>These are the airports that get you close:
>
>Telluride Airport (TEX)
>Montrose Regional Airport (MTJ)
>Cortez Airport (CEZ)
>Durango Airport (DRO)
>Gunnison Airport (GUC)
>Grand Junction Airport (GJT)
>
>It's a good four hour drive (at least) from GJ (in good weather)... ignore the mapquest or google or gps driving times of 2.5 - 3 hours - nonsense. It's mountain roads. If you get behind someone sightseeing (which is common), it is almost impossible to get around them (and dangerous) It's hard to plan on a definite drive to/from too since the pass closes periodically in snow storms and you have to wait for the snow plows to make it through to clear it.

noted. Also the time needed for transit is definately non-trivial for TEX - will check again if I need to fly over and try to integrate a side trip either to Bozeman or Telluride if possible.

thx for your help & tips

thomas