In this episode of the OutThere Colorado Podcast, Spencer and Seth chat about some of the state's best 'dark sky' spots (for camping), a long-list of festivals that will take place over the next few months, a big May snowstorm that's set to hit this week, and a rock climbing docuseries that's worth the watch.
[00:00:04] Welcome to another episode of the The OutThere Colorado Podcast. Once again, I'm Spencer, here with Seth. Hello. We got Tim in the booth on the audio and video for today. And once again, a lot of Colorado topics to discuss. Yes. Yeah, but first, how was your weekend, Seth? Weekend was good. I hung out with my brother. We had a little boys' day on Sunday. He's in Castle Rock and he came down to the Springs. I always say came down, but it's elevation-wise you're coming up, you know? I think like South could be going down, right? But it always trips me out.
[00:00:34] Anyway. It's a Midwest thing. Yeah. Like, so we kind of met someone in the middle and hung out at, did a nice little hike at Ute Valley Park. And then, of course, we went to Shields. I love Shields. Shields is the best. All right. Yeah. Any big purchases? We got some shoes. There we go. Then we grabbed a pint at the nearby Goat Patch there. Nice. One of three Goat Patch locations there off Voyager if people are unaware, which I gotta do a quick little shout out. They have this,
[00:01:05] astounding deal on Tuesdays. I think I've mentioned on this show before. Maybe you have. On Tuesdays, you can go there and get two beers and two pizzas for $25. That's a very good deal. That's like, I mean, two beers after tip are $25 these days. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. It's crazy. Yeah, so that was good.
[00:01:29] But just, yeah, I can't remember what I did Saturday. Laid low, I guess. Yeah. Watched some NBA playoffs. Mm-hmm. Exciting Game 7s going on there.
[00:01:39] Sad about the weekend. Sad about the Nuggets. Yeah. That was a heartbreaking loss. I think it's going to be a long offseason for the Nuggets. Some tough questions getting asked. Yeah. Sounds like Joker is wanting to stay. Yeah. So that's something. I'm a fan of his, so I hope he sticks around. I know. I just, but I also hope they, I mean, what a shame if his career ends with one finals appearance. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:02:08] For a guy who you could argue could have six MVPs. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, he's definitely, that's something you always hear get brought up in that conversation of who's the best of all time type of thing, right? It's like, you have people always mention Michael Jordan and Kobe and. LeBron. Yeah, LeBron, the big names. And then, but he gets left out because of the, of his playoff, uh, his playoff career. Just having put the team around him. Yeah. Anyway. It's fun to watch. What'd you do? Man, this weekend, um,
[00:02:38] Saturday I did lay low, you know, it was, it was kind of a day around the house and knocking out some, knocking out some chores and such. Uh, but I did watch several movies this weekend and I did want to talk about it. So the first thing I watched wasn't a movie. It's a series. Um, I think it's on, I believe HBO, but the, the Dean Potter docuseries. Have you seen that? Oh, I want to, I want to watch that. So it's called the dark wizard. Yeah. I want to watch that. Dean Potter, for those of you who don't know.
[00:03:08] Uh, it was famous, famous rock climber known for his free soloing, uh, got into a wingsuit jumping, uh, ultimately died, uh, in a wingsuiting accident where I think him and another person were trying to shoot a notch. And essentially, I, I think that other person might've hit the notch first and then bounced into him, but a tragic death, um, for, for Dean Potter. But this document, this docuseries came out, uh, pretty recently.
[00:03:35] And, uh, the fourth episode, uh, where I'd imagine it kind of brings it all together and really, really hits its stride as a show, uh, gets released this week. So that has not been out yet, but I did watch the first three episodes. I didn't realize it was a rolling thing. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, it's caused a lot of controversy in the climbing community. A lot of people thinking that he's portrayed unfairly. A lot of professional climbers and people that have been in his life have, uh, spoken out kind of.
[00:04:05] Wow. I didn't know about that. Being critical of, of this docuseries. Um, yeah, I mean, it's interesting. Like even Alex Honnold had a quote where, uh, the film kind of casts Alex Honnold maybe as like a villain in a sense. Uh, when I think in reality, it boils down to this, this competitive nature to be the, uh, kind of be the, uh, best at free soloing.
[00:04:28] I don't think, uh, Honnold viewed as, viewed as much as a competition as maybe Dean did. Um, but yeah, uh, it's a interesting documentary for sure. Uh, they do get into Dean's journals, which were like private journals and those are included in the documentary, which I think that's another point of controversy. Those provided by the family. I take it. Was that, um, I would imagine. So yeah. Um, that, but either way, uh, it's kind of, you know, I mean, it's called the dark wizard.
[00:04:57] They definitely get into like this, this darker side of, uh, of Dean and, um, a big part of that is include the inclusion of these journals and what he was thinking at the time and going through at the time. And, uh, yeah, it's interesting to, uh, just to see the controversy, especially given that he is deceased, you know, and can't really speak out on behalf of himself.
[00:05:21] Um, but either way that, that fourth episode does come out and I will be watching it for sure. Uh, it's been fascinating and just seeing some of the stuff he, he did throughout his career. Even, um, I, I had missed out on or missed a lot of that and kind of seeing some of those highlights are pretty wild. Uh, so would recommend, uh, even, even in light of the controversy around it. Um, and maybe, maybe even aided by it, or maybe even, uh, because of the controversy around it.
