Marilyn and Gareth's Wedding Blog: Dining in Dolores

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Dining in Dolores

With a trend setting population, nightlife until 10pm and attractions that lure world leaders and rock stars alike, it's no surprise that the culinary options in Dolores are as plentiful as they are diverse.

BREAKFAST
Rio Grande Southern Bed and Breakfast (best gamble, 5 pickup truck rating)
101 S. 5th St.
http://www.rgshotel.com/eating_house.php

Ponderosa Restauraunt
108 S. 8th (next to Dolores Mountain Inn)

LUNCH
The Depot (classic burger stand, good bean burritos with roasted green chiles 4 pickup truck rating)
520 Railroad Ave

Rio Grande and Ponderosa

DINNER
Dolores River Brewery (recommended 5 pickup truck rating)
100 S. 4th St.
http://www.doloresriverbrewery.com/Dolores_River_Brewery/Home.html

Rio Grande and Ponderosa

The Dolores Food Market at 400 Railroad Ave. is an excellent market. Check it out.

Many dining options exist in Cortez, 10 miles to the south, but we suggest Telluride or Durango if you have time to journey for a meal /sightseeing/ shopping, etc.

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Ceremony and Camping Information

We've selected a site for our wedding ceremony and camp out. For those of you who live in the area, we are going to congregate at the campsite in the grove of pines about 200 yards before the Kilpacker Creek trailhead. For those of you from out of town, directions follow.

DIRECTIONS:
Drive north out of Dolores towards Rico/Telluride. Turn left on the West Dolores Road (also signed Dunton) after 13 miles. Reset your odometer here. Drive up the West Dolores Road for 13.2 miles where the road turns to dirt. Pass Dunton at 22 miles and the Burro Bridge campground at 23.9 miles. Cross the river over the Burro Bridge at 24.6 miles, the Navajo lake trailhead at 25.3 miles and reach the Kilpacker trailhead road at 27.5 miles. Take a hard left on this road (look for "M and G" sign) and park at the trailhead, about 200 yards beyond our camp which you will see on the right.

In order to minimize our impact, we’d like to limit the number of vehicles that go to the campsite on Saturday. Please coordinate with family and friends to be sure that the vehicle you are in is full. If you are a driver and are not comfortable with the drive as described above, please let us know!

THE WEDDING AND CAMP SITE

This is a primitive campsite in a beautiful and very special location. There are no facilities of any type here. For those who have issues with peeing in the woods or need to “#2”, there is a pit toilet (outhouse style forest service toilet) in sub par condition located at the Calico trailhead about a mile away. So why did we pick this spot?! It is located near the Kilpacker Creek trailhead which accesses the spectacular Lizard Head Wilderness area. While best enjoyed on a multiday backpack, those who get out on a dayhike will be rewarded. Dunton Meadows is a stunning place with views of two of Colorado’s 14,000 foot peaks and several high “13ers”. We can think of no better location to exchange our vows and to share with our friends and family.

LEAVE NO TRACE

The San Juan National Forest requires no group permits for either our wedding group of close to 40 or camping group of 20. The site we have picked will easily support both our day and overnight group, but as with many undeveloped campsites in this region the impact of multiple users week after week in the summer is noticeable. Our goal is to leave this area cleaner than we found it and undisturbed as possible.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE

We will supply beer, juices, coffee, tea, and water along with a variety of snacks and fruit including granola and yogurt to serve as staples from Saturday afternoon through Sunday morning. For those joining us for only the ceremony we recommend supplementing this with a picnic lunch. For those joining us for the camp out, please also bring something to grill. One or two gas grills, plenty of coolers, plenty of camp chairs, hand wash stations, and garbage bags will be on site. The Dolores Food Market is an excellent store with a variety of fresh organic produce, prepped sandwiches, etc. Pick up your extra food here.

CAMPING

We’ll assume the locals are self sufficient! For the rest of you we have one and two person tents available (MSR Hubba and Hubba-Hubba, nice tents!) and ThermaRest or Exped sleeping pads. Do your gear research and you’ll know which to lobby for! We can probably scrounge up a sleeping bag or three but please let us know if you need a sleeping bag. Bring warm clothes, but don’t over pack. A baseball cap, wool hat, down coat, rain coat, long underwear, warm pants and warm shirt will do. Bring hiking boots and small daypack for hiking. We strongly recommend Osprey and have a few to loan if you don’t bring one!

ITINERARY

Saturday

We will gather at our house at 202 S. 7^th St. at around 1030 am on Saturday to convoy up to the wedding site. We’ll try to leave together by 11am but realize that this may not go off perfectly, thus the directions. Once everyone is at the site and somewhat settled we will exchange vows. Then the afternoon is free to enjoy the trails, relax at camp, etc. Day visitors are free to journey back to Dolores at their leisure.

Sunday

We’ll break camp in plenty of time to get back to Dolores for those who have Sunday afternoon flights or drives to their departure cities. If you need a shower, our house is available as will a few others around town. Don’t be shy. We aren’t entirely clear as to who may still be around on Sunday evening. If you are, please let us know – we can spend a relaxing evening in Dolores.

Marilyn and Gareth's Wedding Blog

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Dining in Dolores

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