June 2014 - ETB Travel Photography

The Rockies: Bear Creek Falls and Bluegrass Music in Telluride!

Telluride offers some spectacular options for hiking when not hanging out at the music festival. This morning, I hiked to Bear Creek Falls, a five mile round trip. The trailhead started at South Pine Street and continued toward town park and the festival to the left. I followed the rocky road that gradually climbed through the aspens to open areas that offered spectacular views of Bridal Veil Falls.

One open area was a shrine to cairns. Rock piles balanced on other rocks, fallen trees, and grassy knolls. Another open area, very close to Bear Creek Falls offered amazing views of the valley below. The flat spot next to an enormous boulder seconded as an outdoor yoga studio.

cairn garden

Here the road narrowed to a tight trail that weaved through bushes all the way to the falls where I enjoyed a brisk spray from the water tumbling over the sheer cliff on this humid, cloudy day. Being used to zero percent humidity, twenty-two percent felt like a blanket!

After my hike and shower, I joined everyone at Elk’s Park to watch Dave Bruzza & Paul Hoffman while testing out the gourmet grilled cheese. All were fantastic! In fact, the food vendors did not disappoint. The gyros were delicious as was the chicken and waffles. The flank steak sandwich and the spinach and cheese wontons were super.

The festival called our names by 2:15 again. Punch Brothers were scheduled to play…followed by Yonder Mountain String Band and which we took a short rest before returning for Sam Bush who has played for the last 40 years at the festival, only missing the first one. After Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon geared up for its set at 10:30. I petered out early as I had to leave first thing in the morning. Everyone else soaked in the tunes and got to enjoy a heavy hitting line up on Sunday. ETB

Bridget protecting her dragonfly

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photographic note card, elk in rocky mountain national park — ELK

The Rockies: Telluride Bluegrass Festival!

We awoke to frost. I felt frosty and headed to the coffee shop for some heat (and coffee). Dave huddled in line waiting for a good number. I must say, after 40 festivals, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival has got this event running like clock work.

Cars are stopped at the town entrance and directed to parking areas. Volunteers man the entrance of the campgrounds. No one can get in without a wristband. Volunteers man the high school locker rooms. They charge $4 for a shower and the money is used to support their sports. Volunteers hand out the numbers to those waiting in line. Arriving around 6am earns a number around 250 which is handed in when the gates open, today at 9am. To keep the line moving, bags are checked between the numbers being doled out and the gates opening.

Once the tarp run is complete, everyone else may enter. Bags are checked individually as are wristbands. The volunteers give the bands a little tug to make sure they haven’t been cut. Glass, dogs, and alcohol are not allowed into the festival, but just about everything else is fair game. The grassy field is lined with food and shopping vendors, including a free hydration station. Most meals were around $8-10, not too bad, and the beer after purchasing the $10 cup was only $4 a glass, quite a bargain compared to most concerts I’ve been too! There was also a cell phone charging station at the festival and several makeshift ones at the high school and campgrounds.

For those who couldn’t or didn’t want to get a ticket to the festival for all four days, there were several workshop events at Elk’s Park available for free. These events were extremely quaint and nice. Our group bounced between Elk’s Park near town center and the festival at Town Park. We also took retreat from the sun at camp. It is amazing how hot 62 degrees is in the mountain sun and how cold 62 degrees is at night. Nothing like needing a bathing suit top and a parka in the same day.

Ashley

Beth and Bridget

Serena

Chris and Dave in the background

According to the experts, Ashley and Dave, must see’s were Jason Isbell at 2:15 and Bela Fleck with the Colorado Symphony at 6. A pleasant surprise (and new favorite I think) was Dave Rawlings Machine who played in between Bela Fleck and Steve Winwood. Dave and I had gone back to camp (probably a mile away from the festival) and could hear the crowd go wild at the end of Dave Rawlings Machine. It was pretty cool!