[00:05:51] I think it's worth checking out, uh, by Boulder filmmakers, um, Peter Mortimer and Nick Rosen. That would make sense. Yeah. They have a lot of, uh, they interview a lot of, um, professionals in that Boulder area. And I'm pretty sure Dean Potter had climbed. Uh, I don't know if he lived in Boulder or not. He may have, uh, but he was definitely climbing some stuff around there throughout his career. And yeah. Um, yeah.
[00:06:15] I believe Peter has some Colorado Springs roots if I'm recalling right. Colorado college graduate. I want to say Peter Mortimer. That sounds right. Yeah. I've talked to him in the past in a while. Um, yeah, check it out. Uh, definitely something worth watching. I also watched no country for old men for the first time. Oh, really? For the first time. Yeah. I went in pretty blind and it was immediately skyrocketed to like one of my favorite movies. I wish I could watch it for the first time again. Yeah. I don't know how I missed it. I don't know how I missed it. Have you ever watched There Will Be Blood?
[00:06:44] Uh, yes. A long time ago. Yeah. That's actually, uh, Tim and I were talking before you, before you got in here talking about this and, um, those two, I mean, cause they came out the same year. Isn't that right, Tim? They kind of duped it out at the Oscars. Yeah. Wow. I didn't know that. That's funny. Huh. That's funny. Yeah. Tim, uh,
[00:07:13] Tim's full of that, full of the, uh, movie facts, but. Cinephile, right? I trust him when it comes to, uh, when it comes to movie recommendations, but yeah, I really liked that movie. Awesome, dude. I really liked it. And, um, yeah, I need to watch There Will Be Blood again. It's been years and yeah, that's, uh, that's another one I need to have on my list. Two highly memorable endings, that's for sure. Oh, I also, this weekend, apparently I watched a lot of movies this weekend. Also watched Apex, which is, uh, I'd say it's like a solid, you know, like B film or whatever you want to call it.
[00:07:43] Uh, it's, I think it's a Netflix original, I want to say, but set in Australia, which absolutely beautiful, um, beautiful mountain scenes throughout this entire movie. Yeah. Uh, and a good portion of the movie kind of deals with maybe like rock climbing and, uh, it's, it's fairly disturbing movie, fairly graphic, fairly, you know, it's like a whole like kind of a hunter and prey, uh, thriller movie we'll say.
[00:08:08] Mm-hmm. Um, but there's some kayaking and honestly, like I thought their depiction of rock climbing for, for what it's worth was actually pretty decent in the movie. Yeah. Uh, there were definitely some things where I was like, that's not how you do that, but, uh, it was, it was pretty, uh, pretty intense. Pretty, yeah, and pretty interesting, uh, just in the way they did some of the riggings and stuff like that. I was like, oh yeah, they kind of have some of it right. There's kind of a dark backdrop to that movie that I recently learned about regarding Charlize Theron. Mm-hmm.
[00:08:38] Like when you understand a part of her past that I didn't know about until she was doing interviews for this movie coming up. I don't know. Or at least the New York Times interview that I saw. Did you hear, like, so her dad tried to kill her and her mom. Really? When she was a kid, yeah. I did not know about that. She seemed like storming in one night drunk with, with a gun and just started shooting. Jeez. So not to get all, not to get all dark, but I mean, yeah, that movie kind of takes on a different element when you, when you know that. Yeah, that is terrifying. I had no idea until I saw that.
[00:09:08] I don't know if that's something she had talked about before. Yeah, I don't know. It's kind of, it seems like it's just getting out there now. Yeah. She plays the, uh, she plays the female lead in that movie. Running from this crazy guy. Yeah. Running from a crazy guy in the Australian back country. Yeah. Um, yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it's interesting. I was, I was entertained by the movie. Yeah. I'll say that. Yeah. Um, I like the outdoor recreation that they included in it. Yeah. Uh, found it, found it interesting to watch. There's our, uh, our, our, our viewing, uh, options. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:09:38] There you go. Hey, got some, uh, recommendations. I want to watch the dark wizard. That's been on my list. Yeah. I think the new episode comes out. I want to say it's Thursday. So the last episode of that. Yeah. Um, yeah. Otherwise this weekend, uh, got to run in again. Yeah. Been humbling getting back into running. I got a good run in too. I meant to say that. There you go. I was at Monument Valley Park. I was, I was channeling my inner, uh, Spencer McKee. Yeah. There you go. I, uh, four and a half miles in. I got a run in over at, uh, did one of my favorite loops, um, over at Red Rock Canyon.
[00:10:08] So nice. That was fun. Um, yeah. I got a very brief motorcycle ride in and ended up going to Red Leg too, actually for a little craft fair that they had. Or yeah. One of my, one of my friends started a bead business where she makes like necklaces and things like that. Yeah. So I went there to support her and yeah, it was a good turnout for, uh, just that whole thing. So it's always a good turnout at Red Leg. Yeah. Well, so it was cloudier on Sunday. I was shocked. It was the least crowded. I'd probably seen. Is that right? Red Leg in a while.
[00:10:35] Uh, but for the arts fair, like it was, it was popping. There were, there were people with probably, you know, 20 booths or so. So that was fun. Cool. But glad to hear that, man. Yeah. Yeah. It was a good, nice little weekend, you know, got some snow coming. We have some big snow coming. I figured we were going to move into our weather report now. Yes. Yeah. So better late than never, huh? Yeah. I mean, the snowy trend continues and I mean, crazy. Pikes peak looks like how it should have looked in January and February. Yeah.
