Welcome back. The history of Telluride, Colorado goes back to the days of mining when gold and silver first made the town prosperous and the hope of striking it rich overcame the dangers of this rough but scenic part of a young America in the late 1880s. Nowadays the boom towns of Tomboy, Sneffels and Ironton are all deserted and can only be reached by hiking or via four wheel drive trucks with professionally licensed guides. The closest of these ghost towns is four and a half miles straight up the mountains from Telluride, not a hike for beginners. It would take me a full month of columns to describe the spectacular scenery and all the world class adventures that this area offers, but I’ve got to move on.