Speaking of a mile away, for a mountain town, Telluride is pretty big. It’s main street, as I mentioned seemed to be a mile long, is peppered with restaurants and shops. Several side streets also include markets and shops and one street is home to the base of the gondola. It was a nice walk back and forth to the festival, but it was also nice to have our bikes and a lot of available bike parking! I’m looking forward to another hike and some more music tomorrow…ETB

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photographic note card, longhorn — LONGHORN

The Rockies: Music Festival and Hiking Trails in Telluride

We all made it to Telluride at different times today. Ashley, Dave and Bridget arrived first and staked out a camping area for us at the high school. We paid for a four day pass to camp here for the 41st Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Chris, Serena, and I brought up the rear around 5 pm, unloaded, popped up our tents and shade tents, and prepared to go into to town to get our music festival bracelets and dinner.

We mounted our bikes and pedaled away in an unorganized fashion. We managed not to run into to each other, but it was close. I wonder if the result will change with our sobriety level? We enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Brown Dog Pizza before meandering back to camp to watch the night sky fill with stars as the temperature plummeted. Chris had an app that tracks the path of the international space station, and at 10:06 it was scheduled to fly just above the mountain around 36 degrees in the sky. Low and behold, we watched it go by!! It looked like a plane without any flashing lights. It was the coolest thing. After that, I had to turn in because my toes were frozen and needed the warmth of my tent and sleeping bag. If only my eyes wanted to close and my ears couldn’t hear anything in the relatively quiet campground. Oh well.

Dave, Serena, and I woke when the sun came up. We walked to the opposite end of town near the entrance of the festival and held our spot in line to earn a number. Number holders get first entry to the festival when the gates open at 10. We refer to this as the tarp run. Festival goers run to claim their spot by laying out a tarp. We were all set…stage left, next to the tower, and in front of the foot path. The spot allowed for high back chairs, but no sun shades and was in a calmer area, where we could sit versus stand during the more rambunctious evening activities.

Waiting for our number

tarp run

claiming our spot

While Serena, Dave, Chris, and Ashley listened to the first band, Bridget was bagging Wilson Peak, one of the few fourteeners she has left, and I was climbing to Station St. Sophia, one of the gondola stops on the ski mountain. I began at South Pine St. where I planned to follow Bear Creek Trail to a waterfall. I didn’t have a map and saw a trailhead to the right without a mile marker and followed it. It lead to a road, which I assumed was the one I started on which switched back. This turned out not to be true, so when I turned right, I ended up on Camel’s Garden Trail instead of Bear Creek Trail and set out for an adventure.

The path, lined with wildflowers climbed beneath the aspen as snowmelt rushed down the mountain and across the path in multiple places. Camel’s Garden Trail turned into Telluride Trail, a ski road that zig-zagged up the mountain beneath the gondola. At times it was rather steep. Eventually it connected to Coonskin Loop, of a lesser grade, which circled around a nature center near the top of the gondola at 10,535 feet.

can see the moon

The views of town, Bridal Veil Falls, our campground, the music festival below, as well as the craggy peaks across the valley were magnificent. Part of what makes Telluride Valley so beautiful is that the U shaped valley was carved by glaciers 1.6 million years ago. The glaciers melted around 18,000 years ago, leaving behind the San Juan Mountains, the range in the Rockies.

The festival

I thought about riding the gondola down to enjoy the views on this crystal clear day, but since it was only 2.6 miles up I decided to walk and sometimes slide down the 2,000 foot descent. I reached camp around one, snacked on some lunch and headed to the show where I found Dave and Ashley basking in the sun. We listened to The Lone Bellow for an hour before retreating to the shade of camp.

dragonfly

After a few relaxing hours at camp, we headed back to the festival for a night of music showcasing an excellent lineup including Del McCoury Band, Nickel Creek, and Brandi Carlile. While most of us turned in after Brandi Carlile, Dave and Ashley enjoyed the Nightgrass festivities too! They got tickets to Jason Isbell with The Lone Bellow who played at the high school. It was a great day of hiking and music in Telluride.