[00:11:05] Probably got 20 something inches. We were talking about that last Monday, I think. Yeah. Another similar storm, uh, kind of similar significance is about to hit, uh, some of the national weather service mapping is showing that longs peak could get between like 48 and 60 inches of snow. Wow. So just when we were talking probably on the lower end of that, but still like that's 48 inches of snow. Um, and I mean, the storm's going to hit, uh, the front range Metro cities to, uh,
[00:11:34] uh, kind of stretches from Monday and the Thursday. Uh, but the front range cities looking at, they're looking at Tuesday and Wednesday as the snow year days, but maybe nine inches in Boulder on the high end report there. Uh, maybe 25 inches of snow along the I-70 in the Eisenhower tunnel area. Uh, so significant snow. Just when we thought, uh, it was never going to come. Just when we were talking about how 14 or season might be coming early. Yeah. Might set that back a little bit. Yeah.
[00:12:03] And I mean, this storm, uh, that's moving in is, it really favors Northern Colorado. There's a, uh, winter, winter storm, uh, warning, I think in that area already. Uh, but, uh, but yeah, I mean if this high end, uh, and even in the expected like 80% chance scenario, pretty widespread snow, um, everywhere, lighter totals on the front range Metro for sure. Only a few inches in that case.
[00:12:29] Um, but yeah, if this high end snowfall scenario takes place, you're looking at, you know, 18 plus inches down in the Sanger to Christos too. You're looking at, uh, you know, eight to 18 inches down in the San Juan. So pretty much every peak across the state. Yeah. San Juan's really need it. Yeah. So I was curious because obviously this has been like a, a very bad year in terms of snowpack, uh, record setting throughout much of the snow season.
[00:12:56] Uh, we're at 19% of the norm for the date, which is about what we've been hovering around for the last few weeks now, uh, with this snow that's coming in and also worth knowing that some snow should follow this kind of into the weekend as well. Another wave of snow. Um, but with the snow that's coming in, we might actually get above the record low snowpack. So that would be the first time that we've been above that record low line since February 26th when we were above it for like a day. So, uh, yeah.
[00:13:26] So, I mean, there's a, there's a chance, uh, I wouldn't be surprised if in the next, you know, um, maybe next couple of days we're above that and we're no longer setting a record for the lowest snowpack of all time in Colorado, maybe not all time, but since record started. But yeah, so something to pay attention to for sure. Um, big snow rolling in and it, I mean, Denver is expected to get in the high end scenario, uh, expected to get about four inches.
[00:13:54] So, but around that kind of that main pocket of the Denver Metro area more than that. So, uh, it could be, yeah, it could be a nice little surprise to wake up with some snow on the ground. Colorado Springs gets mostly missed. I think a few inches of snow in the high end scenario, but not, you know, not anything close to double digits. So, uh, the streak of not, I don't think I ever shoveled this winter. Yeah. Maybe I did. I shoveled a couple of times, but it was like shoveling an inch off the driveway just to
[00:14:24] try out the shovel I bought ahead of the winter. I'm like vaguely recalling maybe shoveling the sidewalk. So yeah. Wow. Just crazy. In the past I've always used, uh, which I love this. I love this hack, but one of those, uh, those big brooms that you would use to like sweep off like a gym floor or something. Yeah. Uh, and wide. Yeah. It works great for the snow out here. Just, yeah. And so I broke it though last spring during one of those heavy snow stores.
[00:14:49] Uh, so I had to buy a shovel finally and I needed to try it out, but yeah, it did great on that inch of snow that we got. Yeah. I bet. So, uh, powder. Yeah. Hey, maybe some more snow. Yeah. I mean, Hey, Arapahoe Basin, they did announce that they will, uh, they're going to reopen. Uh, they're going to extend their season, I think just into this week, but they were supposed to close on Sunday. Yeah. Um, also worth noting too. I mean, it's not just the national weather service that's saying a lot of snow could fall here.
[00:15:18] Uh, open snow, right? They were predicting 25 inches at winter park, which is closed, but 25 inches at winter park over the next five days and 15 inches at Arapahoe Basin. So people that are able to hit Arapahoe Basin during this, what could be, what sounds like it's going to be the last week of operations. Yeah. Um, they might get some fresh powder. So we called it last week too. I was like, I bet they extend. Yeah. They said, they want to be, they want to be last. Yeah. Which more power to them. Always.
[00:15:46] Copper Mountain did close is, you know, I haven't checked yet. Let's see. I believe Copper Mountain closed as, I think I heard a Wolf Creek eked out another day. Yeah. I heard Wolf Creek reopened a little bit. Yeah. It's also never a surprise maybe. Yeah. I would say they, uh, they're known for doing that. Yeah. Looks like copper's closed now. So Arapahoe Basin, last one standing. Last one standing as it, as it should be. Yeah. In a year that saw traditions break, one does not. Yep. They, they deserve it. They put in the, uh, put in the effort there and there's plenty of hype.
[00:16:16] So, um, yeah, which today, I guess I, I think you got to check the, uh, Arapahoe Basin website or, or Facebook to see exactly what days they're open. Often whenever they have a week like this, it might just be the weekend or something like that. Uh, but it is May 4th. So may the 4th be with you, right? May the 4th be with you. That would be one of their celebration days usually. That's right. Why don't we wear our Chewbacca masks? I know, right? Stepbrother style. Yeah. Or just have some lightsabers sitting on the table. Some stormtrooper helmets. Always, uh, it was a good day when it's May the 4th. Yeah.
