Abandoned Cabins and Mountain Calm: Exploring the Telluride Backcountry

Chasing Stillness on a Western Colorado Road Trip

Western Colorado road trip. There’s a kind of stillness you can only find deep in the mountains—and on this western Colorado road trip, I found it.

Aspen, my adventure-loving pup, and I took off one weekend with no real plan. We drove through quiet mountain towns, winding highways, and endless curves that opened up to stunning views. Eventually, we found a peaceful lake near Telluride, with two abandoned cabins nestled among the trees.

We pitched camp, breathed in the crisp spring air, and spent a day surrounded by snow-capped peaks and wild serenity. I snapped a photo of us—just me and Aspen, standing still under the wide Colorado sky, wrapped in that rare kind of calm you only get after a long drive and a deep breath.

That stillness brought up memories.

Though I was born in the U.S., I spent nearly 19 years growing up in Tehran. I learned how to snowboard in the Alborz mountains. The rugged beauty of Iran’s peaks—Damavand especially—shaped my childhood. And now, living in Colorado for the past two decades, the Rockies have shaped my sense of home just as deeply.

This western Colorado road trip reminded me of both places—of how lucky I am to live here, and how heavy it can feel when your other home is hurting.

Recent attacks on Iranian soil have weighed on me. Not because of politics, but because of people. I think about friends, family, and the everyday folks just trying to live. Governments may clash, but it’s the humans caught in the middle that carry the cost.

Out here in the mountains, standing with my dog by my side, I felt grateful for the quiet—but also deeply aware of the noise elsewhere.