Serving you, homeowners in the Telluride valley, with inspiring, relevant local information highlighting the abundant happenings and hidden surprises of this wonderfully remote mountain community that we call our year-round home.
"We Take the Anxiety Out Of Coming Home"
(970) 728-6240 Office (970)797-1397 Fax Email: teluride@rmi.net
P.O. Box 22, Telluride, CO 81435 (970) 729-0526 cell- 24/7 response
Ebb and flow of the mountain life- human and animal.
Whereas in many populated parts of the country people are already enjoying spring soccer matches, grassy picnics and balmy bike rides in the high dessert country,
This time of the year the change of seasons brings with it unpredictable weather combined with the spring melt off of the high country snows. Snow blizzards still move thru the mountain valleys and then quickly melt away under
The ebb and flow of seasonal employees transpires without the slightest notice in a resort town. Just before the ski mountain closes, many of them hand in their aprons, ski tuning tools, and work gloves to opt for a few days of reckless freedom on the sun baked ski slopes. Shortly thereafter most feel the pull to rejoin the herds and resume their place on the corporate treadmill after an epic ski season ‘off’ from the real world.
The great majority of them will never come here to live or work again. Many will return years from this 2007/2008 ski season with fond memories of the great snow this season, the hard work they endured and the people that they called friends with whom they crammed into rinky dink apartments and shared refrigerators. For many, Telluride is a grand extension of the collegiate experience. With the exception that Mom and Dad are not paying for these life experiences-they are often under overwhelming pressure which forces them to move on.
For locals the time has come to switch from a deep winter mode to a full on immersion into summer. For many locals that means switching over to summer sports gear of swim goggles, soccer balls, mountain bikes and trail running shoes and stowing away the skis, sleds and snow goggles. For the homes we manage and care for it means keep and eye upwards for ice blocks about to rip off and break down upon the decks, keeping wet spring snows off the frail hot tub covers (they are just heavy duty Styrofoam underneath that fancy leather cover), rebuilding rock walls after they have been abused by the snowplows and more than anything taking stock of what exactly happened after this BIG winter. As the snow lines recede we can sees that rain gutters are oozing off some roof lines, rock walls are crumbling under the heavy snows and over the top melt off, shingles got ripped off by the ice buildups after December and January snow loads, tree limbs crumbled and fell among the grounds. Yep- it was a doozy of a year all right
If you decide to come to the mountains before the ‘on’ season there are a few happenings of interest in motion already. The animals are returning to the mountains and we want you to be aware of who and what you can view for yourself. The Ute Mountain/Mesa Verde Birding Festival takes place in nearby Cortez on May 8-11th. The hosts feature a discovery of the canyons country’s wild birds and ancient ruins with tours, lectures and a presentation by the California Condor Project’s Donald Bruning. Contact the Cortez Cultural Center at (970)565-1151.
Another species worth seeking out is the bighorn sheep of the Ouray area. We have been on hikes in that area’s high country and spotted them near the locale of Chief Ouray’s (chief of the Utes, 1888) cabin above the town of
According to the Colorado Division of Wildlife the sheep like to graze in the early morning and late afternoon. They bed down during the daytime and are harder to spot. Other notable resident herds of the big horn sheep and the White Mountain goats can also be seen at the nearby Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Montrose) a national monument and along the
Did anyone else see the ski resort’s resident collared lynx this season while skiing? In late February Lee, Kendal and I rode lift #8 up on a sunny morning and watched a huge cat meander underneath us, amazing! Keep an eye out for their tracks and maybe you will see them cross that way again.
Coyotes are easily visible on the valley floor because the groundhogs have recently repopulated that zone as soon as the valley cows were removed and have not been allowed to graze there. Neighborhood bears, bobcats, mountain lions and foxes are more difficult to spot but they are around to be sure. Keep your pets, the pet food, bird feeders, garbage, BBQ grills clean and windows secured- especially through out the night and at dusk.
Don’t attempt to feed the foxes, deer or any of the wild animals. Time and time again the disruption of the natural feeding cycles by well meaning humans leads to some sort of “control mitigation” and intervention by authorities. A family leaves out food for the foxes, creates a feeding return behavior in them which attracts mountain lions to the same path and then the authorities are called in because dogs and cats go missing. Hummingbird nectar and sunflower seeds are favorites for our native birds. Also they attract bears. Manage the food and you will manage the bears. Put the bird food out of a bear’s reach (they climb wood beams!). Need more information contact the CDW in Montrose at (970)252-6000.
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Activities
The snow is finally starting to melt which means mud season is getting started, but it also means that river season is coming! This should be one of the longest seasons on record for the local rivers. Even the Dolores supposedly will have a 70-day season for anyone wanting to experience this rare event in one of the most scenic canyons around. Multi day trips will be available through a few outfitters.
