Purposeless Wandering

Ski Day in Ironton

2008-12-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

Started the ski season with a quick run up the Corkscrew Pass jeep trail behind the Noric Ski area in Ironton. Clicked the trekkers and skins on my old alpine skis for this run.

Season's First Snow

2008-11-05T12:27:00.001-08:00

Click to Play Slideshow.

The first snow of the season has fallen.

Chillin on Halloween

2008-11-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

My brother, Ethan, has perfected his high altitude pizza recipe.

Click to Play Slideshow.

Autumn Leaves (in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado)

2008-09-29T11:32:00.001-07:00

Photo: (c) 2008- Eric Funk- Ironton, CO

Photo: (c) 2008- Eric Funk- Silverton, CO

Photo: (c) 2008- Eric Funk- Ironton, CO

Autumn Leaves (Irresistible Force Remix Trip 2) - Coldcut
Buy MP3 Track
Buy on Sunset Ibiza CD
Buy on Chilled Ibiza Gold CD

Dry Bones

2008-09-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

Photo: Eric Funk
Richmond Basin Trail - Ironton, CO
September 19, 2008

Dry bones and golden aspen leaves ... as Summer turns to Autumn

Porphyry Basin

2008-09-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Photo: Eric Funk
Porphyry Basin - Near Red Mountain Pass and Ouray, CO
August 2008

Night Time in Ouray

2008-09-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

Labor Day Weekend 2008
Photo: Eric Funk
Main Street-Ouray, CO

Imogene Pass

2008-09-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

I waited until most of the tourists were gone for the season to 4WD over Imogene Pass (el. 3997 m./13,114 ft.). This pass is the "short cut" route between Ouray and Telluride, CO. This is the highest pass in the San Juans. My friend Ed did the driving in his jeep. We sat for about an hour at the pass and had a bit of a picnic. This time I brought the Nikon DSLR and knitted together this nice panorama of the view. Look carefully and you'll see us enjoying the view.

Panorama of Imogene Pass on CleVR.com

Panoramic Photo - Eric Funk

Handies Peak on Labor Day Weekend

2008-08-30T20:30:00.000-07:00

At 4,281m/14,048 ft., the summit of Handies Peak offers a superb view of the Uncompahgre range of the San Juans of Southwest Colorado.

Located between Ouray and Lake City, the trailhead is accessible via the Cinnamon Pass 4WD trail. If you are in good shape, the route to the summit from American Basin can be covered in only a few hours.

I did this hike over Labor Day weekend with my brother, Ethan, and my friend Elaine. If you look carefully, you can see my brother doing his final assent inthis panorama. The Panorama was shot with a Canon point and shoot..I didn't want to carry the SLR on this trip.

Panorama of Handies Peak on CleVR.com

Panorama- Eric Funk

Blue Lakes Wildflowers

2008-08-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

I captured these photos on August 1st at the upper lake (map) of the Blue Lakes Trail (trail map) in the Mt. Sneffels wilderness

It's May - Still Skiing!

2008-05-12T20:14:00.000-07:00

It may not have been the best of conditions, but thre is still plenty of snow back country. The Red Mountain Pass Snotel site still reports over 70 inches of snow. I spent this morning just off of that same pass making some ski turns on my old alpine skis. I had some help getting uphill from my Alpine Trekker attachments and climbing skins. The trekkers weigh a good bit, so it was quite a work out. As they say, I earned these turns. Yes, you'll notice that I do have my avalanche beacon on and a shovel in my pack. My brother was nearby with the same stuff.

Season Finale- Movie Club

2008-05-10T21:06:00.000-07:00

It was an incredible Movie Club season. So much so that I'm tempted to work on a little festival in the near future. Some of our showings drew over 70 people to the Wright Opera House! We are wrapping up this Winter season on a light note with the odd independent comedy, I Want someone to Eat Cheese With. That shows this Friday night. Visit ourayfilm.com for details. We are planning to be back next winter season.

Snowiest Season on Record

2008-05-08T21:28:00.000-07:00

Ouray Plaindealer
253" Snowiest winter in 60 years of records

April 18, 2008
Ouray's residents have endured a very snowy winter, and on April 10 it became the snowiest in the 60 years of the National Weather Service record-keeping — a total of more than 21 feet and getting close to twice as much as normal.

The current 2007-08 snow total of 253.1" is now more than three standard deviations (99") above the historic mean of 137.52" a year.

