Telluride

Telluride

After spending a couple weeks on the eastern side of the San Juan Mountains, I made the long drive up and around the mountain range to Telluride—on the western side. I hadn’t planned to visit Telluride at all, but it came so highly-recommended by so many people that I figured I should see what all the fuss was about. And I’m so glad I did. Yes, it’s an expensive area, but the mountains, lakes and hiking trails are world class.

I’ve been a hiker my whole life, but I've never hiked like I did in the San Juans, and by the time I left I was in the best hiking shape of my life. Suddenly, 10-15 mile hikes with 3,000-5,000 feet of elevation gain were being selected without second thought. This new strength in my legs and lungs felt amazing, and I began looking for opportunities to put them to use. 

I ended up staying in Telluride for a week, much of which was spent camping with a couple friends at an incredible spot that looked out across the Telluride valley, to where the 14,020 foot Wilson Peak towered above the horizon. I would sit in my camp chair and stare off at that gorgeous mountain—merely admiring its beauty—climbing it hadn’t even crossed my mind. But after a friend casually mentioned the idea, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. 

And before long we had a date set.

The day before we planned to climb Wilson Peak, a nearby fire blew thick, dark smoke into Telluride and threatened our plans. The smoke was so dense that we completely lost sight of the mountain—it literally disappeared. And with it our hopes of climbing it the following day. Unless the winds shifted and blew the smoke out overnight, we would have to cancel our climb. 

Full of anticipation, I didn’t get much sleep that night, but I awoke at dawn and peeked my head outside, expecting nothing but smoke. But, to my delight, the smoke had cleared and there she was, Wilson Peak, staring back at me. It was on! We hurried to the trailhead and a few hours later were standing on the summit, admiring the incredible views and feeling like champions of the world.

Wilson was just the second 14er I’d ever climbed, and was by far the most technical and nerve-wracking climb of my life. While most of it requires simply following the trail, the final section requires some seriously steep rock scrambling—every hand and foothold carefully selected, as losing grip or accidentally dislodging a rock in some of these sections would mean almost certain death. But we took our time, became supremely focused on the task at hand, and safely made it to the top (and, most importantly, back down again). 

Wilson Peak would be the last hike I did in Colorado, as the following day I prepared the van for travel, filled up the gas tank, and pointed west—towards home. 

"Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory." —Ed Viesturs

P.S. Once back at camp after climbing Wilson Peak, I cracked an ice-cold Coors Lite to celebrate the achievement. Why Coors Lite? Because the mountain on the label… that’s Wilson Peak.