Fall destinations and recommendations; Jail time for snowboarder?; Stunning hike 'above the clouds'; & More

[00:00:05] Welcome to another episode of the OutThere Colorado Podcast. Once again, I'm Spencer, here to Seth. Hello. Got Tim over there in the booth and once again, kind of tackling this midweek episode where a little bit shorter for you guys but we've got plenty of interesting things to talk about today including some of our favorite fall spots. Seth was heavily involved with this recent Colorado Living magazine that came out with 150 places to visit. The final viewers. Yes, very scenic magazine.

[00:00:36] Yeah, the final list that he came up with after we've talked about it a few months ago. We've gone through a lot of his favorites already. We go through a few more of his favorites. Got an interesting legal case where a snowboarder is going to jail or at least has been sentenced to jail. Got some 14er updates as well as we head kind of into fall which honestly is my favorite time to hike some of these 14er routes. You know, it's like cooling off a little bit. The weather's a little bit more.

[00:01:05] More predictable in September. Yeah. Recently seen by the Pikes Peak Ascent moving their race in recent years from August to September. Yeah. Because of how the weather's a little bit more predictable. Yeah. Easier to wear layers and stuff I think. Yeah, I think September is maybe my favorite month for hiking 14ers. Pound for pound. Pound for pound. September. Yeah. I would probably say that. Yeah. Yeah. You get the fall colors and it's like that really cool air in the morning.

[00:01:30] Mm-hmm. Where it's just like so crisp as you're starting out on the trail. Yeah. You got to be careful with some of that snow rolling in. I did see a report about some snow that had hit some peaks this last weekend. I saw that too. And then like chain traction laws just go into effect.

[00:01:48] I think they go in pretty early. Yeah. But it's never too early to get the messaging out there I guess when snow is possible and you got to have that traction in the high country there. Yeah. September 1 to May 31. There you go. That's when some of the traction laws. Yeah. When some of those go into effect.

[00:02:08] Yeah, man. I just got my topper in too for the truck. So I'm about to be building out a little mobile campsite where I can just sleep in the bed and have an actual bed opposed to the tent. But be able to mainly so I can roll up to campsites a little bit later. Yep. You know, not have to worry about getting stuff set up and just kind of climb back in there. Yeah. So I don't have a setup like that, but I've always like imagined like there's two sides of that coin, right? The benefit of setting up a tent, you've staked your ground.

[00:02:38] Yes. On the flip, the benefit of just being able to roll in goes without saying, super convenient, but you also are hoping that spot's there. Yeah. Right. Yeah. You can't leave much behind. If you do, it's like a lawn chair. You leave behind it or like maybe it's like this is shady. Yeah. I guess I can live without it. Yeah. Yeah. That is a downside that I didn't even think about. Maybe I just bring the tent and set it up anyway. Yeah. In this era of sprinter vans too. Yeah.

[00:03:05] I mean, it seems like we should be getting to a point where there's like an acceptable staked your claim kind of thing. Mm-hmm. Right. But there's obviously a lot of controversy probably with that too. Maybe we'll come up with a flag where it's like, this is my campsite. A flag is what came to my mind too. With like your family emblem or whatever. Yeah. Your medieval crest. That's what I'm thinking of. Yeah. I'm Irish and English. My family has one. Or your Colorado outfit. I forget what it looks like. Do you? Yeah. Yeah. We have one. I forget what it looks like. It wasn't too exciting.

[00:03:35] Or your Colorado outdoor crest, which on the heels of fat marmot week, everyone's probably going to have a marmot on their outdoor crest. I think I'd do a pronghorn on my crest. I'd do a Sasquatch. A Sasquatch. Yes. I like it. I like it. Yeah. I never thought about that. What would be my Colorado outdoor crest? Probably a pronghorn. I have a pronghorn tattoo, so I got to stick with it. Yeah. Yeah. I got a pronghorn tattoo on my rib cage here. Huh. I drew it myself.

[00:04:01] It was actually featured on a local brewery's beer bottle as well. Local relic. Really? Yeah. They saw the tattoo, and I went there right after I got it, I think, and they were like, oh, we should put that on a beer bottle. They did. Yeah. The Oud Brut, I think, is what it was. Or Oud Brun or something. Are they still brewing? You know, I don't know. Their location is no longer, or I'm not entirely. Yeah, I'm not. Let's see. People in the Springs will know what we're talking about. That was such a cool place. It was in this historic church. Yeah.

