Telluride

Telluride has limited parking, so we parked up at Mountain Village and took the tram into town.  The tram is actually several gondola's.

The first part of the trip was up the mountain to Mountain Village Plaza, where we caught the 2nd gondola which took us over and down into Telluride.  It sure looks like a long ways down.

Joanie Leckey, a WIN friend who stays in Telluride during the summer, met us for our day trip and she suggested Smuggler Joe's for lunch.

Reading this sign reminded me of the movie 'Paint Your Wagon', where they were going to tunnel underneath of the town thinking of all the gold dust which would have fallen through the cracks.

I showed some long distance pictures of the powerhouse and falls when I came off of Imogene Pass (see my previous blog), but today we drove to the powerhouse.

The building is really quite impressive as you drive there.

And we made it.  Here I am looking at the back of the house.  Interestingly, we talked to some Idarado Mining Company workers and got the following update about the power plant.  In 1991, Eric got a long term lease from the state and he sent the turbine and guts of the power plant off for rebuilding.  Once he got it back, he got the power plant up and running, for the first time since 1953.  He then remodeled the house and moved his family there.  But in 2010 the Idarado Mining Co. bought out his lease and took over the power plant.  The mining company is in the process of updating all the electrical wiring and conduit outside.  No one is living in the house at the present time, and the power plant is currently turned off during the maintenance and updating.  It is planned to have it back online in the next few months.

Standing at the base of the falls.

These were the switchbacks to drive up to the power plant.  You didn't run into town for a quart of milk, that's for sure.

Here is the Smuggler Mine, now owned by Idarado Mining.  I guess this is why they want the power plant in operation.

On the way back to Dolores, we stopped at the Rico Hot Springs.

Personally, I wouldn't get in.  The water was nasty looking.  Some folks who did use the hot springs some years back, remember it turned their clothes a rusty red/orange.  I like hot springs, but I'm not so sure this one would be good for your health.  Maybe too much minerals or at least not the right kind.