At 9,000 ft. elevation, Telluride was a popular mining town back in the late 1800s. It also was the very first town in the entire world to enjoy electric street lamps, as a result of a joint venture between Nikola Tesla, L.L. Nunn and George Westinghouse to build the world’s first alternating-current power plant in Telluride.
Now, this town has largely become a vibrant community of spiritual hippies, outdoor fanatics, and old school Colorado farmers co-existing together. In the winter time, the area is filled with tourists who hit the slopes to ski and snowboard.
Driving into the town, the streets were alive with music and art.
This is a mural of a 1943 photograph by 20th-century African American photojournalist Gordon Parks, showing a Harlem women and her dog.
Colorful houses were nestled in between huge aspen and blue spruce trees, beautifully built bridges were everywhere throughout town so people could cross the abundant rivers and creeks flowing through the area. I saw some of the cutest dogs I've ever seen as well, and pretty much cuddled with every single one of them!!! I was also grateful that I could enjoy the last week of the farmer's market before the season ends, where I had lovely conversations with an eclectic bunch of locals. Interestingly enough, one of the guys I talked to is starting a free music festival in this area, because of how inspired he felt by the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in SF where hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life gather in the Golden Gate Park to listen to a wide range of live music for free. As someone who used to live in SF for years, I was impressed and excited to hear about this.
On every street, you couldn't miss the sight of the majestic San Juan Mountains.
Long before these lands ever became the town of Telluride, this beautiful land was home to the Ute tribe. They called this area "The Valley of Hanging Waterfalls."
I got to experience some of this remarkable beauty when we embarked on the Bridal Veil Falls trail, a 5 mile hike with an approximate 2,000 ft. elevation gain.
This is me at the start... totally in awe of these golden aspen trees!
This was the first waterfall sighting.
I love waterfalls. I used to draw and dream about them all the time.
This was my attempt at a selfie that could catch the beautiful sun rays peaking out beyond the mountains.
We passed by a tree with the word "Evolve" carved in it. A meaningful reminder and invitation...
And the grand finale waterfall! I had so much fun climbing up this rock. The views were dazzling from here, and the sound of the water crashing down behind me was epic.
Making my way down from the waterfall, we decided to take another way back. At one point, the trees cleared and what I saw took my breath away.
My heart feels so full from the beauty I saw today. There's an African proverb: "When death finds you, may it find you alive." Nature invites my aliveness. It doesn’t hide its vulnerable truths and imperfections from the world. It doesn’t play itself with mental games of not enough. It radiates as it is and flows in the direction of what is alive and vital. It endures and perseveres.
Here's a magpie who chilled with me for a while before taking off in the distance. I was able to capture its flight.
And... another exquisite view of Telluride from the top of the San Sophia gondola lift station (about 10,000 ft elevation).
As I journeyed through these lands, I kept hearing the words of the Navajo blessing ceremony closing prayer on the "Beauty Way" in my head.
Today I will walk out, today everything negative will leave me
I will be as I was before, I will have a cool breeze over my body.
I will have a light body, I will be happy forever, nothing will hinder me.
I walk with beauty before me. I walk with beauty behind me.
I walk with beauty below me. I walk with beauty above me.
I walk with beauty around me. My words will be beautiful.
