Manitou Springs, CO

Posted on August 29, 2010 by

Streets of Manitou Springs, CO

If you’re looking for a great little place not too far out of Denver to get away for the day, Manitou Springs, CO is a wonderful little town with a huge personality.  Yes, it is a bit touristy, but the people are friendly, the shops are fantastic and there are plenty of little places to get a good meal.  I took these photos in June 2007 while spending the day in Manitou Springs with some wonderful friends.  This was my first of numerous visits to this exquisite little town just west of Colorado Springs.  It’s been a while since I’ve been there, but I’ve found some of my favorite pieces of jewelry in the plentiful art and jewelry stores.

Goddess Clock Tower

Besides the art in the shops, you will also find plenty of great views and a plethora of ‘art’ on the streets.

Wizard Mural

Whether your tastes run to shopping, or more towards outdoors destinations, Manitou Springs has it.  Manitou Springs sits at the base of the infamous Pikes Peak mountain, which inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write the lyrics ‘purple mountains majesty’ in the American classic, America the Beautiful.  At 14,110 feet, Pikes Peak is only one of fifty-four spectacular 14ers in Colorado, but it has the distinction of being able to claim that it is the most visited mountain in North America.   This may have to a lot with the appeal the mountain has to the locals, but it also gets its share of tourists as well.

Pikes Peak Cog Railway

One of the great attractions that makes Pikes Peak so popular is the Pikes Peak Cog Railway. The first train to the summit of Pikes Peak arrived on June 30th, 1891 and the cog railway was officially born.  Temperatures at the top are much cooler than on the valley floor, so even in summer, remember to take a jacket or sweater with you.  The Cog Wheel Cafe is located on the top of the mountain at the end of the railway.  Along with the Cafe, there is a gift shop for those who want to commemorate the trip!

With summer quickly coming to a close, it may just be time for a quick trip out of the city and through the beautiful Colorado wilderness!

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Maroon Bells

Posted on August 21, 2010 by

Maroon Bells

Work has distracted me from blogging long enough!  I finally have a weekend with nothing else to worry about, so I shall finish writing about my trip to Aspen, and more specifically about the Maroon Bells.

The first time I heard of the Maroon Bells, I was reading a book called Classic Treks: The 30 Most Spectacular Hikes in the World.  I thought how wonderful it was that one of those spectacular hikes was in my backyard.  It’s taken me several years and seeing multiple photos from other people before I finally headed to this wonderful location.

Supposedly this is the most photographed location in the United States and it’s easy to see why.  It’s extremely beautiful and only a few hundred yards from a parking lot, which isn’t the case for most of the spectacular mountain views in the area.  The hiking part comes in when you head toward this beautiful view and into the wilderness around these mountains which have earned this area the nickname, the deadly bells.  The area got it’s nickname in 1965 when 8 people died on the unusually weak rock.

Wildflowers at Maroon Bells

After scoping out the area the night before, I dragged a friend with me at 4:30am to go witness the sunrise.  I’m sure most people would appreciate that it was a cloudless day with gorgeous Colorado blue skies, but I was disappointed that my photos didn’t have the benefit of the sun’s reflection off a string of puffy clouds.  All, however, was not lost.  I did manage to get a few nice photos of the plethora of wildflowers that were in the area.   (Friendly suggestion for those of you who want to photograph Maroon Bells at sunrise:  GET THERE EARLY!  The shore of the lake was lined with the tripods and other accoutrement of hopeful photographers.)

Aspen Church at Sunrise

After we abandoned my futile quest for the perfect sunrise photo of Maroon Bells, we drove back towards the crossroads between Aspen and Snowmass Village.  At that crossroads is an intriguing church which we had passed multiple times over the course of the weekend.  This time, however, we both gasped as we rounded the corner to see the church lit up by the rising sun shining through the stained glass, giving you the eerie feeling that the church was on fire.  As soon as we realized what was actually going on, we of course had to stop to try to capture this unusual sight on film.  It was absolutely stunning!

