"Welcome to my office," chuckled tour guide Herb Manning as his Austrian Pinzgauer 4x4 trudged through the tundra of Tomboy Basin. Although Manning, owner of Telluride Offroad Adventure, shares his alpine office with the relics of miners from over a century ago, his line of work is drastically different.

Most locals have already enjoyed the standard trip up Tomboy Road. Whether traveled by bike, ATV, 4-wheel drive vehicle, or with a tour group, recreation is the chief motive behind present-day visits to the basin.

One hundred years ago, however, the basin was occupied year round by miners in search of underground wealth. This rugged way of life has come and gone, but vivid reminders of their search for ore remain, scarring the majestic land with a very historic mess. Age-old debris and tailings line the basin, slowly eroding with the natural landscape.

As the Austrian tour buggy trundled upwards toward the summit of Imogene Pass, a recently discarded Gatorade bottle sat indolently in the middle of the heavily trodden road. But because the bottle didn't hold any historic significance, it was taken for proper disposal.

Today there are laws and regulations prohibiting such careless waste disposal and misuse of the land. We no longer see the mountains as bottomless treasure chests awaiting excavation. Paradoxically, they have become a sanctuary from the very developments these excavations have yielded over time.

"Tourism takes much less of a toll on the environment than the extraction of these minerals," said Manning. Today, hundreds of tourists and locals alike seek this sense of sanctuary in surrounding alpine areas, many of them taking it all in through the lens of a video camera so they can re-live their adventures time and again in the comfort of their own homes.

The stories told by tailings and debris are generally the focus of 4x4 tours in the area. Endeavors of epic proportions are relived through viewing pictures from a century ago while standing at the same spot at which the photos were taken. Onlookers compare the scene from two very different times, but from the same geographical perspective.

But what about a century from now? Will a half-buried Gatorade bottle hold such significant antiquity? If so, what kind of story would it tell?

The concept of learning from our past may sound cliché, but it couldn't be more pertinent in the present day. The rubble atop Tomboy Road tells a story of profound labor disputes, "groundbreaking" technological advances, and much more. But do we really need slowly decomposing rubble to learn these valuable lessons?

While the observance of such monumental establishments is indeed fascinating, the actual geographic masterpieces that hosted them are often overlooked. A pristine hillside, which resulted from billions of years of geological transformation, is covered with an enormous pile of toxic tailings. Naturally, these tailings draw our interest toward the waste of our forefathers and away from the timeless voice of the mountains.

Overall, one cannot argue with Manning's assertion that: "Mining in the area had both good and bad effects. Telluride, of course, is one of the good ones."

Telluride Offroad Adventure can be reached at 708-5190.