JULY 15:  Montrose, Colo. to Telluride, Colo. 69 miles via U.S. Routes 50 and 550 and Colorado Routes 62 and 145. Average speed today, 11.5 mph. Total trip mileage to date, 2,574. Average miles per day since June 1, 57.2.

Another easy start, taking Route 550 for a straight-shot run to Ridgeway. Climbed a few hundred feet, but it seemed more like a downhill. This all changed after 30 miles, when we headed up the 9,800-foot Dallas Divide. The nine-mile climb was steady, but not difficult.

What followed was a 10-mile slide into the tiny Colorado town of Placerville, where the grocery store served up good deli sandwiches. Next 16 miles were a rolling ascent, then a steep pitch into Telluride.

It was a gorgeous place I had first visited in 1970. Then it was a moribund mining town bordering on extinction. But, horseshoed by spectacular snow capped mountains, it is in one of the most spectacular settings you could imagine. Had I had the cash and the foresight to buy property then, I’d be a rich man today. Unfortunately, I had neither.

Now Telluride is southwestern Colorado’s answer to Aspen. Drawn by a ski resort and an array of cosmopolitan stores down the old Main Street, it is now home to the super-rich glitterati. Boutiques, high fashion, Rolex dealers, upscale jewelry, posh salons and more lure tourists here year-round. We were lucky to find a place to stay.

Real  estate here has gone through the roof, with tiny cottages in town going for well over a million and ranch homes in the many subdivisions around town going for $3.5 million or more. But, yeah, the site is still spectacular and the view is free.  

To avoid a stratospheric restaurant tab, we got pizza – which still ran us nearly $40 – and watched the baseball all-star game in our room.  

Tomorrow we’ll leave the rich and super-rich behind, tackle Lizard Head pass, then slide into Dolores and a long-awaited day off.