[00:16:46] And I like May the 4th because the next day always means Cinco de Mayo. Yeah. Also true. An excuse to eat some Mexican, maybe have a margarita. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I might, uh, I heard, I, I still have to verify it for myself, but I heard the T-Birds happy hour is back in full swing. So we'll see if it's a, well, I went there one time and the venue changed a little bit, but apparently my buddy was saying not the case. So, and it's one of my favorite happy hours in, in Colorado Springs, downtown area for food,
[00:17:16] especially like that's, I don't just go for, for happy hour drinks ever, especially nowadays. But like, if it's, I need the food too, you know? Yeah. Well, you know what, you know what the happy hour is or as you've come to know it anyway? Um, so on their website, if you look, they've got, they've got deals on tacos and this like little mini quesadilla thing with some nachos. Um, yeah, here it's, uh, what do they got here? Six dollar margaritas for the, uh, Tommy style margarita.
[00:17:44] Um, yeah, let's see here. Chips and queso, $5. They're queso. As a, as a fire. Yeah. As an Indiana boy. We have good queso in Indiana and they have very good queso at T-Birds. Yes, they do. Yeah. $5, uh, quesadilla here. It looks like $4 tacos. So barbaco tacos, very good. Yeah, they are good. Yeah. All their food's good. Dos Santos does a good happy hour. Yes. You know that? I just pulled this up. Three to six every day.
[00:18:11] $7 house margs, uh, poke bites and tinga chips. Those tinga. Awesome. Yeah. Tinga chip. Yeah. Again. Anyway. Um, that's what we do. We always, we always get off on food. More food. Let's talk about, let's talk about, uh, some dark skies though. Oh yeah. Yeah. This was something that you, you mentioned coming into the day that you wanted to talk about part of a bigger package. It's coming out later this week. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So I was kind of thinking, you know, we're planning our, our, uh, summer camping trips
[00:18:41] and was just, uh, thinking about, you know, dark, dark sky tourism has made a big push around Colorado and beyond over the years. Governor Polis has really touted it in Colorado, really pushed for more state parks, uh, to get, to, to, to seek this designation. And you hear about more communities seeking this designation, official, uh, dark sky international parks and places for that matter.
[00:19:09] There's communities that have a separate designation. Mm-hmm. And I think that's, uh, places where, uh, from this kind of, my understanding is it's a fairly detailed analysis that can take years, um, to establish like how, uh, first of all, the light pollution slash lack thereof, ensuring that there isn't so much light pollution to blot out, uh, the stars in some of these places. It's an analysis that takes into consideration like other lighting and other policies and yada yada.
[00:19:38] But, uh, but anyway, I kind of got to thinking like when we think of camping, we think of stargazing for sure in a lot of places in Colorado, uh, where we just expect a good view of the night sky. But if you really want that official, uh, dark sky, there are 13 places listed in Colorado by dark sky international. Really? Only 13? 13 parks. 13 parks. Okay. 13 parks. I should say that. And then what? There's eight, uh, towns, eight. I think that's right.
[00:20:08] One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight communities. Yeah. As well. So I just got to thinking, taking a look at all these places and, uh, seeing what might be some good camping options around them. Very cool. Yeah. You want to give us a rundown of the list first and then maybe get into some of these camping options? Sure. Yeah. So starting with the parks, uh, Black Canyon of the Gennison National Park and beyond there Curricante National Recreation Area, which most people probably associate with, um, the Blue Mesa. Yes.
[00:20:38] Biggest body of water in the state where there's camping along those shores there. Mm-hmm.
[00:21:06] So I'm going to go to the Gennison Fossil Beds National Monument. Great Sand Dunes, of course. Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. That's a spectacular place. Nice. Uh, Hovenweep National Monument, which feeds into Utah. Jackson Lake State Park. Closest dark sky park to Denver. Great. As far as I can tell. Uh, Lake Fork Earth and Sky Center. That's a Lake City property or close to Lake City. Mesa Verde National Park.
[00:21:35] Top of the Pines, which is, uh, this private, uh, recreation area slash outdoor education center slash event space that does reserve out some campsites. By Ridgeway. By Ridgeway. Yeah. Yep. So those are the parks and the towns, communities are Breckenridge, Crestone, Norwood by Telluride, Nucla and Naturita. Mm-hmm. People in Naturita tell me if I'm pronouncing it wrong.
[00:22:02] Old Snowmass, that's the newest kind of this area, this neighborhood outside, community outside Aspen Snowmass. Paonia. Awesome. Ridgeway. And then the first, not last, but the first, Westcliff and Silvercliff. Yep. They were the first to get that designation in Colorado. Right in the wet mountains area. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. Wrapped by valleys and. Yeah. Of course there's amazing. Wrapped by peaks. Dark sky there.
