On the eastern side of the pass is the mining town of Helper, situated at the mouth of Price Canyon, alongside Price River. Located in the appropriatedly named Carbon County, the area is steeped in coal mining history.A few miles further east is the town of Price, the Carbon County seat and economic center for central eastern Utah. This being said, don't expect too much. There is the normal sprawl associated with most economic centers. Not too much interesting is going on in the historic downtown. I was pleasantly surprises by a locally owned coffee shop and Owen was unduly impressed with the public pool that had a wave machine. After a picnic in the town park, we headed out without testing the wave waters but with a pinky promise to do so on the return trip home.
On to Moab. My second favorite place in the west. Hot. Dry. Thinking about the fact that I was about to embark, a few days hence, on a bike ride in this 105 F temperature gave me pause. Was this the best way to celebrate a 10 yr anniversary? Perhaps by our 20th we will have learned to relax on our vacations.
Moab has some of the most diverse terrain imaginable and is an outdoor mecca (my personal favorite in all of Utah) and a bit of a geological wonder. That is not so surprising, given that it is a stone's throw to both Arches and Canyonlands Nat'l Parks. What's your poisin? Mountain biking, trail running, rock climbing, river running, adventure racing. Moab has it all. It is bloody hot much of the year but you can always escape to altitude in the La Sal Mountains right outside of Moab. And yeah there is the HUGELY annoying ATV, Jeep, and dirtbike aspect to Moab. But if you can get beyond that and stay away during all motorhead festivals it is relatively easy to escape the whining hum of the combustion engine.
One of the best aspects of a roadtrip to Telluride is that I get to pass through Moab both to and fro. Generally, I am so anxious to get to Telluride I make it a quick stop for good coffee, good food and on I continue. The return trip is when we pull out the bikes, frequent the fantastic local book seller, brewpub (a Tony favorite) or Chinese restaurant (my favorite) and spend the night at our favorite camp spot beside the Colorado River. From Moab it is only 2 1/2 hrs to Telluride.
So..... what is so dang special about Telluride over, say, Jackson, Wy or Durango, CO or Park City, UT or Taos, NM or Steamboat Springs or most other ski resort towns? I'd have to say it is the lack of the sprawl that is endemic to destination ski resort-type hot spots. There are no franchises, big-box stores, golden arches or other such manifestations of our consumer-driven culture. Pricey? Hell yes, but I would gladly pay $9.00 for a hamburger as penance. This is the town that managed to raised 50 million in short order to keep 250 acres of the valley floor from commercial development and put it in conservation. Of course, being located in a box canyon also helps limit expansion. Also there is a noticeable lack of that overly tanned, overly manicured "golfing-type" folk that populates most pricey mountain towns. A majority of the people look like they actually partake in the great outdoors that surrounds them. You know the look: non-conformist, slightly unkempt, dressed primarily in Mountain Hardwear, Cloudveil or the like and often with a slight sweat residue.
But the reason I LOVE Telluride now more than ever is that this is the place where my 7 yr old son gave up the dream of owning a dirt bike (combustion engine, bad) and used the $425 in his savings account towards a whitewater Jackson Fun 1 kayak. This was huge. He had been saving up every bit of allowance, birthday and Christmas money for over 3 yrs. All it took was seeing a super cool looking pre-teen throwing rolls in the San Miguel and he was in!