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photographic note card, lake in Yosemite — ENCHANTED

Park Silly Sunday, Fun Day!

Park Silly Sunday

Today we spent another morning chilling around the fire at the condo before we headed out to Park Silly Sunday, a market on Main Street. The market included booths featuring art, hats, jewelry, produce, clothing and more. At the end of the block, live music played on the stage while folks took a try at hula hoops and ordered bloody mary’s, fried donuts, and jerk chicken at the food stands.

HAVE SOME FUN!

Hiking Deer Valley Resort

This morning was low key. The family trickled into the sitting room over all hours. Some folks cooked while others read. I decided to hike Deer Valley Resort as the weather warmed up after a huge windstorm blew in last night.

Sultan Out and Back Trail at Deer Valley Resort

Sterling drove me up to Deer Valley Resort where I chose two hiking trails to follow. The first was called “Sultan Out and Back”. On the map it appeared like it was relatively flat as it crossed the base of the mountain to the boundary and then turned into a road for the return.

The rocky path steadily declined through aspen and across open ski runs with sweeping views of the Jordanelle Reservoir below. It eventually reached a deck with picnic tables, a perfect lunch spot, but only being a three mile hike, I didn’t need to rest for lunch. I can imagine it would be a lovely area for skiers on a warm winter day. Continue reading “Hiking Deer Valley Resort” →

Utah’s Olympic Park

Upper Deer Valley

This weekend we had a family reunion in Park City, Utah. My aunt and uncle, Risa and Sterling, purchased a summer place last year, and invited our small family to visit. I had the easiest flight in from Denver. My cousin Cate and my Uncle Casey took a long, but uneventful flight from Houston. And my mom drew the short straw coming in from Dallas. She faced mechanical delays, aircraft swaps, etc., but finally made it to SLC where Sterling picked us up and drove us to 35 miles or so to Upper Deer Valley.

Our dinner was as about as eventful as my mom’s trip. The grill along with the lamb chops looked like a Texas A&M bonfire, not once, but twice. Miraculously, after Sterling singed all the hair off his hands and burned his fingers on the knobs that were too hot to touch without a cloth, the chops were cooked to perfection! We enjoyed lovely dinner in their new summer home! Continue reading “Utah’s Olympic Park” →

Rambling into Love in Ludington

Stealing a few words from The Four Seasons, “Oh, what a night”…late May in 2014 (and day too)! I spent a very short weekend in Ludington, Michigan to celebrate Chas and Ellen’s wedding, and Saturday was a big day!

I started out with a light breakfast at the Holiday Inn with my mom before we parted ways. I ventured to Ludington State Park, located between Hamlin Lake and Lake Michigan. The park offers a variety of trails, and I chose two different hikes after paying the $9 entry fee.

My first hike followed the 3 mile Lighthouse Trail, essentially an unpaved road that fit between the foredune and the forested backdune. I chose this trail first as I felt its openness to the sun as it followed behind the dunes might be warm later in the day. The foredune is created by pioneer grasses. Marram grass slows the blowing sand thus building dunes. Behind the foredune is a trough where water collects in small ponds. Amazingly, there were not any mosquitoes as I searched for snakes, frogs, and dragonflies around the edges.

sand shipwreck

For the most part, I stuck to the unpaved road with exception of climbing over the dunes to the lake’s shore where a sign pointed to an old shipwreck. I tried in vain to find remnants of this shipwreck, but it eluded me. Instead I found sand art of a ship. Maybe all the bad weather this winter blew sand over the excavated portion of the wreck.

Eventually I reached the lighthouse. I believe it took me an hour to walk the quarter mile through the absolutely packed campground and the 1.5 miles along the trail. It would have been good to know the lighthouse doesn’t open until 10am and there is a $3 charge to climb to the top. The Big Sable Point Lighthouse was built in 1867 after Congress appropriated $35,000 for its construction the prior year. The 112 foot tall lighthouse was important to the lumber industry as multiple ships sank in the area prior to the shoreline being well marked.