We decided that taking the long way back to Denver via Highway 82.  Wow!  This road has some great views.  Be warned though, it is one of those high mountain pass roads that is closed in winter.  I’m not sure I’d even want to try this one in the fall.  The high point is the continental divide at Independence Pass.  At 12,095 feet, this is the highest paved mountain pass in Colorado.  (There are higher roads in Colorado, but they are not passes.)  Highway 82 winds past Mt. Elbert and Twin Lakes before ending at Highway 24, which merges with Highway 285 as it travels east through the San Isabel National Forest.  Weather permitting, this is a much more scenic alternative to sitting on the I-70 parking lot with the rest of the Denver area residents who flee to the mountains on weekends.

Next up:  Reliving past travels!

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Aspen, CO

Posted on August 1, 2010 by

Gondola at Aspen

Last Saturday we headed to Aspen for a day basking in Rocky Mountain High.  (Maybe the more appropriate John Denver song for this specific locale would be Aspenglow, but I like Rocky Mountain High better.)  Aspen is known for skiing, but there are plenty of things to do here in the summer as well.  The Silver Queen Gondolas from the ski resort double as a jumping off point for a multitude of summer activities.  You can ride to the top of the mountain and enjoy hiking, biking, disc golf, trampolines and even a climbing wall.  The restaurant at the top of the mountain is open if you don’t want to pack your lunch with you!

Daniels Antiques

In addition to all the great outdoor activities at the top of the mountain, we were pleasantly surprised to hear music wafting across the treetops.  Aspen is home to the Aspen Music Festival and School which hosts a myriad of musicians each year for lessons and performances during the summer season.

Children Playing in the Fountain

Saturdays in Aspen during the summer, the town shuts down several blocks to host the Aspen Saturday Market with vendors from across Colorado.  The market originated as a farmers market and has evolved to include other vendors including local artists.  The streets surrounding the market are home to a wide array of permanent businesses that add to the market allure.

Vibrant Flowers Abound in Aspen

Another wonderful sight around Aspen were the many well manicured flower pots and gardens adorning every shop and street corner.  I don’t know if it’s real or a figment of my imagination, but the flowers seem more vibrant here than at lower elevations.  Maybe it’s the lack of oxygen to my brain which skews my perception, or maybe the lack of oxygen lends to more carbon dioxide for plants here.  Maybe I could start my own branch of junk science around this phenomenon!

After spending a day at the top of the mountain and wandering the streets of Aspen, we drove to the outdoor jewel of the area to scope out Maroon Bells, which I’ll be writing about next.  Before I do that however, I have to mention the restaurant where we ate dinner.

Lime Restaurant & Bar in the Snowmass Village Mall

The Lime Restaurant & Bar was a great way to spend a pleasant evening in Snowmass Village.  The restaurant is located on the second level of the mall with seating indoors and out on two separate patios.  The evening we were there they had a musical duo playing some great acoustic guitar arrangement covers of some classic tunes.  The food was great, the service was wonderful and we couldn’t have asked for a better evening to sit and enjoy the company of good friends and a beautiful mountain sunset.

Sunset from the deck of Lime

Next up: Maroon Bells!

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Snowmass Village, CO

Posted on July 27, 2010 by

Ground Floor Bedroom in Tamarack Townhouse #11

This past weekend I headed to the high country in lovely Colorado for a 2 day tour of infamous Aspen and the surrounding area.  Two of my friends and I have had this little getaway on the books since February and as we drove up, I was pretty pleased with our choice.  We stayed in Snowmass Village in the lovely Tamarack Townhouses.  When we booked, the inventory was wrong on-line and they didn’t have the unit we were requesting which was a 3 bedroom/3 bath condo, so they upgraded us to a 4 bedroom/3 bath condo for the same price as the 3/3.  They rate their condos bronze, silver and gold based on how updated the interior is.  The 3 bedroom we originally looked at was of the gold variety and the 4 bedroom was only silver, but we were quite pleased!  If the gold units are more updated and nicer, I imagine they are pretty spectacular.