[00:04:30] I think it's so cool. I'm not seeing anything about them moving out of there, but yeah, it was super cool. It became an event space, in my understanding. You can't just walk in there anymore. Oh, yeah. That makes sense. Yeah. They had some good food there. Yeah. The Carter Payne. Carter Payne. That's what it was called. But yeah. Any who's all. Cool stuff. Yeah. So Pronghorn would be mine. You got to pick one and get a tattoo of it by the next episode. Okay. I'm going to draw it myself. Yep.

[00:04:58] Got a big Sasquatch that's going to draw the Sasquatch face. Get it on his chest. Just boom. Sasquatch. Maybe Pike's Peak. Yeah. Something like that. Yeah. We need to get someone who's like, we'll send on the hunt for Sasquatch on the show sometime. Yeah. I think that'd be interesting. Those people are out there. They are. They're out there for sure. Yeah. Ran into one down at, what is it? Like south of Penrose a little bit. There's a little secret rock climbing wall far south of Penrose. Yeah.

[00:05:28] But there's a little secret rock climbing wall. And the only person out there was someone looking for Bigfoot. Naturally. So, yeah. Yeah. And it was, talked to him for a little bit. Heard him doing his calls and we were like, what's this guy doing? No way. Yeah. It was. He calls. Yeah. Yeah. Fully. Hey, it's something I want to believe. I want to believe. We'll see. Maybe in decades to come, there will be a- Is that museum still there? Yeah. The Sasquatch Outpost, right? Is it off 285? Is that what it's called? Am I picturing that right?

[00:05:57] I think it is off 285. The one in Bailey, right? Bailey. Yeah. Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey. Yeah. Which I've heard good things about too. Believe in Sasquatch or not. That didn't make a roadside attraction pull off list. It didn't. Yeah, but it should probably. Yeah, off at 285 on Main Street there. Bailey, a cool little spot too. Oh man, I was just over there on my motorcycle too. We stopped at a Craft Mountain Brewery, I think.

[00:06:24] I didn't realize the Sasquatch Outpost was like a block or two down the street. Gonna have to go back. There you go. Gonna have to go back. I guess we're getting in shot of the Coney hot dog stand, no? Yeah. There you go. That geography all kind of runs together for me. I can't quite picture how it all is, but I'm thinking we're in the neck of the woods there. Yeah, it's all a scenic drive. Yeah. Let's see. I've actually never been to the Coney dog stand. Yeah, three minute drive. From the Sasquatch? Yeah, from the... Oh, wait. Is this...

[00:06:54] I believe so. I totally called that, huh? Yeah, I think so. It says South Park, Coney Island. I don't know if that's the same as the hot dog stand. I would assume so. We're putting together an itinerary here, man. Hit the brewery. Yeah. Hit the Sasquatch Museum. Hit the Coney dog. Hit the Coney dogs. Ooh, this old Stagecoach Road might be a scenic drive as well. Don't quote me on that, but it looks like it cuts through some beautiful terrain. But yeah, either way, back to 14ers. Yeah, we get sidetracked for sure. Fall 14ers.

[00:07:23] I will say one of my best fall 14ers ever, just in terms of thinking back and positive memories, was climbing Kate Carson in the fall, right as those leaves were changing colors. Beautiful trail up to that first lake. I forget the name of the lake. Willow Lake, isn't it? Yeah, I think Willow Lake's right. Yeah, that sounds right. That is beautiful. Got camped out there once and heard this massive... I didn't know what it was in the middle of the night, just this terrible crashing sound.

[00:07:53] Or it almost sounded like a biblical flood was rushing toward us. Maybe it was a herd of Sasquatch running your way through the trees. Got up in the morning and saw a massive rock slide on the... Oh, dang. Yeah. It was a rock slide. Yeah. That's quite a hike in to camp too. Yeah. It's like three or four miles. You got to carry all your stuff. Yeah. I backpacked it. Yeah, that's a beautiful, beautiful scene. You see people taking a dip there. Yeah. Got Challenger there. Got Kit Carson there.

[00:08:23] Beautiful views from Kit Carson of the Crest Dones as well. If you climb that, that's very, very cool. Sangre, as you and I talk about it, man. On the front range, our dreams linger to the San Juans out on the western slope. But, man, closer to the front range, those Sangres boast a lot of the sort of beauty, jagged elements that you see in the San Juans, man. Yeah, man. I think it's so close.