Chilling in Ouray

2008-05-08T20:39:00.000-07:00

In addition to being a techie radio frequency design engineer, another one of my related loves is radio broadcasting. In addition to helping our local community radio station with tech and programming, I've also made a forray into the next generation of radio broadcasting.

My brother and I have been developing an Internet based station devoted to the up-and-coming niche "chillout" music format.

We've recently adopted the hobby station as a part of our business and have been making a concerted effort to up the technical, programming, and promotional standards.

One thing that we've always felt was missing from Internet radio was the feeling of localism. Last week we launched an on-air marketing effort to promote Ouray as a destination to worldwide travelers. We are working together with the Ouray Chamber Resort Association (OCRA) to help in this effort.

You'll now find our "launch button" prominently displayed on the OurayColorado.com web page. Thanks OCRA.

And if you haven't yet visted our site, mountainchill.com, please do so.
While you are there you'll find some cool legal promotional chillout mp3s for you to download to you ipod or what not.

Thanks also to Marti O'Donnell for the mention in the Ouray Plaindealer's "Ouray Nuggets" column a few weeks ago:

An email from friend Jane Bennett reminded me to comment on what has become one of my favorite online radio stations, Mountain Chill, originating in Ouray. Visit mountainchill.com where you can listen online through their site or through iTunes. Soft and sweet with a beat — "the planet's destination for chillout music," says the site banner.

[3/18/08-Complete article].

Economic Development - My Passion for Ouray

2008-04-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

There are so many issues at play in the long term economic health of our small mountain town. Like many modern mountain towns, our economy is dominated by the tourism sector. We are faced with a staggering growth in the cost-of housing fueled by second home ownership. But our community is very strong and we are determined not to become another Telluride, Colorado.

As chair of Ouray's Community Development Committee I had the opportunity to work with some exceptional community members as we drafted a long term economic development plan. The plan has just been released.

Read some of the press summarizing this work:

By Samantha Tisdel Wright - Ouray Plaindealer

The city's Community Development Committee presents its official "Economic Development Plan" to the Ouray City Council on Monday, Apr. 7.

The document is, as described by the CDC members who crafted it, "... a comprehensive plan with the goal of sustaining and improving the economic well-being of Ouray."

[More]

The Ouray Plaindealer was kind enough to print the entire plan in a pullout section of the paper on April 11, 2008. Thank You David Mullings!

The Ouray Community Development Committee (CDC) is pleased to present this comprehensive plan with the goal of sustaining and improving the economic well-being of Ouray. The plan is based upon extensive research, conducted both through the community-wide Ouray 2020 survey and interviews with Ouray's stakeholders and experts in a variety of economic sectors. The plan is also congruent with the goals of the 2004 Ouray Community Plan [1].

The plan is based on the philosophy of preserving our resources and enhancing the potential of our economic strengths. We seek to preserve the combination of natural resources and community spirit that have served us so well in the past. We seek to enhance the scope of our tourism offerings and promotion, while creating economic diversity and vitality in the areas of business entrepreneurship and renewable energy.

[Full Text]

Ouray County Watch
Ouray 2020 Economic Development Plan Unveiled
by Christopher Pike

OURAY – It was high praise for members of a citizens committee tasked with formulating a comprehensive plan for Ouray’s economic future through the year 2020.

“It is nothing short of phenomenal,” said Councilmember Janet Armstrong of the 24-page document formally presented to city council on Monday, April 7.

The plan contains a two-pronged approach to the economic development of the town: preserve the city’s “natural beauty, historical structures, small-town character, and community organizations,” and enhance the “market range and year-round quantity of our tourists, the arts and culture/heritage experience for tourists as well as residents and the entrepreneurial and small business environment.”

[More].

For the Love of Movies, Mountains and Music

2008-04-07T13:04:00.000-07:00

Credit: OC Watch

Thanks again, this time to the Ouray County Watch for helping me to sum up my life in Ouray recently.

For the Love of Movies, Mountains and Music - by Christina Callicott

"OURAY – Eric Funk is bound to be one of Ouray’s busiest people, but he doesn’t give off a harried, hurried vibe. Just the opposite.

The name Funk originated, ironically, in the staid lineage of the Pennsylvania Dutch. “It wasn’t an easy name to grow up with, but it quickly became OK,” he said. The name brings to mind the cool, the hip, the musically inclined. Funk lives up to his name – and more.

