Day 49 – Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Okay, so I have some catching up to do. It’s been an eventful few days and I haven’t had time to write any posts, so here we go!
On Friday, Jeff, Caroline, Tad, Laura, and I woke up at our awesome camp spot on the side of the mountain to sound check at the main stage. Charlie had stayed at a friend’s place in town. We hung out for awhile then I went down to grab breakfast at a bakery called, Baked in Telluride. Grabbed a breakfast burrito, coffee, and some wifi.
After breakfast, I went for a ride up to Bridal Veil Falls. It was absolutely gorgeous. The trail was a forest road past town that goes up into the mountains. I saw Jeff coming down as I was on the way up. He turned around and rode the rest of the way up with me.
Jeff stopped at the falls and I continued up a bit further, but the path was a bit too rugged for me to continue on. On the way back down I stopped in at the festival for a bit. Caught the end of a band called Lau’s set. Afterwards I rode back up to our camp spot.
Once I was back to the campsite we hung out there for awhile until someone came by and informed us that we were on private property. Knew our spot had to be too good to be true. Everyone started packing up their stuff. It took me a bit longer than everyone else since I was on a bike and didn’t want to just throw all my stuff in a car. I was the last one left and had just finished breaking down my tent when two Sheriffs pulled up in SUVs. They started off hassling me pretty hard and it seemed like they were planning on arresting me. I explained that there were no signs posted and everyone we had asked who claimed to be locals said we could camp there. Eventually it came up that I was riding across the country raising money for multiple sclerosis. After I explained what I was doing their demeanor toward me completely changed. They checked for any outstanding warrants and when they came up empty let me go. I walked into town with only my tent and cell phone, feeling sufficiently homeless. I wonder what would have happened if I wasn’t raising money for a charity with my ride…
The rest of my stuff was in Jeff and Caroline’s car, but I couldn’t get ahold of them. Eventually I heard from Charlie and he told me to meet him at his friend Pepper’s place. When I got there Laura and Tad were there as well. We all went to the free stage in town to check out Ed Helms, Ian Riggs, and Jacob Tilove. We had all planned on meeting up there, so I was relieved when we ran into Jeff and Caroline and I was reunited with all my stuff.
After the show we found a spot by the river to set up hammocks, relax a bit, and listen to music. Eventually Jeff, Caroline, Tad, and Laura decided to head up to Lizard Head Pass to camp for the night. I wanted to catch Trampled by Turtles which was the last show, so I kept my bike in town and planned on crashing at Pepper’s with Charlie.
We saw the end of Janelle Monae’s set which was an interesting combination of funk, hip hop, rap – not bluegrass at all. After that we watched Trampled by Turtles.
After the show we met up with a couple of Charlie’s friends and tried to go to a late night show, but things were closing down as we showed up. We called it a night and went back to Pepper’s to crash.
Day 50 – Rafting Down the Delores
The next morning Charlie and I were up by 7 am to bike up to Lizard Head Pass and meet up with the rest of the crew. From there we went to Rico, Colorado just about 15 miles further to meet up with Charlie’s friend Benny. The way that Charlie met Benny is too good of a story for me to tell and I’d never do it justice, so I’ll leave it to your imaginations. Benny does all kinds of stuff. Sounds like primarily he’s a Baja racer, but also works as a fireman for the county and does search and rescue.
Every year since Charlie and Benny met they take a day off from the festival to hang out with Benny at his place in Rico. This year we got to raft down the Delores River. Because of some late season snowfall and recent rain the river was really up. Out of fear of breaking my phone I didn’t bring it, so I didn’t grab any pictures. We had two whitewater rafting boats. One with 5 of us and a dog and 4 on the other. It was a pretty wet ride as we’d go through rapids and the waves would crash over the boat. Nothing was super crazy, but there were a few times where we got caught on a rock or something and it seemed like someone could go overboard.
After floating the river we went back to Benny’s place, ate a bunch of pizza, had a big bon fire (after all they are firefighters), and then I crashed pretty early from a long day.
Day 51 – Telluride Bluegrass Festival
Yesterday morning we headed back into Telluride to catch the last day of the festival. On the way there Jeff, Caroline, and I setup camp at Lizard Head Pass. Charlie planned on staying in Telluride that night and Tad and Laura had to head home before the day was over. Our first stop was the free stage to catch a band called Trout Steak Revival. Pretty good stuff!
After that Caroline and I went to Brett Dennen at the Main Stage. I’ve seen him a few times in the past, but he was still good.
After Brett I wandered back over to the free stage to try to meet back up with Charlie. Caroline went to hang out by the river with Jeff. I didn’t see Charlie at the free stage, but I did catch a cool band called Fruition. I left to grab some food and got a text from Jeff saying that him and Caroline were going to head back up to Lizard Head to camp and call it a night. I still wanted to see Greensky Bluegrass at the main stage. I met up with them and grabbed my bike, so that I could bike up to Lizard Head Pass after the show.
Greensky was great! I’ve tried to see them a few times and it has never worked out, so I was glad I decided to stay. I ended up running into Charlie part way through the show. After the show I started the trip back to Lizard Head. You can cut about 10 miles off of the ride by riding the gondola from Telluride up to Mountain Village.
As I got off the gondola I only had about 15 minutes until sunset and 12 miles to ride, mostly uphill. I knew I would be riding in the dark part of the way, so I tried to get as much done before it got really dark. The ride was beautiful. watching the sunset over the valley was nothing short of incredible.
Rumor has it that these are the mountains on the Coors cans, Mount Wilson being the tallest of them.
I made it to Lizard Head Pass by 945 or so and it was pretty much pitch black. Luckily I was able to find my way to our campsite. We stayed up for awhile by the fire making bacon wrapped hotdogs – pretty delicious. Perfect end to an unexpected and incredible weekend!
Glad you got to finally see Greensky!! Soooo good!!!