[00:22:26] Cause man, it just feels like, it feels like modern lighting has yet to consume that part of the state. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome stuff. Yeah. What were, uh, you mentioned a few of the camping options, but what were some of your other favorites? Some camping that maybe caught my eye. Um, you know, I've always wanted to, um, I guess. It feels safe to mention places that are reservable and well, uh, shall we say well documented,
[00:22:55] well mapped, well managed. Maybe that's what I'm trying to put this expectation of management. You know, I kind of pay attention to places like that when I'm talking on here and the Ruby mountain and, uh, heckle adjunction campgrounds in Browns Canyon national monument managed by Colorado parks and wildlife. If people are familiar with what they can expect at a state park, uh, campground, you know, that's kind of a similar scene tucked back into Browns Canyon, that colorful rock
[00:23:23] escape in there cut by the Arkansas river. Um, that's been on my list for a little while. Um, on the same note there then to, uh, black Canyon of the Gunnison as camping and that's a national park. So, I mean, you've got the amenities you can expect that and you'll want to pay attention there this year. You know, that, that fire changed things. Uh, was that a year or two ago? It was last year. Yeah. Time flies. Yeah. Um, but for sure, you know, there's the upper North rim campground that's been known.
[00:23:52] And then there's this lower quaint, um, gotta have a plan B. I think it's a first come first serve thing, but I think people who know about it really love it. National park lists it as an option, but again, you probably want to have a plan B if it's filled and that's the East portal campground. It's kind of under these trees below the Canyon. Very spectacular. Have you ever, have you ever, uh, camped, uh, in the dunes of great sand dunes national? I have not.
[00:24:20] And I have not because I've been lucky enough to get a spot at, uh, the pinion, pinion flats, plenty pinion flats, which is highly sought. It has literally been ranked as one of the most reserved campgrounds. Yeah. A lot of people. Yeah. Thanks a lot for those rankings. Yeah. I mean, no, that's one that's always been like, it has like a 98% occupancy rate or something. If I remember correctly, like that, that one's always been crowded. Yeah. Um, you know, and then there's, I think there's like 21 sites if you've got the vehicle for
[00:24:48] it and the four wheeling know how to get up Medano pass. Oh yeah. There's, I think it's again, first serve, first come first serve, like 21 sites up along the road there. Yeah. And then we've talked about Zapata falls, that campground. I think it's reservable. That is reservable. Um, so, um, and yeah, on the dunes themselves though. Yeah. That seems like a pain. Oh, I've heard only bad things. Yes. Minus, minus that it's stunning, but like, yeah.
[00:25:15] In terms of just, I mean, you have all the, the little creepy crawlies that come out at night. Oh, okay. You have the blowing sand. Uh, if you need to go to the restroom, there's not really a good option there. Uh, you're pretty much using a wag bag to just pack it out. Um, in staking down your tent. Yeah. On sand. Sand's blowing everywhere. I've heard people trying with sandbags, uh, stakes, your traditional stakes I've heard don't really take to the sand.
[00:25:44] And it's a trip to get out into the dunes too. So if you're thinking about bringing like weighted bags to like, you got to lug those in, you know? Yeah. You're almost like, um, I don't think you want to expect to sleep really. Yeah. And I guess I should say, when I say I've heard only bad things, I felt. I also heard that like night sky is absolutely stunning. One of a kind experience. Very cool for photography. I've heard. Um, so that is something, yeah. And it is a one of a kind experience. So maybe something that people want to have on their list, but definitely remember that
[00:26:13] there's sand everywhere and that most of the life on a sand dunes, uh, or in a, in the sand dunes takes place at night with these, these animals burrowing. Fascinating. Yeah. And then they, they come out once it gets cooler. Fascinating. Um, you're probably looking at scorpions and spiders and gotta be cool with that stuff. Yeah. Um, I'd point people to Jackson Lake state park. Yeah. You know, I mean, this is, um, among the, the list here when we're talking about big open
[00:26:41] water, uh, those options are, I mean, all around Colorado, uh, few and far between. And with this designation being one of the only ones on there. Um, and again, where you can expect this well-managed bigger campground, you know, if you got kids, you know, a family, this could be a good option for you, you know, camp kind of close to the shoreline there too. Yeah, exactly. It looks pretty nice. Um, East of Greeley. If I'm thinking that right, you might want to double check me on a map. I'm pulling those up.
[00:27:10] Um, it's on that Northern side though, uh, the front range for sure. Jackson Lake state park and it looks like, um, campground, like 251 sites for tents and RVs, you know, that kind of scene in there. Yeah. East of Greeley, not too far from my 70 in the sense of just getting there. Yeah. Like I 25. Yeah. Probably pretty convenient to get to, um, yeah. Between Greeley and Fort Morgan. Yeah. Piper, uh, one of the out there, Colorado writers, uh, Piper Russell just wrote a guide
[00:27:37] for Jackson Lake state park here in recent weeks. And you can find that if you type in Jackson Lake state park out there, Colorado. Good timing. Easy to find, but yeah, definitely check that out. And if you're, you know, we're, we're talking about camping here, but if you're interested in just checking out some of these amazing places that we've talked about, like, like chimney rock national monument, um, like Floresant fossil beds, national monument. Like, um, like we talked about this Lake Fork earth and sky center.
[00:28:06] Um, in Hinsdale County there. I mean, these are all overseen by organizations that, uh, host like star parties, you know, or stargazing events. If you just, if, if you look up some of these places and identify either the national, uh, park or these associated nonprofits that oversee some of these places, there's a schedule of events that I came across that you might want to put on your, uh, calendar this summer is a good way to experience some of these places.
[00:28:34] I mean, chimney rock national monument has been on my list as just a place that seems to be steeped in tradition and culture and legend. Um, and especially when it comes to the celestial activity above that place, it seems like a good way to go check it out. Getting in, uh, getting in touch with, I think it's the chimney rock interpretive association. That's a nonprofit that manages, um, that place in Southwest Colorado. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. Yeah.
