.

My World Tuesday: A Bit of Snow

We have had some snow in town this month, but it usually melts by the afternoon. Sunday morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. This snowfall hasn't melted off of the peaks, which is good news for the high elevation ski runs.

To see more beautiful places all over the world, please visit My World Tuesday.

The Big Rock

I normally wouldn't post a photo of a single rock, but this one seemed worthy of a photo because of the size and it actually has a name, The Big Rock. When you reach this rock on the Bear Creek Falls trail, you are almost to the falls!

Telluride Beaver Lodge

The beavers have been busy in the pond near Town Park. They probably have more square feet in their lodge than a lot of condos in Telluride.

Ready For Halloween

The houses that are decorated the most are usually the ones with the best candy for trick-or-treating.

SkyWatch Friday

We had a really warm Monday this week when we hiked up to Bear Creek Falls. There is not a lot of water in the falls this time of year.

To see more beautiful skies all over the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Fall Foliage

These leaves are along the Bear Creek Falls trail. The colors made me think of Thanksgiving.

Telluride Townies

I know I have mentioned before how wonderful our Wilkinson Public Library is. Not only is there a wide variety of books, music and movies, bicycles can also be checked out for free for four days with a library card!! It is easy to identify the Telluride Townie bikes since they are all the same shade of bright pink.

My World Tuesday: The Last Jeep Hurrah of 2009

Imogene Pass is officially closed, but the road is still clear up to the ghost town of Tomboy. We took our Jeep up Monday afternoon one more time before the big snows begin. The town of Tomboy was a mining town with people living there year-round in the early 1900's, at an elevation of over 11,000 feet above sea level. A lot of the buildings have collapsed, but there are still a few homes and other buildings standing and plenty of mining equipment to see.

To see more interesting places all over the world, please visit My World Tuesday.

Relaxing

During my walk on the river trail Sunday afternoon, I saw someone just relaxing at the river. It was a sunny and unusually warm day, one of those days that it would be a shame not to be outside.

Last Day to Ride the Gondola

After today the gondola will be closed for the off-season for maintenance and will reopen November 20, just a few days before ski season.

Escalante Pueblo

Yesterday's photo was taken from the trail on my way to the Escalante Pueblo Ruins, built by Ancestral Pueblo Indians in A.D. 1129.



My daughter's class was able to go inside the dwelling with instruction from our guide, being careful not to touch any of the walls. The class also viewed a film in the Anasazi Heritage Center about respecting such places as this and leaving no trace.

This is a large kiva, a ceremonial room. If I had lifted the camera up just a bit, you would be able to see the mountains where I live way in the distance. We don't have to go far from Telluride to see something completely different and to be in a high desert.

SkyWatch Friday

It was a beautiful day for my visit to the Anasazi Heritage Center near Cortez with my daughter's third grade class yesterday. This was taken on the trail up to the Escalante Ruins, a great view of the McPhee Reservoir and the La Plata Mountains in the distance.

To see more beautiful skies all over the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Sticks

The aspens are back to being white sticks until June 2010.

Winter at Blue Lake

My husband took this photo when he and my nephew hiked up to Blue Lake on Monday. It is definitely winter at 12,200 feet.

My World Tuesday: Waiting For a Wonderland

See Forever and the top of Lift 7 are surrounded by dying grass, part of our brown season before the big snowfalls come.

Soon enough, this area will look like this!

Update: We woke up to several inches of snow in town this morning. It will probably melt, but it's still exciting!

To see more interesting places all over the world, please visit My World Tuesday.

Hiking Through the Snow

Picnic

Picnic with a view

while sitting on a dead tree.

Hiking With a Gray Jay

This Gray Jay joined us on our hike for quite awhile on the Cross Mountain trail. He would hop and fly, hop and fly and didn't seem to be scared of us. I'm sure he was looking for a handout. These birds are really bad about getting into food left out at campsites. One time I accidentally left a package of hot dog buns on a picnic table and they didn't hesitate to tear into it!

He stayed with us long enough to find out we weren't going to feed him, and when he came to this snowy patch, he flew away.

SkyWatch Friday: The Hawk and the Sky

At the Cross Mountain trailhead I saw this hawk enjoying the view from the top of a tree.

To see more beautiful skies all over the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Muscle Milk

The Muscle Milk man gets to drive a cool Jeep.

Just For Fun

I played with the saturation of this photo and liked the way it came out. We had a snowstorm all day on Monday with heavy clouds covering the peaks. I took this around 5:30 p.m. after the clouds had lifted.

My World Tuesday

I wanted to share a few more aspen-lit photos from my hike last week when our autumn colors were at their peak. Most of our leaves have fallen now, and the ones that are left are fading fast. Our golden aspen leaf peak was very short this year.

My world only looks like this for a very brief period of time!

To see more interesting views all over the world, please visit My World Tuesday.

52 Days

It is only 52 days until the ski season is scheduled to open in Telluride. Why would this photo make me think about that? In the distance, past the beautiful golden aspens are Palmyra Peak and Bald Mountain, with many ski runs descending all around. The Peaks Resort has been painted a bright white color and is also seen from this view on Mill Creek Road.

Autumn Peaks

Our peak for autumn colors has already come and gone, I'm afraid. The wind has blown away so many golden aspen leaves now and the ones left behind are fading fast. I still have a few photos taken Monday that I want to share, though. Honestly I just wish for snow to cover everything after the last aspen leaf falls. The dry brown season is pretty boring. This is a shot of Sunshine Mountain and Wilson Peak from Mill Creek Road.

Golden Path

Eider Creek trail lit up by the sun shining through the aspen leaves.

SkyWatch Friday: So Blue

Early this week we were fortunate to have some very warm and sunny days with a sky so blue that it didn't even look real. When I went hiking my eyes were drawn to the color of the sky as much as they were to the aspen leaves.

In the photo above, there is a little white dot almost in the center of the sky. It's the moon! What a beautiful day that was.

To see more beautiful skies all over the world, please visit SkyWatch Friday.

Theme Day: Contrast

For the City Daily Photo Theme Day of "Contrast" I chose to display contrasting colors. This is the most colorful time of year where I live, as the aspen leaves turn to gold.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.