TRUE GRIT, ORIGINAL, TELLURIDE COLORADO, JOHN WAYNE IN RIDGWAY COLORADO

The opening scene in the original John Wayne classic western, is filmed at an old homestead building on Hastings Mesa, 33 miles from the ski resort of Telluride Colorado.  It was also filmed in Ridgway, Ouray, Lizard Head Pass, and the train scene in Silverton Colorado.  If you haven’t visited these towns, it is a must visit, your roadmap in life will change.  In the opening scene, which is quite lengthy, there is a shot of the Sneffles mountain range from the homestead home, which still stands to this day.  The mountain vista, shows an area on the south end of the Sneffles, that contains 3 avalanche chutes, and a mystical high mountain basin to the left.  Birdman had seen this movie in Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco, in the late 60′s.  He had no idea he would end up pioneering the ski mountain at Telluride, and lived the life of adventure on the ski patrol, raising a girl who had True Grit, hiked, and camped in the 100 miles of wild mountain country around Telluride.  He owned land a half mile from this homestead, and always remembered the scene of John Wayne at the end of the movie, jumping the cross fence, by the homestead home.  The Sneffles were landlocked by the Marie Scott ranch, 10 miles of magnificent high country.  She was a cow girl of 82 years, an eccentric looking lady, 4’11″ tall, with large rouge cheeks and real western clothes, and a real old cow girl hat.  She would occasionally appear at the San Miguel county courthouse in Telluride, an amazing sight for anyone lucky enough to be there.  Birdman recently watched the original True Grit movie with his daughter who grew up in Telluride, a lucky girl, amongst other lucky girls who loved the mountains.  The movie brought back endless memories of wild hikes in areas of the National Forest, that were rarely hiked by anyone.  Birdman had a clear memory of a hike that he took, from his land on Hastings Mesa, that two hours later, ended up in the high basin filmed in the movie, above the Marie Scott ranch.  The basin was mystical, since no one ever hikes into it, the terrain is too rugged and remote.  As he approached the basin he saw one of the most amazing wildlife phenomenon he had ever seen, through his binoculars.  There were 45 head of giant antlered mule deer, bedded down at the top of timberline in the high country basin.  The antlers ranged from 30 inches to 40 inches, and looked like the magnificent red stags you occasionally see in a painting of the Stags of Hungary and Czechoslovakia.  As birdman approached, the entire herd slowly got up, and walked up the mountain, like mountain goats, never to be seen again.  The John Wayne movie, that is shown quite often on the western movie channel, can bring back memories to those who lived the early days, pioneering the ski town of Telluride.  Watch the original, the scenery is the best there is in the high country of the American West, and it takes true grit to live there.