[00:29:03] For people in Colorado Springs, Florida's on fossil beds. Great spot. Yeah. You know, 45 minutes away or so. Yeah. Uh, they do. Yeah. Like you said, the night sky programs, um, take place and yeah. Cool stuff. FYI for people who, who aren't aware, uh, we're talking about the forest on fossil beds, massive tree stumps still in place from when they once towered. Yeah. Redwoods. Tropical redwoods. Yeah. Crazy. Yeah.
[00:29:32] I, I, I, that blows my mind. Yeah. That those are there. Yeah. Imagine a Colorado landscape with, you know, dozens or hundreds of those just dotting it in contrast to the mountains. And they're just right there in the countryside of Teller County. Yeah. You know, uh, west of Colorado Springs. Yeah. That's really a neat, a neat resource. Some fun little trails to explore there too. I've seen elk, you know, when I've gone hike there and yeah, I think that area used to be
[00:29:59] a pretty, uh, popular hunting ground, uh, hunting grounds like looking back like, uh, you know, 800 years ago or so. And, and, and there's a fascinating history of those tree stumps being threatened over the years. Uh, I think I'm remembering, I'm vaguely recalling, uh, a group of women in the sixties or seventies maybe who rallied around protecting, uh, that place to be the national monument.
[00:30:24] It is now to be protected by the federal government, but there was threats of bulldozing those stumps just, you know, taking them off the landscape. Yeah. And yeah, like I said, like it just, it's just amazing that they're there to see when you consider a super long history of development and any number of forces that could have knocked those out, you know, and to, and to put it in perspective too, that, uh, the big stump is about 12 feet in diameter. Wow. Yeah. Um, yeah.
[00:30:53] So it's about 12 feet tall too right now. I think. Wow. Didn't Walt Disney take one of them? Isn't there one in Disneyland? I think there is a, I think there is a petrified stump in Disneyland, California. Um, yeah. Also worth noting too, uh, to put it in perspective, like you can see about 12 feet of this tree right now, uh, some of the trees in that area are estimated to have been like 200 plus feet tall, 230 feet tall. So wild. When you think about this, how towering that is. Just impossible to imagine. Yeah. What happened there?
[00:31:22] Did, uh, Pikes Peak blow up and, and covered in ash or something like that? I think that's part of the natural history. Yeah. Um, yeah. Volcanic mudflow covered the base of these trees 34 million years ago, allowing them to be preserved. That's right. Explaining how they got fossilized. Yeah. If you're a, if you're a natural history nerd, you can really go down a rabbit hole at Floresant Fossil Bits for sure. Cool stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I don't know.
[00:31:51] I mean, I was looking at some of these other places, um, you know, Crestone being one of these dark sky communities. Yeah. Very underrated part of Colorado too, considering how close it is to Denver and Colorado Springs, which, um, then I know their, their tourism boards, uh, people that are associated with the tourism there have, uh, reached out and have wanted us to talk about their town just because it's, you know, it is something people overlook. Yeah. They've got stuff going on down there.
[00:32:16] I always say, you know, I mean, I think there's, I think there's only a few true hippie towns left in Colorado and Crestone is one of them, you know, where that's where that culture still exists and all of it's. Yeah. You said Crestone. I was talking about Westcliffe, sorry. Uh, other side of the second of Crestone. Yeah. Yeah. They had reached out to us and talked about us. Yeah. There's not much going on in Crestone. That's about 200 people there. Yeah. Yeah. Similar in that sense. Yeah. Westcliffe and Crestone.
[00:32:44] But, um, yeah, Crestone, I mean, I've camped up at, um, I throw this out there, you know, that Willow Lake trail is really gorgeous, uh, going up to the aforementioned Lake and super waterfall, big waterfall that spills into this lake. Um, there's camping off around there. You know, if you abide by the rules of, uh, back country camping, right?
[00:33:11] Um, so that could be an option around there for some designated dark skies. Yeah. I mean, people looking to climb a 14 or maybe. Exactly. Yeah. Kit Carson right there. The trail going up toward Kit Carson. Yep. Yeah. And Challenger Point. So. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, beautiful lake too. Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful area. Ridgeway, you know, Ridgeway state park. I think people drive by that a lot. Yeah. Ridgeway gets overlooked. Talk about it. It's a crossroads, right?
[00:33:38] It's like you go from Montrose and then you're either going to Uray or you're going to Telluride and yeah, people overlook that. Talk about another just opportunity for big body of water. You know, you're like this, who knows? Right. Yeah. But typically, you know, yeah, that's another beachy scene in Southwest Colorado. You wouldn't expect that has a dark sky designation to it. That's where a true, true grit was filmed, right? With John. Yeah. Yeah. There's a site still there. Cafe there. That's right. Grit cafe. Man.
[00:34:08] I'd heard one of my buddies drove by there some months ago and said it was for sale. I don't know what the status of true grit cafe is. Let's see what Google says. Yeah. Google says it's still open. Okay. So, yeah, that's cool. Cool. So I don't know if we've ever talked about that as a, as a nice little place to stop there. Yeah. I went, I did like a little story spotlighting all of the true grit locations to be seen between there and Uray. There's a lot.