For his day job, Funk works with his brother Ethan. Together they own Red Mountain Radio, a specialized electrical engineering firm that builds components for electrical systems such as cell phones, radars and cable and radio communications. In a development lab above Khristopher’s Culinaire in Ouray, the Funk brothers build prototypes of circuit boards and other electronic components that are eventually integrated into their clients’ products. "

[More]

Nordic Skiing with a view

2008-02-12T19:14:00.000-08:00

My brother Ethan at Top of the Pines (TOP) Nordic Ski area.

Mt. Sneffels is in view in the background. I usually use the trails in Ironton for Nordic skiing, but Ironton was too snowed in to be accessible, so I paid my first visit to TOP. TOP was a children's summer camp years ago and has been lovingly restored as a Nordic ski area.

7 hrs. of shoveling

2008-01-11T15:20:00.000-08:00

My brother and I shoveled 7 hrs. today nonstop to clear our roof and create portals to the windows in the basement apartment. A nasty ice-dam on the roof had water dripping in. Got it done just in time as another storm is moving in.

While on the roof shoveling, we witnessed quite an avalanche run up Camp Bird Road.

Mountains of Snow

2008-01-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Khris zooms away from his shop in the best-suited transport for the season.

David, our newspaper man crossing the steet.

Snowpiles to match our peaks.

Ice Festival

2008-01-09T15:40:00.000-08:00

The 13th annual Ouray Ice Festival starts today!

Red Mountain Pass Reopens

2008-01-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Avalanche Danger

For some time this past week, every mountain pass in SW Colorado was closed. Red Mountain Pass, the one to our South was the last to open after a six day closure.

About 70" of accumulated snow is reported at the Red Mountain Pass snowtel site

According to the MDP
The U.S. Hwy. 550 corridor, which includes Red Mountain, Molas and Coal Bank passes, includes 63 named avalanche slide paths.

Paths that have never run, as well as some that haven’t run in more than 40 years, delivered avalanches resulting from the recent storm, according to a CDOT press release.

Indy Films are back in town

2007-12-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

December marks the return of Independent and art films to the historicWright Opera House (WOH). The movie theatre that used to operate out of the WOH closed a few years ago. Recently, the town has been buzzing about the reopening of the space as an arts venue. I helped organize the Ouray Movie Club as one of the first organizations to use the space since the Movie Theatre closed.
Visit my other weblog, ourayfilm.blogspot.com for more info.

December 14, 2007
Special to Plaindealer

Award-winning cinema returns to the Wright Opera House next week, as the Ouray Movie Club kicks off its 2007/2008 season with a showing of La Vie En Rose on Friday, Dec. 21.

The movie explores the life of legendary French singer Edith Piaf. Raised in poverty, Edith's magical voice and her passionate romances and friendships with the biggest stars of the period made her a star all around the world known as the Little Sparrow. But her attempts to tame her tragic destiny resulted in her untimely death. The film is presented in French and English, with English subtitles.

[Ouray Plaindealer-More].

Loving it in the Mountains

2007-09-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm not organized enough to commit my story of life in Ouray to paper, but thanks to Christina Danley at the Ouray Plaindealer, here it is. Thanks Christina!

August 31, 2007
"The Mile High City faded in his rearview mirror as he headed toward a different range of mountains after his conference.

'I wanted to tour the southwestern part of Colorado while I was in the state,' says Eric Funk. 'So, after spending the weekend in Denver in 1997 for a microwave engineering conference, I headed that way.'

He especially enjoyed visiting Ouray. He loved it so much that he came back four times after that to hike the Uncompahgre and to ski. 'My brother Ethan and I came to ski Telluride in 1999 and 2000.' "

Independence Day Parade - Ouray, CO

2007-07-04T17:32:00.001-07:00

Independence Day Water Fights - Ouray, CO

2007-07-04T17:15:00.001-07:00

Independence Day Water Fights - Ouray, CO

2007-07-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

Spring Impressions

2007-05-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

A snow/rain mix created this impressionist view through my window.

Variable May weather

2007-05-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

Springtime in Ouray, CO. Sun + Snow + Fog.

Cascade Falls

2007-05-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Lower Cascade Falls, downtown Ouray, CO.

Season's Cycle

2007-03-31T20:43:00.000-07:00

"Autumn is royal
As spring is clown
But to repaint summer
Theyre closing winter down"

Season's Cycle - XTC

Season's Cycle

2007-03-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

"Winter chased by Springtime
bring a harvest or a man his wife
Springtime's turning
it's growing green
It's growing green, well
Darling, don't you ever sit and ponder
darling did you ever think
About the building of the hills a yonder
all this life stuff's closely linked
Where we're going in this verdant spiral
Who's pushing the pedals on the season cycle?
Round and round and round and round."