[00:08:53] Yeah. A lot of people think it's further away from Colorado Springs than it is, even from Denver than it is, but it's not. Mm-hmm. But, yeah, that's tying the topper to the 14ers. That was the goal, being able to drive up late at night, park, because you can't often camp at 14-year trailheads, right? So you've got to find some BLM land where I can just pull up, pop in the back of the truck bed, wake up, crack a dawn, and go. Yeah, yeah. So that's the ultimate goal. Big time, yeah. Got it a little late this year, though.

[00:09:22] I was hoping I'd get it by July due to some manufacturing delays. It was slow coming in out of everyone's control. I mean, the world is crazy at the moment in terms of shipping. Getting things in, yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, so I'm going to have to hit that full swing next spring and summer, I think. There you go. But, yeah, 14ers. Yeah. Back to 14ers. Yeah. We're just going down rabbit holes all over the place right now. That's what we do in midweek, don't we? Yeah.

[00:09:49] Yeah, shout out the rabbit hole in Colorado Springs. Oh, yeah. Underground, fine dining is down there. Yeah, we keep going down rabbit holes. But, yeah, so 14er news. Let's talk about some trail improvements that, as far as I understand, they were expected to take about six years. They ended up taking five years, right? So a rare case where a project didn't overshoot its landing, you know, and ended up actually coming to fruition a little bit earlier than was expected. Tell us about that.

[00:10:18] Especially impressive because Colorado 14ers initiative has described their project on Chavano as, like, their biggest undertaking ever. How long has CFI been around? I've known this over the years, but we're talking decades, I want to say. A few decades, maybe? But, anyway. Yeah, 1994. Yeah, 1994. What they've described as their biggest project since they've been around. Wow. Since 1994. Yeah.

[00:10:48] So, people who've been following along, they know kind of the ins and outs of what's been going on there on Chavano. CFI looked to kind of lower portions of the trail to modify, to get out of, essentially out of, like, terrain that flooded and riparian areas that were sensitive and just some really nasty eroded terrain down lower there. And then there was also a crew focused more mid-mountain and then eventually upper mountain, tying all the way into the summit, which is fairly rare.

[00:11:18] For CFI. For CFI. For CFI. In fact, I was talking to Lloyd Atherin, the executive director. And he couldn't quite recall if they've ever had a project that was right at the top, tippy top of a 14er before, like this project had them doing. So, yeah. So, yeah. Like you said, man. Got done ahead of time. Five seasons. They've been doing this. About $2 million later of back-breaking work.

[00:11:42] He was, Lloyd Atherin was also telling me, like, when they cut the ribbon recently, you know, some donors and staff and people who helped build these portions of trail over the past five seasons were on hand. And then he asked the question, how many times have you guys hiked or touched the top of this mountain? And he said someone raised their hand and said 200 times. To put in perspective of how immense this job was, right?

[00:12:10] To be hiking toward the tail end here, 3,000 plus feet every day just to get to the work site where they would continue doing this really complex rock engineering work for people familiar with what it takes to build these sustainable trails on 14ers. The kind of just sheer will that that entails, right? Dang. At 14,000 feet.

[00:12:34] So, yeah, just a huge project that Colorado 14ers Initiative is really proud to say mission accomplished. So, we're talking about two and a half miles of new trail. Again, kind of lower and upper. There were some interesting aspects of the job that had them putting in, like, certain higher up on steeper high up slopes.

[00:12:58] Putting in this sort of natural matting along with, like, vegetation plugs, as it was described to me. As part of this long-term interest in finding the best ways to facilitate recovery and growth of plants at the Alpine. I thought that was really fascinating about this project that you don't hear about across 14er projects every summer.

[00:13:24] So, there's an interest to kind of figure out where the best techniques to, like, foster stewardship and growth of some of these fragile Alpine plants. So, that happened as part of the project as well. Very cool. Yeah. And so, five seasons being one thing. But this project goes back. I mean, they trace it all the way back to 2012 when Chauvino was identified as one of the worst routes across the 14ers across the state.

[00:13:52] CFI has always wanted to get up there and do this kind of work. But private land ownership had been in the way of them accessing, specifically, some of that terrain higher up. So, Chauvino, to tie a bow on that, CFI in 2016 and 2017 acquired multiple parcels of old mining claims and property, private property, to just be able to get up there and do this work.

[00:14:22] And it kind of underscores this issue that CFI thinks that they're going to find themselves in kind of going forward here. You know, going back to 1994, a lot of work has been done. A lot of new trail building and constant maintenance is going on. And now they're at the point where they're looking at 14ers that have these complex, obscure land issues involving mining claims.

