Telluride, CO to Telluride, CO
We were up early and tried parking near the hike but there were no parking signs everywhere. We headed back to the campsite and walked to the hike from there.
Marked change from yesterday- there was no one else on this hike. It was insanely quiet and it took a few self affirming words in my head to remind me I was okay. We both had bear spray, the pups were on leashes, and it was all good.
Yesterday on this trail was a 100 mile mountain bike race. The Magic Meadows trail was maybe 5 miles out and back. Mostly a single file line but extremely well maintained. Much better than trails back home. Even with all of the rain there were no concerns. Apparently I didn’t take many pictures this morning so I dug through Jason’s phone for some.
There were a few meadows but we aren’t exactly clear if we found THE magic meadows but all in all a great hike that showed us what Colorado is all about. We passed a few mountain bikers, but no other hikers over the full three hours or so we were out there. One biker had lost his sunglasses on a turn the day before and went to find them. They must be pretty important sunglasses!
Jason found a ton of different mushrooms hiding. His mom loves mushrooms so we grabbed as many pictures as we could.
We walked back to the camper and made brunch. I threw a bunch of vegan cheese straight into a sauté pan and let it cook. It got all crispy on the bottom and then was still creamy on top. Omg delicious! Those who have had vegan cheese know it doesn’t melt the same way. It doesn’t usually get crispy. My mind is blown and I’m loving this! I put my leftover tamale on it from the day before. Love!
We looked behind the camper to see a surprise before the rain! So cute! Mama and her baby 💜
I still wanted a sweatshirt so we went on a mission to Telluride. We were going to switch off who was walking around town this time so the pups weren’t as stressed.
There was a nice light rain coming down so we decided to take advantage of people not being out and we went to Telluride Brewing Company’s location in Mountain View. This cute town was not far at all from Telluride- we passed it from our campsite to Telluride. The gondolas run from Mountain View to Telluride and I was still debating having us all go on a ride- some are dog friendly!! Can you even imagine how cute Bear would look on a gondola??
Inside this brewery was a street taco shop called Los Buenos Tacos. What a great name! The tacos shells were grilled and it gave a whole different taste. They had two vegan options so I ordered them and found a spot for Jason and I to sit outside in the center of the shops. Jason got me a sour beer and it was lovely!
The rain picked up a little bit so we went back for our afternoon nap. The dogs were tired of being pulled around and loved the break.
Needing internet, we headed back to town one last time. Jason took his turn to shop and I stayed in the car with the pups. Jason came back with a few items in hand… including a vegan pizza!! Score!! Yay!
Telluride was not at all what I expected. Such a chill vibe. We will absolutely come back here!
We got back to the campsite and had a new neighbor. His name was Patrick and he had lost his wife about 5 years ago. He sold his house in Telluride and designed and helped facilitate Doctors Without Borders over the past few years. Right now he was back in Colorado, camping around the state to find where he would settle down. The work he had done was therapy for losing his wife and now he was looking to start life over again. He had a daughter, also named Shannon, and said she had “a lot of energy.” Jason said it sounded familiar. Patrick was looking at putting a camper on land he buys so we showed him around and inside our rig. He was such a kind person!
I love this about traveling- you never know who you will meet and how your lives can change.
Vegan On the Rhode 