Magical, Mystical Telluride

Telluride. There’s something magical about this place. My ex-husband and I first came here years ago to ski and snowmobile. Eventually we brought our kids, then friends and their kids. At the advice of our therapist, we even came here to try to restore our broken marriage. Telluride didn’t fix our marriage, but I never held a grudge.

While I fell in love with the Telluride winters, it is the summertime that has beckoned me back. Over the past several years my four boys and I have loaded our Suburban and conquered the 24-hour drive through the Midwest, the plains and into these mountains where we discover more of the land... and ourselves.

Whether it’s pushing our limits on a mountain biking trail or floating on an innertube down the freezing waters of the San Miguel River, we find a way to enjoy every moment in this place. We find reprieve in the historica town, absent of chain restaurants or big box shops. We cherish our tradition of eating at Brown Dog Pizza and mourned when our beloved Honga’s Lotus Petal closed. We look forward to meeting new people - and especially their dogs - as we ride the gondola to Mountain Village and we relish in each sunset we witness from the deck of The Peaks Resort and Spa.

But it’s the hiking that delivers a spiritual experience. Among my favorite trails in both the winter and the summer is See Forever. Whether you reach the top of this trail by foot or you are unloading from the ski lift, there is no wonder why it’s namedSee Forever.

My most intimate times with God have been on the trail, and See Forever is no exception. It’s easy to feel close to God when the views are this spectacular and the air is perfectly fresh; however, hiking these mountains is no picnic. While the air is fresh, it is also thin and my breathing is often labored. My legs turn to jelly at some of the more intense inclines and, depending on how much I have loaded into my pack, my shoulders and back feel the stress. There are moments as I hike when I want to turn around and head to lower altitude. It’s not a technical hike by any means but for a Midwestern girl who doesn’t have much of a workout routine, it’s a challenge to my stamina.

The process mirrors life, really. Parts of the trail are flatter and filled with wildflowers blooming wildly in the meadows, while rocks and roots obstruct some of the steeper terrain. It’s easy to make it through the meadows where little is required of me. Yet, as the trail becomes harder and steeper, I wrestle to continue on. This, however, is when the deepest reliance on God comes into play. This is where I feel his presence the most intensly. This is where I commune most intimately with Him. And this is where I feel most fulfilled.

Telluride is one of those places where I have found God in both the simple, easy times of life and in some of the most complex, heartbreaking times. In either case, it has never failed to provide joy and even healing in its rugged, dramatic beauty.

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