# United States & Canada Vacations Forums > General Discussion >  >  Telluride report

## LindaP

I left Albany (sea level)for Denver , and my daughter picked me up, and we drove 7 hrs to Telluride. We stayed at the Hotel Telluride, where they greeted us with a doggie bed and bowls for my daughter's Huskey. Nice touch. The breakfasts were really great, and the chocoloate chip cookies they put out in the afternoon, are delicious (thanks Martin!).
     We had some beers at the Sheridan Hotel, cool old place, before we went to eat at 221. Lucky , and cheap for us that it was tuesday; buy 1 entree, get 1 free!
   The next am, we started out on our "hike".....up to  the top of Bridal Veil Falls, @ 9500 ft +. After we made that, we decided to go on to try and find Blue Lake.....but somehow missed the turn, and ended up somewhere in the Wasatch area, above tree line, at least 12,000ft. by this time (3+ hrs into the steep climb).....I started feeling nauseated, and my heart was being squeezed, that and a storm approching.....had us practically running back down the mts.!!!
    I started feeling really good when I reached a lower elevation, then it started raining when we were about 2 miles from our car....when 2 Texans in an off road truck stopped and asked if we wanted a lift. (Bless those Cowboys, right, Dick?)
 and they lifted our 75 lb. Huskey (he was too tired to jump by 
this pt) into the flatbed, and we got in, and headed down to our car.
     That night (yes, I was still able to move).....I had my first gondola ride up to Allred's restaurant, where we procured an excellent seat in the bar next to the window. There, we watched (and drank!), as the sun colored the mts. above Telluride and the town faded into darkness. Beautiful!
   What an awesome place, for sure!!!!

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## MIke R

sounds great...I've done that hike....but Linda...from Albany to 12,000 feet is pretty radical....about 30% less Oxygen.....go easy!!!!...you can really put yourself behind the 8 ball and get yourself in trouble doing what you did...glad it turned out alright...

Gods country....for sure

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## LindaP

Yeah,  I know Miker.....it was one of those "what's over the rainbow" type ideas...where we just kept going, switchback after switchback, to see what lay ahead. I don't know about better views, but definately less 02!!!!!!!  :)

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## MIke R

arent the double falls breathtaking there???...a great hike for sure...everyone is different with the elevation...I needed a few days to get acclimated and than I was fine.....my wife could just hit the ground running with little to no ill effects..

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## MartinS

If nothing else did, I knew the cookies would get to you......  The breakfast is pretty good and convenient. Overall the place is at a good location. I'll be back out that way but most likely not for ski season. I'll be looking for fish !

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## amyb

Linda, looks like you learned a good lesson. Now pace yourself and enjoy God's country!

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## rivertrash

Glad you had the good fortune to find those Texas fellas.  I can guarantee you one thing -- we are going out there in two weeks and if there's a 3500-4000 ft. vertical to be done, it's going to be in the 4WD.  We are going to Beaver Creek and then take the jeep and drive down to the Telluride/Ouray area for a couple of days.  It's gorgeous down there and we are hoping we don't completely miss the aspens.  We are going out this year about a week later than last year, which was the most gorgeous we have ever seen them.  Oh well, even if there were no gold leaves it's a beautiful drive.

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## MIke R

you're surely pushing your luck...in Summit Country it was all over by this week..

still a great ride...wave to my little shangrala cabin  on Sylvan Lake for me... which I miss sooooooo much

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## rivertrash

Yeah, it's a little late, but we just couldn't make it any earlier.  Cecie just got back from a seven week sojourn in Beaver Creek.  She said if she couldn't go to St. Barth this summer she would just spend it out there!  We saw your Shangrila two weeks ago.  Drove by it and then over the mountain to the Frying Pan River and down to Basalt and then into Carbondale for dinner at Six89.  Great place.  Sylvan Lake is still as beautiful as you remember!

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## JoshA

Linda: You definitely pushed it coming from sea level. I used to go to Telluride regularly when I was living in Colorado and the adjustment was easy.  Last time I went from sea level in Virginia though. It's easy to get altitude sickness if you're a tourist in Colorado because most of the resorts are so high and I remember the headache and trouble sleeping. Worth it for the scenery, though.

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## MIke R

Our E.R. was filled...every weekend....its much worse than they at the Chambers would like everyone to believe....people come into town and the first thing they do is start drinking, which is about the worse thing you can do...than they hit the slopes next morning, dehydrated and hungover, and start sucking in that oxygen depleted air while exerting themselves far more than they do in their normal day to day lives...and they go down hill fast  ( no pun intended )

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## JoshA

Yep. Summit County should be for Front Range skiers and locals. You come from sea level and sleep at 10,000 feet. Not a good idea. Last year we went to Steamboat where you sleep at 6,000 feet. Much better. If I'm going elsewhere in Colorado, I try to spend two days on the Front Range first. My next trip is Whistler at 2,000 feet.

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## MIke R

what will be interesting will be when I go back...I knew a  Summit County Doctor who studied this very thing and he claims once you live at high altitudes for extended periods of time, your lungs develop and adapt to it by creating more bunches of aveoli to maximize the exchange of gases...and they never go away...so if you leave, and return....you shouldn't have much of a problem.....having lived at 11 thousand feet  for 8 years I am ready to put he theory to the test....

problem is Wendi wont let me go back because she is certain I wont come home  :p

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## JoshA

I've done the experiment and it isn't so. You will definitely feel the altitude.

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## LindaP

I was ok, no headaches like my husband gets, until I went past 12,000 feet. When we got back and went to Rocky Mt national park,  where the ranger station said almost 9500 ft.....I felt like I could run through the trails!!!!!!
    Dick, the aspens were just starting to turn in Telluride when we were there.

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## MIke R

Linda...when I used to come to the Cape for the summer, from my home at 11,800 feet out there, I used to have boundless energy and stamina....I loved it!!

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## JoshA

> I used to have boundless energy and stamina....I loved it!!



When I was 18, I used to have boundless energy too. Conclusion: Either altitude makes you old or age makes you high.   :Big Grin:

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