Kitchen at Tamarack Townhouse #11

The Tamarack Townhouse units share a small pool and two hot tubs and our unit was conveniently located just outside the pool, even though we didn’t get a chance to use it.  There were quite a few families in residence over the weekend, with a number of children using the pool.  If you’re looking for a kid free environment, you might want to try another of the many residences available for rent.  We booked through the Stay Aspen Snowmass and it was significantly cheaper than booking directly through the resort page.

Snowmass Village Mall

After settling into our weekend home, we decided to find food.  We didn’t have to go far to find the Snowmass Village Mall, which is an outdoor collection of shops and restaurants built on four levels on the side of a very steep hill.  We chose the Big Hoss Grill for dinner because of their outdoor seating and casual atmosphere.  The menu is a bit limited, but the food was delicious and the classic rock selection playing while we dined was just the right touch.  At times, I found myself singing along as song after great song played until it was dusk in the mountain resort town.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the townhouse prepping ourselves for the next day in Aspen.

Tomorrow: High above the Aspen landscape!

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Leaving Montana

Posted on July 12, 2010 by

Sadly, all good vacations must come to an end and it was time for me to head back towards my beloved Colorado.  I took a very round-a-bout way through the Bitterroot Valley on my way to Billings.  This area of Montana is featured in the current book I’m reading, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, by Jared Diamond.  He opens the book by discussing the Bitterroot Valley and the decline of the state of Montana due to over-logging and exploitation of the once mineral rich state.

Marcus Daly Mansion

Located in the Bitterroot Valley in Hamilton, Montana is the Marcus Daly Mansion, Arboretum and Botanic Gardens.  Marcus Daly was an Irish immigrant who came to the U.S. at 15 years old in 1856.  He ended up working with multiple mining operations across the west eventually striking it rich in Montana in copper.  This was his summer residence.  I made a quick detour only to find that I had missed the last tour of the day, which starts at 3pm.  While I missed the tour of the inside of the house, the grounds are free to wander and are open later than the house itself.  I spent some time walking through the manicured gardens before continuing my slow exodus from Montana.

I followed Highway 93 down through the rest of the Bitterroot Valley, winding my way through Bitterroot National Forest to the Idaho border.  I cut across the state on Highway 43 through some beautiful country.  I stopped occasionally to take some pictures, but eventually gave up when every time I stopped, I was mobbed by flocks (yes, they were as big as birds so I’m calling them flocks) of mosquitoes.  I made it through the entire trip without a mosquito bite, only to be swarmed by them as I was heading home.

Driving to Billings - The Long Way Highway 43

In all, it was a wonderful trip and I would love to spend more time in this great state!  So, to misquote Ferris Bueller, ‘Montana is so choice!  If you have the means, I highly recommend purchasing a summer home here!’

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Out to Lunch in Missoula, Montana

Posted on July 11, 2010 by

Caras Park - Out to Lunch

My final true destination in my impromptu road trip to Montana was once again Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley to the south.  This time around I opted for the Hampton Inn, which was a much better choice budget wise.  While it may not have the downtown location of the Doubletree, it had more modern rooms and the staff was very friendly and helpful.  Facing my last few hours in the area, I asked the women at the front desk what they would do if they only had 3 hours to spend in Missoula.  They both lit up and said almost in unison,  “Today?  Out to Lunch!”

Young Fan dancing to Odyssey at Out to Lunch

Out to Lunch is held in Missoula’s Caras Park every Wednesday during the summer months.  Restaurants from all over town come and set up shop to serve food to the masses that come to the park for good music and food.  The park is downtown so there were plenty of people on their lunch breaks as well as families, friends and the occasional tourist like me.  In addition to the wide variety of food being offered, a different band plays each week from 11am to 2pm.  The band du jour was Odyssey, playing a mixture of original tunes and covering such artists as Bob Dylan and the Beetles in honor or Ringo Starr’s 70th birthday which was Wednesday.

Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

I couldn’t have asked for more beautiful weather to hang out in the park with good food and music.  Obviously a lot of other people felt the same way, causing a young man next to me in the amphitheater to proclaim that the entire town of Missoula appeared to have turned out this week.  If you happen to be in town any Wednesday afternoon through August 25th, I highly recommend going Out to Lunch.

A Carousel for Missoula

Also in Caras Park to keep the family entertained is A Carousel for Missoula and Dragon Hollow.  The Carousel features hand carved ponies, gargoyles and chariots.  It opened in 1995 and the play area was expanded to include Dragon Hollow by May 2002.  Both projects were mainly staffed by volunteers! The long line of adults waiting to ride made it quite obvious that this carousel isn’t just for kids!

Things to do in the Park

Tomorrow: Driving home the long way!

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Glacier National Park – Part 3

Posted on July 10, 2010 by

The one night that I spent close to Glacier National Park, I stayed at the beautiful Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell, Montana.  I have never found a better bed at a hotel than when I stay at the Hilton Garden Inns.  I don’t believe all of them have the Garden Sleep System bed, but the ones that do I have enjoyed immensely.  I’ve never tried the Sleep Number bed, but I believe the concept is similar.

Logan Pass

While enjoying breakfast at the hotel, I was speaking to the hostess about the park.  She STRONGLY suggested that I needed to try the Huckleberry Ice Cream at the shop in Apgar Village.  You can find Huckleberry everything in this area and the hostess was right, the Ice Cream was divine!  I also picked up Huckleberry licorice for the drive home.

Information Center at Logan Pass

After my half hour wait for construction and grazing rams, I finally made it to the top of the Going-to-the-Sun road at Logan Pass.  There are a number of trails at the top, but all were still covered with patches of snow, and one was still even closed because of the snow.  I started out on the Hidden Lake Overlook trail until I realized that I really should have brought my hiking boots for this snow-covered venture and turned around.  The views at the pass were still great, and I’m sure the views at the overlook were even better.

Shot taken blind heading up to Logan Pass

So I spent a bit of time at the visitors center and then hopped back in the car to head down to the east side of Glacier National Park.  I followed the trail around St. Mary’s Lake, stopping a number of times to enjoy the view, but the weather on the other side of the pass was a bit cooler and I decided to turn around before completing the entire drive through the park.  On the way back up to Logan’s Pass there were some beautiful vistas that I couldn’t stop and enjoy because of the road construction.  I was driving with my left hand and taking horrible photos with my right.  Don’t worry, I continued to pay attention to the road which is why the photos were horrible.  The photo above is the only one I kept from that little experiment.

Adventurous Souls Trying to Capture the River

I wound my way back through the construction on the west side of the pass and spent some time sitting river side, watching the glistening green glacier fed streams and listening to the soft rush of the water.  I watched a lot of other would be photographers attempting to find the perfect vantage point to capture the dazzling color of that cool green glacier runoff.  I, however, settled for the calming effect of sitting by the river and taking pictures of the more adventurous souls.

And that about rounds out my whirlwind tour of Glacier National Park.  If you want to see photos from someone who toured this majestic landscape the right way, check out 100 days in Glacier National Park by Chris Peterson.  He captured some amazing moments in the Park in 2009.

After two wonderful days in the area, I packed up all my gear and made my way back to Missoula for the evening.  I couldn’t go all the way there without stopping for just a few more photos of course!  I really enjoyed these fields of yellow flowers against the bright blue Montana sky.  The photos do not do them justice.  The contrast was striking.

Fields of Gold near Big Fork, Montana

Tomorrow: Out to Lunch in Missoula, Montana!

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Glacier National Park – Part 2

Posted on July 9, 2010 by

The first afternoon I spent in Glacier came with a smattering of rain showers and a lot of people spending their day off in the park.  Day 2 was a lot less crowded and the weather was gorgeous.   However, before I even made it to the park I took a little detour to the Hungry Horse Dam.  At 564 feet high, it is a pretty incredible sight holding back the South Fork of the Flathead River.