[00:14:49] I mean, it's fascinating to hear about just patchworks that exist across our high country. People most recently are hearing a lot about that on the Decaliburn loop, right? There's been multi-agency collaboration to acquire pockets of land across that loop. Democrat, Lincoln, Ross, right? But still, there is a bunch of patchwork that exists up there that people are trying to resolve. So, we've heard about it on Lindsay recently, right?

[00:15:19] In recent years, there was closures before this electronic waiver. I understand there's been like a bankruptcy proceeding going on for years at Sherman that CFI has been watching involving private land on Sherman. So, just odd stuff. Yeah.

[00:15:41] You know, like that CFI probably when they first started never imagined getting into that they're starting to get into now and realizing we've got to address some obscure private land issues to achieve some of the stuff that we want to achieve. And Chauvino is just one example of that really. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:01] And I think a lot of people in the 14-year climbing community and just in the hiking community in general, it's like, oh, why don't these landowners let us on their land, you know, for different things? And it's like there is that liability issue. I think one thing that tends to get overlooked too is how hard it can be to just track down landowners sometime to get permission. Because it's like if you're going through old records, it's like, okay, who has the land now? Who is that right now? Where are these people at? Yeah.

[00:16:28] Chauvino had a CFI on the phone with a family in Arkansas to get these parcels, you know? Yeah. It's easy to imagine like you're making calls to people who maybe didn't even know that their father, their grandfather, their great-grandfather had this land. Yeah. Maybe had this land for mining exploration or just to say I have a 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado. Yeah, right. You know, like who knows? It's weird stuff, man.

[00:16:54] But, yeah, it'll be interesting to kind of – I think you'll hear a lot more stories of CFI and other agencies trying to acquire 14ers. Yeah. Keep them open to the public and fine with that. Yep. Yeah, Colorado 14ers Initiative does a great job and has done a great job for years. And, yeah, they're a really good organization to be in charge of kind of looking over these giants that we have across the Colorado landscape. Been doing it a long time.

[00:17:24] Mm-hmm. So to kind of shift off of 14er talk and summer talk in general and get into some winter conversation, did you see that a snowboarder is actually facing 45 days in jail for a situation that unfolded on Aspen Mountain back in 2024? Mm-hmm. So basically, and this is reporting from Aspen Times, a local news source there.

[00:17:53] This collision took place in the area of Aspen Mountain's Gents Ridge lift involving the snowboarder who has been convicted of these snowboarding-related crimes, we'll say, and a woman who he collided with. Mm-hmm. So basically what happened, this woman gets struck from behind by this male snowboarder who's later identified as a New Jersey resident.

[00:18:20] And then after that collision, he apparently fled the scene and just continued going down the mountain. The woman sustained extensive knee injuries, a shoulder injury, and a hand injury said to have since had a major impact on her life, which, I mean, the extent of those injuries sounds like that's pretty bad stuff to be dealing with.

[00:18:45] So two years later, this snowboarder who was involved, they tracked him down. He was convicted of third-degree assault and reckless endangerment, as well as violating the Colorado Ski Safety Act. So, yeah, going to get 45 days in jail. Wow. So pretty rare that you see people facing criminal sentences from something that unfolds on the mountain like that, especially like a collision, maybe if there's a fight or something like that of that nature.

[00:19:15] But in the case of a collision, usually that goes to civil court. I believe there is still an effort to have some sort of civil court justice there as well. But, yeah, pretty rare that there's a criminal charge associated with it. I don't think anyone goes to the slopes thinking they could end up in jail, right? So kind of a, I would call it a tragic reminder of having your wits about you on the hill, right? I mean, what else can you say?

[00:19:44] Make sure you, I don't know, I hate to say it's as simple as know how to ski, right? Yeah. There's a lot of complexities that happen on the slopes. I recognize that. And there's things that happen outside your control. I recognize that. But, yeah, kind of a tough reminder here about really keeping your head on a swivel, I guess, right? And tragic for the woman who was involved, obviously. And, yeah, like you said, I mean, a very, yeah, a very good reminder to be responsible.

[00:20:14] Yeah. You know, and I don't know what the contributing factors were. Right. It sounds like maybe a little bit of an experience could have been at play on the part of the snowboarder. But, yeah, in Colorado, when there is a collision, at least a serious collision, anytime there is, like, two people that are on the ground, you know, like, use your brain. But you got to trade information. Yeah.