Locally expect the
For groups that want a change to a desert climate with some cool history, check out the Hanging Flume section. This is past Naturita, where the San Miguel meets the Dolores. This is a mild float trip that is great for all ages and it is the best way to view the Hanging Flume, which is an old mining water diversion where a wooden “sluice box” is suspended on a cliff face high above the river. This was built in the late 1800’s and is an amazing testament to the creativity and determination the miners had to get the job done.
For anyone looking to play on any of the rivers, do use extra caution! There will be a lot of debris, like fallen trees, coming down the river during runoff. Even the banks could be a bit unstable as the high water works to aggressively erode them. If you are inexperienced, please stick with the professional outfitters. Local river trips can be arranged through Further Adventures/ BootDoctors. Feel free to contact them at (970) 728-8954 or shoot me an email if you have any questions or concerns at teluride2@mindspring.com Have a great off season! Trevor
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News
LEVEL V
The Telluride Medical Center has been designated a Level V Trauma center, the first so designated stand alone clinic in the state of
There are five levels of trauma designation beginning with Level 1, the highest designation of care.
TMS administrator, Harry Packard, was quoted in The Telluride Watch: "There are a couple of pluses to having the official designation. The big thing is it shows our standards are excellent, as evidenced by the evaluation, site visit and recommendation. And it puts us in the trauma designation system for the state." This designation also allows the clinic to bill as an emergency service instead of an urgent care facility, a higher billing structure which could possibly aid in relieving budget problems this year.
HEAVY SNOWS IN
Reservoirs drained from a multi-year drought are expected to refill this spring and provide a much welcomed whitewater season.
John Simons, engineer for the federal Bureau of Reclamation reported in an AP release "we’re going from being almost empty to being so full that we will have to release large amounts of water". The Bureau oversees the Vallecito, Lemon, McPhee and Navaho reservoirs located in the southwestern portion of the state.
The snowpack is reported at 141% of the 30 year average at this time. The runoff of this snow may mean that river runners could return to the
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Dates to Mark Down on your calendar
Early bird pricing for ski resort season passes and 10-day passes go on sale mid-summer – usually the discount ends by June 30th. They are not available yet.
Buy your Blues and Brews festival tickets ASAP for the September festival. Four day passes usually sell out. www.tellurideblues.com
The September Film Fest four-day passes also sell out and if you are considering attending you should inquire as soon as possible about tickets. www.telluridefilmfest.com
The
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April 2008 Calendar
Friday, April 04, 2008
KOTO Street Dance
Telluride closes main street for this annual après-ski, end-of-season concert that features live music on the courthouse steps and a beer garden. (April 5 is reserved in case of inclement weather.)
970.728.8100
Friday, April 04, 2008
Winter Concert Series
A free concert in
970.728.7620
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Gondola Closes
The Gondola closes at the end of the day for maintenance until late May.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Ski Resort Closing Day
Enjoy the final turns of the lift-served season.
Friday, April 25, 2008 - Sunday, April 27, 2008
Talking Gourds Spoken Word Festival
High-energy poetic performances, film, lectures and wild mind workshops.
970.728.0399 or 970.327.4767
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PROJECTS
With the record ski season coming to a close (greater than 330” of snow and still snowing!) and our sights now focusing towards summer, we at Kastle Keepers, LLC will start generating lists of items that you may want to consider having done on your home. Expect to have these lists by the end of April beginning of May. This will allow you the time to review them and make decisions on what you want to get done and allow us time to schedule them for the summer season. Carpet cleaning, drapery cleaning, wood floor buffing, fireplace flu cleanouts, humidifier system filter replacements are just a sampling of behind the scenes operations we take care of for you. Further, all the normal to be expected spring maintenance items will be checked off as well; sprinkler turn on with landscape companies, head repairs, lawn raking, garden pots & hoses out for the summer, etc.... Please call Lee or Trevor with any special requests or for their personal recommendations about the lists generated.
In addition to the spring cleanup, Kastle Retreats, LLC will start focusing on better website placement to help with our owner’s needs of high quality rentals. We have made many great contacts over this past ski season; successfully rented several high end homes and we expect to start to be able to better place rentals for those that have asked for it. In fact, because of uncertain times we feel this will become more important as time goes by. With the change of an IRS a rule reflecting what is actually is considered a vacation homes that qualifies as a 10-31 exchange, the high quality rentals have now become more important than ever. I have inserted an article from a leading 10-31 expert in the region that can give you better details. If you have adobe pdf viewer, you can click on the actual article and it will open up in the viewer which will make it easier to read. His name is Rich Levy. His contact info is located at the bottom of the attached article. This may be one more reason to use Kastle Retreats, LLC if you are considering renting to select clientele and looking to do a 10-31 in the future!
From all of us at the Roufa Family, LaBorde Family and Rusty we wish you a safe and happy spring! See you when the slopes have melted off and summer returns to the Telluride valley once again.
Has anybody seen the Easter Bunny!
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