Season's Cycle - XTC

Mud Season vs. Baseball Season

2007-03-26T12:42:00.000-07:00

The baseball diamond at Fellin Field in Ouray, CO. Can you find second base?

Midnight Wild Fire

2007-01-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Ouray's New Year's Eve fireworks dispay marks the beginning of 2007.

Ouray Community Bonfire

2006-12-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

Crisp and Cold

2006-12-04T18:53:00.000-08:00

The last week in November blanketed Ouray in about 8" of snow and brought frigid temperatures. Above: Ouray Livery Barn- the day after the storm.

Seagull - Cayocus, CA

2006-11-23T10:48:00.000-08:00

Photographed during last week's visit to Cayocus, CA.

Cayucos, CA

2006-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Lone windmill amidst marine layer of fog (Cayucos, CA) photographed during a visit last week.

Whitehouse Mountain

2006-11-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

Whitehouse Mountain (13,492 ft.) viewed from near the KURA transmitter site.

Mt. Abrams

2006-11-10T19:18:00.000-08:00

Mt. Abrams (left) and its associated ridgeline as viewed from the KURA transmitter site. Hazy storm clouds were approaching.

KURA Antenna Site

2006-11-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

My brother Ethan inspects the KURA antenna at the 9,000 ft. "blowout" site. The two-pronged horizontally polarized antenna at the top of the tower is the KURA transmitter antenna and the studio transmitter link is the brass colored antenna near the bottom of the tower. Ouraynet's rectangular antennas are also seen on the tower. All looks well for the winter season. If anything went wrong we'd need snowshoes or skis to get up in winter time.

After October Snow

2006-10-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

The big October storm just missed us, but we did get a few inches of snow to play in.

Autumn Evening

2006-10-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

It was raining most of the day yesterday, but just before sunset the skies began to clear. The first photo (above) was taken along the Dallas Divide just before sunset.

Autumn Evening (Cont.)

2006-10-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

A quick jaunt out toward Last Dollar Ranch yielded a few more gems (e.g. left) before the light faded.

Goldrush Update

2006-10-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

Since the time of my last post, colors have reached or surpassed peak depending on the area. This photo was taken from the corkscrew turntable trail (#9 on this pdf map) in Ironton, CO. This trail was the railbed for the Silverton Railroad and includes a covered turntable and switchback (turntable circa 1890).

Autumn Gold Rush

2006-09-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

The Autumn gold rush has begun as the aspen trees begin to shed their green. Some groves have turned gold as shown in this photo from Ironton, CO, but there is still a green hue left in many areas.

Day After the Storm

2006-09-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

After receiving about 8" of snow yesterday, the sun decided to burn through the fog and our precious mountains reappeared.

First Snow of the Season

2006-09-23T12:41:00.000-07:00

The winter of 2005-2006 was moderate as far as snowfall, but the 2006-2007 winter season got an early start this year. On Friday the town of Ouray awoke to about 6 inches of fresh snow and an 8 hr. power outage. Fortunately, Exotic Earth Coffee Roasters was one of the only spots in town that remained open through the power outage (thanks to a stand-by generator), so I met all of the usual suspects there in the morning.

Hiking on Mt. Abrams

2006-09-19T12:26:00.000-07:00

Ironton CO and US 550 as viewed from Mt. Abrams

Today I tried to summit Mt. Abrams (right) along with my brother and neighbor Gary. Abrams is the signature mountain of Ouray, framed by the Uncompaghre River valley. The trails proceeding up Abrams are not maintained. Unfortunately, we spent most of our day poking around at lower elevations attempting to find the trail up the west side of the mountain from Ironton. While we didn't reach the summit, we had a spectacular view of Ironton and the first hints of Autumn colors (above).

Introduction

2006-09-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

"Purposeless Wandering" is an allusion to the concept of nondoing or wu-wei as expressed in the ancient Chinese wisdom literature, the Tao Te Ching. Just as non-doing does not mean doing nothing, so purposeless wandering does not mean going nowhere.

And so, this log is presented as a simple update on some of the wanderings in my life within the spectacular context of Ouray, Colorado. As you can see in the satellite view , this is some of the wildest and most undevelopped terrain in the U.S.