“And there in the blue air I saw for the first time, far off, the great snowy tops of the Rocky Mountains. I had to get to Denver at once.”
Jack Kerouac
Colorado, a state of red rock and many other colors of nature, is noted for its vivid landscape of mountains, forests, high plains, mesas, canyons, plateaus, rivers, and desert lands. It’s a place that lured both of my children to study there and eventually settle. Since then, my husband and I have visited many times and in many seasons. We’ve made the trip by auto and by air. We’ve been to orientations and graduations, house moves and renovations. We’ve gone hiking, boating, four-wheeling, sand-dune sledding, aspen-leaf-peeping, and skiing. We’ve attended festivals and a road race, visited museums, restaurants and breweries and, in general had fun.
Our most recent visit last month combined skiing and other winter activities with spending time with our kids and learning a bit of local history.
Part of the time was spent on the Front Range, based at our daughter’s place. A walk in South Valley Park near Littleton and Ken Caryl in Jefferson County took us along snowy trails amidst dramatic red sandstone spires. Another walk along Clear Creek in Golden, a former gold rush town, let us explore Golden History Park, home to many of the original 19th-century buildings from the Pearce Ranch in Golden Gate canyon. A car ride up Lookout Mountain, just west of Golden, gave us a spectacular view of Denver and the Rockies and also took us to the burial site of William Frederick (Buffalo Bill) Cody. I learned that, in addition to his successful, traveling Wild West Show, Buffalo Bill rode in the Pony Express, fought in the Civil War, hunted buffalo to feed railroad workers, scouted for the Army, was awarded the Medal of Honor by Congress in 1872, advocated for Native American and women’s equal rights, called for preservation of the buffalo, other wild animals, and wild places like the Grand Canyon, and visited 14 countries and 1,400 cities in 30 yrs.
From the Front Range, we drove west on Interstate 70 into the Rockies where we spent three nights in the historic district of a ski town on the Blue River—Breckenridge . It was founded in 1859 by a small group of prospectors, and its rich and colorful history is full of gold finds and mining, exploration and adventure, brothels, saloons, booms and busts. These days, there are lots of restaurant choices and some recommended ones include: Rita’s – Agave Y Tacos, Fatty’s Pizzeria, South Ridge Seafood Grill, and The Canteen Tap House and Tavern.
We spent a couple of days downhill skiing on the mountain that overlooks the town. The Breckenridge Ski Resort is the highest in Colorado. Even the base is at 9,600 feet above sea level. Oxygen bars located in between shops and restaurants remind one that altitude sickness can be a real concern. The temperatures were in the minuses at night and the teens during the day, so we needed lots of layers. Every December, in a tradition started by the mountain’s early Norwegian ski instructors, Breckenridge celebrates with a vibrant festival honoring ULLR, the Norse god of snow.
Our drive back to the Front Range included a stop at Cabin Creek Brewing in the tiny mountain town of Georgetown. Their beer is good, but the pizza is definitely worth stopping for.
The next part of our Colorado adventure took us on a flight over the Continental Divide to the Western Slope and another base at our son and daughter-in-law’s home in Ridgway, a one-stoplight, cowboy town in Ouray County that has been the location for the making of a number of western movies. It is also the home of a small workshop where the Grammy Awards are made by hand. Check out The Colorado Boy for pizza and beer, if you’re ever there! We enjoyed a walk in nearby Ridgway State Park on trails overlooking the large reservoir, and views of the snow-capped San Juan Mountains were a bonus.
The ski town of Telluride in San Miguel County is 45 minutes south of Ridgway, and we headed there and up to Mountain Village for some more downhill skiing. There was plenty of snow and some sun as well, and we were fortunate to try out some Wagner custom skis, made right in the village by Pete Wagner’s craftsmen (who happen to include our son). The plazas in Mountain Village are filled with colorful gondola cabins, refitted since the pandemic started, with tables for eating. There are also open-air vendor carts selling crepes, grilled cheese, and other handheld foods. Restaurants with outdoor tables surround the edges, and one especially sunny spot with a great view of the slopes is The Tomboy Tavern.
A gondola ride down into the town of Telluride led me to a sign with some local historical information: Telluride’s mountains contain 350 miles of tunnels, enough to reach from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Billions of dollars in gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc have been produced here since 1880 and the area is still being mined.
A flight back to Denver and then two flights further southeast brought us back home to Florida and no snow at sea level. I am enjoying the warmth, but relishing the memories of our latest adventure and missing our Colorado family. Till next time!