It was an easy story to make light of – Oprah takes a hike! – except for the fact that, like most things Winfrey – this one is actually kind of cool. I mean, she’s 71, and here she was blazing through the mountains above Telluride, Colorado’s 12th-highest town.

Winfrey, who first bought property in Telluride 40 years ago, was not exactly stalked by paparazzi on her Sept. 6 walk into the Colorado wilderness with her team. She posted several beautiful pics about it herself, seemingly free of local onlookers.

“In 1992, I first visited Telluride and hiked the Bear Creek Trail,” she wrote. “I was 237 pounds – my highest weight ever. It took me half a day and felt impossible. I never even looked up and saw the view because I was only focused on one foot in front of the other and trying to breathe in the nearly 10,000-foot altitude. I didn’t make it all the way to the waterfall.

“Today, I finished the trail in 1 hour and 48 minutes. I enjoyed every step, took in the beauty, and made it to the waterfall with my goddaughter, Kirby, her husband, Virgil, and hairdresser friend, Nicole. Triumph!”

According to a new report in Decor Magazine, Winfrey purchased an 80-acre Telluride estate in 1992 that she later sold. In 2014, she bought a 60-acre parcel in the trendy Mountain Village that borders the Telluride Ski Ranches area for $11 million. A year later, she purchased a high-tech, $14 million Telluride home from tech entrepreneur Bob Wall. That’s reported to have five bedrooms and 6 1/2 baths. Its features include a built-in ski-in, ski-out trail, state-of-the-art movie theater and 56-foot-long underground wine cellar.

And lots of nearby hiking trails to walk it off.