[00:34:36] So if you want to put out on our future list one day, I can talk about that. Yeah. Maybe we talk about, maybe next week we chat about movies that were filmed in Colorado. Yeah. Maybe on Wednesday. I'm going to write that down right here. Let's get into festivals though. Yeah. Let's get into some festivals because this was a topic you brought up looking at what festivals you should, you should attend this summer with the state's 150th anniversary upon us. Kind of a fun little feature concept me and my editor had in mind. Yeah.
[00:35:06] So yeah, I mean, um, 150, this is a, uh, Colorado's 150th birthday. And we got to thinking like, what are the, what's the best way to celebrate that? Uh, maybe at some of these, uh, historic parties around the state and by historic parties, I mean, very long going festivals, a hundred plus years. Yeah. People might be surprised. There are festivals out there that have been going on generations, you know, um, in historic
[00:35:34] parts of the state that maybe people are on tour of. I might point people to the deer trail rodeo, which is set for June 26th and 27th. I don't know how many people know about the little town drive by town of deer trail, which claims to be the home of the first rodeo going back to the 4th of July, 1869. Dang. So they do a rodeo there. Before the state was even a state. No doubt. Yeah. Territory at the time.
[00:36:01] Uh, on, you know, when we're talking about 150th, you know, celebration and celebrating the heritage of Colorado, we're inevitably going to be talking about rodeos. So along with the first rodeo or claim of the first rodeo here in the state and deer trail, we've got, uh, the claim of the longest going rodeo in Gunnison, Colorado at Gunnison's cattleman's days. Uh, and those are set for the, that's the weekend of July 9th this summer. When did that start?
[00:36:31] They claim a street going back to 1900. Dang. So pretty amazing. Um, you know, there's stuff like, uh, Glenwood Springs strawberry days. I happen to be in Glenwood Springs one year when strawberry days were going. Um, that's a history going back that this year they're, they're marking 129 years, the 129th strawberry days coming up, uh, the weekend of June 19th. Um, that up right now.
[00:36:59] Tradition of what is it? Is it free strawberries? Yep. Free strawberries and ice cream. Nice. At least when I was still there, it was free strawberries and ice cream going. Live music, family fun, a colorful parade, and more. In Glenwood. Yeah. As if you needed another reason to go to Glenwood Springs. Yeah. You know? So that's a cool one. Uh, Leadville boom days. You know, that's kind of a, uh, I don't know how long it's been going on.
[00:37:25] I can't recall, but certainly like an annual tradition that takes you back to the old glory days of Leadville when, where people still, uh, tend to dress in like Victorian attire and there's like gold mining, uh, stuff going on. Burrow racing. Yeah. That's the big draw. The Colorado state sport. Yeah. Yeah. Burrow racing. That's the big draw there for sure. Can't have this list without some burrow racing. No doubt about that. Mining contests, you know, that kind of thing.
[00:37:54] Um, I think about when I think about Colorado heritage, I think about, uh, some of the, some of this produce that we know and love, right? We've got festivals for, uh, the green chili in Pueblo. We've got a festival for the, uh, sweet corn in Olathe. Um, but the longest going from what I could tell is the Palisade peach festival. Yeah. And that's a really great way to go experience Palisade.
[00:38:19] Um, and that idyllic, I always call it like Huckleberry Finn part of the state. It just seems, it just feels so nostalgic. It just feels like you've jumped into a, into a book or something in that valley, uh, cut by the Colorado river. Oh, and while we're speaking about, uh, Palisade too, Tim, I missed one of Tim's, uh, mentions last week when he shot us a message on here, I missed it, but he said, uh, it does apply to peaches.
[00:38:45] So, uh, Peach Street Distillers in Palisade apparently has some great spirits. So yeah, people looking for, uh, to enjoy the peaches and also some liquor might want to go to, go to Peach Street, uh, distillers. And that peach festival is, uh, August 21st and 22nd this year. So those are some that come to mind. Uh, I can already hear people saying, what about the state fair, Colorado state fair? If we're talking about Colorado history, fun fact.
[00:39:13] Uh, there is a county fair that predates the state fair. State fair was inaugurated in 1872. The Boulder County fair claims a start in 1869. Wow. So yeah, I thought that was a little fun fact that I stumbled across. That is. Those are some old festivals. Yeah. You wouldn't think so. Yeah. You wouldn't think so. Especially like stuff that's still going on since before the state was even became a state, you know? Yeah.
[00:39:43] That's cool stuff. Um, I wanted to give a shout out to, while we're on the topic of festivals, uh, for everything that's going on in Telluride. Yeah. In the summer, people always talk about, uh, Telluride in the winter. Right. But during the summer, a lot of its tourism just thrives on all these festivals taking place. Um, not as long lasting or as long lived as the ones that Seth just mentioned, but here's a breakdown. I'm just going to kind of read through this list and bear with me. I'm just going to fly through them.
[00:40:09] Um, if you're interested in figuring out the exact dates of when each festival is, uh, you know, do your best to remember as I'm flying through them or just, or go to the, uh, Telluride festivals page. They're all listed there, but. We all have the technology now. Yeah. You got mountain film, uh, from what is this? May 21st to May 25th. You got Telluride balloon festival, June 5th to June 7th. You got Telluride food and wine June 11th through June 14th.
[00:40:36] You've got Telluride bluegrass festival from June 18th to June 21. That's a favorite one. People, people really like Telluride bluegrass festival. Um, it is literally just every weekend. There's a different festival though. Crazy. Telluride yoga festival, June 25th to 28th. Telluride plain air festival, uh, the 29th through July 5th. Um, Telluride table, uh, I would imagine is food, some sort of a food event. I've heard that one.