Upon completing the Lighthouse Trail, I rushed to the other side of the park to try out Lost Lake Trail. The 1.5 mile path circles a watery cove off Hamlin Lake beneath a canopy of trees. I thought the shade would be perfect for beginning shortly after 11am, though I knew I was giving up my opportunity to spot a significant amount of wildlife by starting later in the day. Instead I watched park goers fish, canoe, and kayak around the lake. Clearly, water sports is the popular choice in Michigan. I, on the other hand, enjoyed following the footbridges from island to island as birds chirped all around me. Robins, woodpeckers, and red winged blackbirds flitted from tree to tree, swans dunked their heads underwater in search of food, and a heron glided into shore. A turtle sunned on a log in the tranquil water that offered marvelous reflections. This wooded hike was lovely.

It was almost noon, and I had to be ready by 1:15 to drive out to Ellen’s parents ranch for the wedding ceremony. As such, I zipped back to town, asked the waitress at House of Flavors if she could rush an order on a Reuben sandwich, and rewarded her with a healthy tip. I say healthy, I gave her a whopping $2.50 instead of the customary 20% tip of $1.50, and with a smile she replied, “Thanks, are you sure?” Really? She totally hooked me up! I had 45 minutes to prepare for the wedding. Yes, I’m sure! The hostess was great too. The people of Ludington are very friendly!!

Twenty-three miles later and after Come to Me by the Goo Goo Dolls perfectly played on the radio, I arrived at “the Tank” near Manistee. Villanova and Michigan State flags flew at the entrance of the driveway, pots of flowers lined the stone walls, and guests gathered in the shade of the towering trees. We all meandered to the open, sunny area and found our seats complete with sunglasses stamped with Chas and Ellen’s special day. What a sunny day it was! Given all the cold, snowy, and wet weather around the country this winter and spring, sun was very welcome, but when I say it was scalding hot, I’m not exaggerating. A family friend pointed to my chest later in the evening and asked, “where did you go to get so red?” I pointed to the white chairs! I suppose I should have remembered sunscreen. 🙂

The ceremony was lovely…both traditional and unique at the same time. All the nieces and nephews participated. The oldest was a groomsman and the rest held other duties. Two passed out flowers, one young man carried the rings down the aisle in a wooden canoe (cute since Chas was a fishing guide for years), and another young boy pulled a wagon down the aisle carrying the youngest niece! But that’s not all, with several artists in the family, two nieces held a banner letting Chas know that his lovely bride was about to arrive.

Ellen, donned in a beautiful white dress, wore giant smile as her father walked her to the alter. Beige was the chosen color for the bridesmaids and groomsmen who looked quite handsome surrounding the happy couple. The priest performed a full mass and offered some sage advice to the newly weds and congregation. Upon completion of the ceremony, Chas’ best man, Travis, rowed the two down the river while the guests wandered the grounds. There were a few hiking options through the woods and by the river. I considered a short walk, but the swarm of mosquitoes at the trailhead turned me back to the bar, red barn that Chas painted with a brush this week, the house, and the dinner tent.

The dinner tables included runners and utensil holders handmade by a friend of Ellen’s family. The juicy, prime rib dinner buffet hit the spot. The dessert table included sugar cookies, Rice Krispie treats (my favorite), cake and pies…a slight detour from the traditional! The bride and groom danced their first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Chas Marsh. Ellen danced with her dad and Chas with his mom. Then the guests joined the dance floor to the live music. The fun continued past nightfall. This far north, it doesn’t turn dark until close to 10pm. What a busy day and nice evening! I’m so glad I got to celebrate Chas and Ellen’s joyous occasion. ETB

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Check out the photographic note cards and key chains at my shop. Each card has a travel story associated with it. 20% of proceeds are donated to charity.

photographic note card, cowboy boots on fence — BOOTS