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| Hiking | 5.68 Miles |
1,070 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.68 Miles | 2 Hrs 19 Mns | | 2.45 mph |
| 1,070 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | After driving nearly 500 miles up from Phoenix, my wife and I were spent the week in Mountain Village, the ski resort above the city of Telluride. As with most of our other trips, I wanted to get a hike in while I was there.
When my wife and I arrived at the east end of Telluride, a San Miguel County road crew had the road blocked off for yearly maintenance, so we parked on the road, west of Pandora Mill. At 9:00 a.m., on a off-season Thursday, there were four other vehicles there.
My plan was to hike Bridal Veil Trail at least as far as in the Ingram Creek crossing and, if safe, all the way to Bridal Veil Falls. If Ingram Creek was too dangerous to cross, I would double back to the trailhead, then hike up Black Bear Pass Rd.
The first 100 yds. of Bridal Veil Trail stay close to Black Bear Pass Rd. before turning south towards Ingram Creek. Mind your footing with roots and stepping between rocks. Ingram Creek is in ⅓ of a mile. Crossing it was no problem at all. “Hazardous stream crossing” is way over blown. (Unless there is a flash flood.)
The vegetation is a mixture of fir trees, aspen and small evergreen shrubbery. I saw two species of flowers, but neglected to photograph them. While laying on the ground, a pair of hikers stopped to ask me if I was okay. “Yeah, just taking pictures of these tiny molds.” “Cool!” But it was nice of them to check. 
300 yds. past Ingram Creek, there is a 30 ft. waterfall. (Marked as Side Falls #1 on my GPS route.) The temperature drop in the waterfall’s vicinity was noticeable. Speaking of temperature, I had been worried that I was under-dressed with only a hoodie, as it was quite chilly when I started. But other than the waterfalls’ microclimate, it warmed up enough to be a pleasant late morning hike.
300 yds. past the first side waterfall, was a second, slightly taller and less vertical waterfall. Both are on Bridal Veil Creek. Just beyond Side Falls #2, is the signed junction of Ingram Spur Trail. The sign marks the ¾ mile point of Bridal Veil Trail. I stayed right on Bridal Veil Trail. 
… Which I soon lost in a snow bank. Bridal Veil Falls is visible from much of the Bridal Veil Trail, and the way up the drainage was fairly obvious, but I wanted to lay down an accurate track, so instead of bushwhacking, I doubled back to the sign., following Ingram Spur Trail along a contour to Black Bear Pass Rd.
I got a kick out of finding a snowman on Black Bear Pass Rd. 
At the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls, I found the top of Bridal Veil Trail, so I doubled back to where I lost it — I recognized a crushed bush — then headed back up to the falls, laying down an accurate final ¼ mile of GPS route.
I spent about 20 minutes at the base of Bridal Veil Falls. There’s a lot of mist, so I tried to time the swirls to get a relatively clear shot. By the time I was done, I figured it was enough for the day, so I skipped hiking four more Black Bear Pass Rd. switchbacks to the top of the the falls. (Just under 500 ft. and another mile.)
On the way back down Black Bear Pass Rd., there was a steady trickle of people heading up. There were a ton more cars parked near the Pandora Mill. I imagine it would be a zoo on the weekends!
Hike Video: https://vimeo.com/555442675 |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
Two species I don't remember on Bridal Veil Trail. Fair amount of dandelions on Black Bear Pass Rd. |
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Bridal Veil Creek |
Heavy flow |
Heavy flow |
| | | The top of the mountains still had snow, but only spot snow lower down. So, I imagine flow was near peak with spring melt. | | _____________________
| http://prestonm.com : Everyone's enjoyment of the outdoors is different and should be equally honored. |
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