passes in and around Telluride | Life on a Colorado Farm

This a photo of the Black Bear road into to Telluride–

Since Telluride was in a box canyon all roads in and out of Telluride were (by necessity) very sharp and steep. We traveled over Imogene Pass from Ouray to Telluride, but there are many more passes in an around this old, old mining area leading to other well-known (now days) tourist areas — Silverton, Ridgeway, Ophir, Telluride, Ouray, Lake City…I think you get the idea.

These roads (although now jeep roads) were the first roads into the gold and silver mining towns. They are startling beautiful and terrifying all at once.

The name Telluride derives from “tellurium,” a sulfur compound that is sometimes found around gold deposits or even in the gold itself . Experts differ on whether the Telluride area mines contain the compound. But, reportedly the name arose in 1887 after a large piece of telluride ore was found in the San Miguel River near the site. You will still hear the tale that the name came from “to-hell-you-ride,” a phrase that described the difficulties traveling to the area.

The butterflies and bumble bees were many, here is one that I wasn’t sure of the name, maybe someone out there does

To answer a question about how the Quacking Aspen got it’s name (from our trip to Paonia) and good friend of mine (Rene Atchley) told me the following story:

The Aspen quake because the Indian Gods commanded all creation stand still in the Nature Gods presence. Because the Aspen didn’t so the Indian God punished them by making them quake for life.

I liked this story so wanted to pass it on to you!