The 10th annual boys’ weekend is here and for the first time it’s not in New Orleans. We tried something new with the 23rd annual edition of the Telluride, CO Blues and Brews festival. Three days of music and beer at high altitude
in Colorado. We flew into Grand Junction and then drove to Telluride with a short stop in Montrose for refreshments at an interesting dive bar (Niko’s).
Here’s a picture of Telluride village from the cable car that runs over to Mountain Village. The festival was held in the park at the end of the village on the right had side of this view.
After the long drive, all we could muster for on Thursday night was a cocktail at the bar downstairs from our condo.
Friday began with a trip on the cable car over to Mountain village and a kick-off bloody Mary.
Then it was back over to the village for the festival. A huge highlight for me was Jason Isbell who played a varied and spectacular set. Joe Walsh closed the day and was as zany as ever. Here’s his tribute to Glen Frey, “Take it to the Limit”. It got very cold very quickly when the sun set behind the mountains – many layers needed.
After a quick rest back at the condo we headed out to the New Sheridan bar to listen to some excellent reggae music. The place was totally packed and the music was great.
Saturday began with the first of a couple of torture sessions that I was in store for – a hike 1200 feet up the Beaver Creek trail to some waterfalls. Breath doesn’t come easy at that altitude and climbing that quickly. And for pure humiliation I was passed by a 3 legged chihuahua on the way up and down. The views were excellent though. There was no time for lolly-gagging on the trail since the Grand Tasting started at the festival at 11am. This is an event where 30 or so local breweries provide tastings of their brews – and it’s included in the price of admission and so not to be missed.
After the tasting we saw performances by the California Honeydrops (recommended), North Mississippi Allstars (mixed reviews), Anders Osborne (pictures below and a good performance with just a bit too much noodling and fiddling with overdrive effects), and Gary Clark to close out (great start to the set with Bright Lights). It quickly got too cold for much more of the fest.
In the evenings the festival puts on “Juke Joint” events at small halls throughout the village. We caught performances at both the Sheridan Opera House and the Elk’s lodge just down from the condo where the Delgado brothers put on an excellent show for a small number of blues fans. I last saw them at Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco and they were equally good at altitude.
Sunday started well with a trip on the gondola back over to Mountain Village. The plan was to have brunch and enjoy the Cowboys game. That went well for about an hour and then the deadly duo (Denny and Sean) were able to arrange a mountain biking tour they really, really wanted to do. So back over the mountain, pick up bikes and gear, load into a transit van and head up to 10,500 feet to start the Galloping Goose run. This was advertised as a perfect “intro” mountain bike ride suitable for kids.
It started out well with wide, easy trails and these gorgeous views. My first challenge was a puncture about a half mile above Trout Lake pictured above. The crew was completely oblivious to my issue as I walked down to meet them at the lake. Puncture repaired, we headed on down. Some road riding was fine, and then the torture began. Narrow and very steep trails through the woods and streams, and then a couple of miles along the side of a cliff on a narrow pathway. I’m not good with heights – particularly steep drop offs – so there was some walking for me. 17 miles later and a 2200 foot descent and the torture was over and I was ready for a drink and something good to eat. My fist mountain biking experience is behind me. Lesson learned – investigate the reality of the trail before starting.
Monday was a short drive back to Montrose airport and a quick flight home. Montrose has 3 gates but has a TSApre line – something not offered at DFW terminal B with 30 plus gates.
Another excellent boys’ trip in the books. Time to start planning to make Cuba a reality next year.