After my detour for the morning, I continued on to Glacier National Park and opted for using my own vehicle vs. the park transportation so I could stop when I wanted to and enjoy the many great vistas at the pullouts along the 50 mile Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The view from the site of the construction

The road is under construction and will be for the next 8 years, so be aware of that when you travel.  The road is down to a single lane in multiple locations and traffic is held up while the other direction comes through.  It all is designed quite well to get people through with minimal wait time, except for the mountain goats.  That day, the mountain goats decided they wanted to hang out on the road and as you can expect, everyone wanted to take pictures of them.  So I ended up being the first car stopped in a half hour stall waiting for the traffic to come down the mountain.  All of the other stops were less than 10 minutes.  The good news about getting stopped for that half hour was that it was in a beautiful location and everyone got a chance to get out of  our cars and enjoy the awesome views.

Bridge in Glacier NP

When the Going-to-the-Sun road was first constructed there were two competing designs for the portion going over Logan’s Pass.  The cheaper, quicker option would have been to complete a system of 15 switchbacks to take you to the top.  The second designer proposed a much longer system that hugged the steep mountain terrain and incorporated rock bridges, arches and tunnels to blend in with the natural terrain.  Luckily this design was chosen and even the roadway contributes to the beauty of the park as you can see at left where this bridge allows visitors to drive right next to one of a plethora of waterfalls in the park.

Almost to Logan's Pass

Stay tuned!  More to come on Glacier National Park!

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Glacier National Park – Part 1

Posted on July 7, 2010 by

Cabin at Lake McDonald

Don’t tell Rocky Mountain National Park, but I have a new favorite National Park and it is Glacier NP.  Here’s the coulda, woulda, shoulda for the week.  If you ever plan to visit this stunning park, plan to spend an entire week in the park.  Don’t spend days driving to get here.  Just fly.  Fly into the Glacier International Airport and immediately get yourself to the park.  Stay in the park!  They have multiples lodges, cabins and campgrounds throughout the park to suit anyone’s preferences.  They also run shuttles from 7am to 7pm that take you between all of the great hiking, biking and boating destinations.  There are restaurants in the park and a general store.  Whether your preference is to cook yourself or have someone do the work for you, the options are all there.

Back side of the Lodge at Lake McDonald

I ate dinner on Monday night at the restaurant in the lodge.  The food was divine!  The selection is a bit limited, but what they serve, they serve well.

I also enjoyed a table at a window overlooking the serenity of Lake McDonald.  It was raining, so there weren’t a lot of people out on the lake, but there certainly were the next day!

Lobby of the Lodge at Lake McDonald

Educational cruises around the lake are offered starting at 10am and finishing at 7pm in the evening. You can also rent boats at multiple points around the lake.

I’m running short on time this morning (again) and will have to finish my review of Glacier NP tonight.  So much to do here and so little time!  I’m off to spend the day in Missoula and then I’m going to start making my way back towards Colorado!  I was going to try and squeeze in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons on this trip, but I think I’m going to save those parks for another time!

Boats for Rent on Lake McDonald

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On the Way to Glacier

Posted on July 6, 2010 by

Cabin on Salmon Lake

Wow!  That is what I have to say about yesterday.  Wow!  The drive from Missoula to Glacier National Park was spectacular.  My favorite part was Lake County.  I passed dozens of shimmering lakes with hundreds of cabins along their shorelines.  Were it not for the intermittent rainstorms, I probably would have been stopping along the road at every one to take pictures.

The Barn in Bigfork, MT

I did make one quick side trip to a little store in Bigfork, MT.  The Barn is an Antiques, Consignments and Gifts shop.  They did have some pretty great merchandise and I managed to pull myself away with less than a $20 purchase, but if money were no object….

If you’re in the market for new (old) china, silverware or crystal stemware, this is a great source!  They had a lot of beautiful patterns and even a few complete sets.  The Barn: Antiques, Consignments & Gifts 100 Hill Road, Big Fork, MT Phone – (406) 837-BARN.

I spent all afternoon in Glacier National Park, but I’m headed back there today, so I’ll blog about that in the morning!

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