[00:41:03] Um, but July 10th to July 12th, Telluride Americana music festival, July 17th through 18th. Telluride baseball festival, July 20th through 26th. Baseball festival. Um, so that's a combination per their description here. Combination of instructional girls, softball camp, boys, baseball camp, followed by a competitive wood bat baseball tournament. So baseball with a mountain view. Yeah. Uh, Telluride reserve, July 30th through August 1st. Telluride jazz festival, August 7th through August 8th.
[00:41:33] Uh, Telluride mushroom festival, which is another big one. People love the mushroom fest. I wasn't going to let you finish this list without talking about the mushroom festival. That one started in 1981, uh, August 12th to August 16th. Have you ever been there for that? I have not. Yeah. I'd be curious what it's, what it's like, especially nowadays. It feels a little more timely with a lot of the, uh, legalization of, uh, psychedelics. Yeah. Yeah. Um, for sure. Yeah.
[00:41:59] Uh, then we have camp Alderwild, uh, August 28th through August 29th. That is a Denver based producer of the trees returning to play two nights of a festival in the town park there. So that was pretty popular last year. Telluride film festival. There you go. September 4th through 7th, perhaps maybe the town's most famous festival or it's up there. I mean, it's hard to say. Yeah. Uh, you do have like the, the bluegrass fest and the mushroom fest and you know, there
[00:42:25] are a lot of options, but I've heard of people going to the Telluride film festival and I mean what this past year or so turning around and seeing a Bruce Springsteen for his, his movie that came out. Yeah. And who's the guy who played Bruce Springsteen in that movie? Oh, Alan White. Jeremy Alan White. Just, yeah. Um, or Ken Burns just hanging out over there, you know? Yeah. That one draws in celebrities. Yeah. For sure. And a lot, there's a lot of panels, I think that we even like hear some people talk about, about what they've been doing. Yeah. Like Sundance is going to command a lot of attention.
[00:42:53] And obviously when we're talking Colorado film festivals, but, uh, lest we forget, I mean, out in Telluride has, has remained a very prestigious film festival. Yeah. And I think, I think it's considered pretty prestigious in the industry too. Like it's like been well known for, for a long time. And I mean, the mountain views make it easy, right? They get that, the iconic shot of the festival banners, whatever festival, I mean, probably interject most of these festivals, but hanging above the main street in the town with that
[00:43:23] mountainous backdrop. I mentioned, you know, when we, when you mentioned the mushroom festival, psychedelics as if that's like a part of that festival, my understanding that, that that's not really the case. I mean, it's very much about art and foraging, you know? Yeah. No, that's good to clarify. Yeah, that is. I mean, maybe there are shades of that at the festival. Haven't been. But that timeliness aspect. Yeah. It's good to clarify. Yeah. No, I mean, sure. That's a conversation that's taking place too, but yeah, I've always had the same understanding
[00:43:51] where it's foraging aspect. Right. It's a huge, huge part of that. Yep. Yeah. Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, September 18th or 20th. Another very popular one. Then you got a Telluride Autumn Classic, September 24th, 27th. September 24th to 27th as well, Corvettes and Colors. So you got a car festival, October 1st to 4th, Original Thinkers. There's another festival going on. And then you have Telluride Horror Show. I heard about that.
[00:44:21] October 16th through 18th this year. That's a popular one. Apparently a very cool time to be in Telluride. You got the fall colors and you've got like this spooky vibe from the Film Fest. And then I guess this is next year. They kind of do take a break from festivals during ski season, but the last one here that they're promoting is February 27th and March 6th. And it's Telluride Gay Ski Week. So yeah, there's a long list of festivals going on. Festival Town USA maybe, huh? It is. Yeah. Right.
[00:44:49] I mean, it wouldn't be hard to make that a designation, but it is one of those things where you have festivals going on around every mountain town in Colorado throughout the year, but Telluride just has that track record of just, you know, massive, you know, nationally known festivals that take place. Good point. Yeah. Cool stuff. Great time to be in Telluride during the summer too. It's another one of those spots where like, yeah, the skiing is fun, but I would rather be there in the summer. Yeah. Rather be there in the fall. Yeah.
[00:45:20] What's the popular sign? The people came for skiing and stayed for the summer, right? Yep. Yep. Cool stuff. Oh, yeah. I mean, I think that's about all we got today. Maybe next to tease a little bit about what we'll be talking about looking ahead, maybe movies filmed in Colorado could be a pretty interesting thing. Yeah. Where to see some of those sites. Got some abandoned towns under reservoirs. I know I mentioned the one under Lake Dillon a while back, but Seth's done some pretty
[00:45:47] in-depth journalism on another one. Very serious journalism. Very, very serious. Notable in a year like this when water levels are dropping. Yeah. Like some of these major reservoirs like the Blue Mesa reveal history of towns that used to thrive there. Kind of amazing. Yeah. We'll talk about that. Yeah. We'll talk about that. Yeah. I mean, until then, be ready for the snow that's about to hit. Hunker down, I guess. Yeah.
[00:46:17] Hunker down. Yeah. Probably not too many impacts on the Front Range. But, yeah. I mean, if the high-end snowstorm hits, 10% chance. Could be a different story. Bring it on. Bring it on. Yep. Until next time, we'll see you out there. Yep. Bye. Bye.