[00:20:39] You got to give them the information that can help identify you and can help them contact you down the road if there is a legal situation that unfolds before leaving. So. Hate to say it, but I think you've said it, man. Like, you got to treat it like a hit and run. Yeah. I mean, literally, it is. You don't do a hit and run. Yeah. Yeah. It's treated as a hit and run or a form of hit and run. Or I guess I meant to say, like, a car crash. Yeah. Collision. Yeah. Treat it like that. Yeah.

[00:21:05] And I think it's also important, a big reason why, you know, is a lot of times these injuries, they might not show up right in that moment. Yeah. Yeah. You got the adrenaline from the fall going on. Yeah. But then on that drive home, once you're tired, it's like, oh, dang, maybe I did, like, tear something in my neck, you know, or, like, in my shoulder or something like that. Wake up a little funky the next day. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:21:25] You can, if you're curious to see exactly what responsible behavior looks like on the slopes, you can look up the 10 rules of the slopes in the skier's responsibility code. So a lot of things, including the hit and run scenarios where you've got to trade information, but also things like, you know, just watching out for people downhill of you as you're skiing down the slope. Yeah. The downhill skier has the right of way.

[00:21:52] So that tends to be a pretty common misconception, I think, where a collision might occur and then someone's like, oh, well, that person skied in front of me. It's still not their fault. Even if they ski in front of you and cut you off or even if their turns are really awkward and wide or whatever they look like, as the uphill skier, you are still responsible for avoiding that person that is below you on the slopes. Yeah. So, yeah, just wanted to touch on that because it is a notable situation, just somebody facing criminal charges for a collision on the slopes.

[00:22:21] Don't see that happen too often. Yeah. What else do we have here? Let's take it back to summer here before we get into fall and things to do. So I've covered this spot before, but you were talking about Sand Beach Lake at Rocky Mountain National Park the other day. It got me thinking about some other potentially overlooked spots in Rocky Mountain National Park.

[00:22:46] I think the most beautiful view in Rocky Mountain National Park and, you know, maybe one of the most beautiful views in the state is that you will get is the view you will get at Sky Pond. Right. It's at 10,899 feet of elevation surrounded by just like panoramic mountain views. You've got the shark's tooth formation right above it, which like, you know, it's aptly named. It looks like giant teeth just jutting out of the rock. Or like a dragon's back, man. Yeah.

[00:23:16] Looks like a dragon just laid down there and got fossilized. Yeah. Yeah, it does. And it is absolutely beautiful. Man, this guy is nerdy. Maybe, I mean, aside from maybe their maroon bells and Lone Eagle Peak, maybe one of the most recognizable rock formations in Colorado. Obviously, you've got Garner the Gods and stuff, but thinking like high alpine rock formations. Um, so you got the view of that. You've got Taylor Peak there. You got Powell Peak. You got Batch Top. You got Stiletto.

[00:23:45] Um, so no shortage of good views from the top, but I think the hike itself is also a big contributing factor in terms of what makes the Sky Pond hike so notable. It's about nine miles as an out and back trail, a little bit shy of 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Um, but along the way, you pass Alberta Falls and Glacier Knobs, which is right there. Uh, you pass Lockvale, which I mean, that is worth seeking out in itself. One of the most beautiful views in the state as well.

[00:24:11] Um, you kind of climb up Timberline Falls as well, which is really cool. Some adventure to it. Yeah, and it can be slick. It's not as, when you look at the photos, not as sketchy during the climb as it looks in the photos, but it is definitely like you're, you're adding some adventure to the standard hike. Absolutely beautiful scene in the summer too, whenever it's lush in that area. Um, and then, yeah, you pass, uh, was it the Lake of Glass? That's right. Up there too. Uh, another cool Alpine Lake scene.

[00:24:39] Um, and then you get to Sky Pond and all the views that it has to offer. Um, if you're hiking that, you do need to make sure, especially during the summer, in the winter, there's not the same reservation program that's in place. But in the summer, you do need to make sure you have the Bear Lake corridor access. Uh, you leap from the Glacier Gorge trailhead, which is right there by Bear Lake. Yep. Um, which I mean, yeah, at the end of the hike, if you have a little bit more energy, pop over and check out Bear Lake too. I think it adds like less than a half mile, I want to say. Um, another stunning scene.

[00:25:07] So got to give a shout out to, uh, Sky Pond. I think it tends to get a little bit overlooked. Um, at least among people that are not frequenting Rocky Mountain National Park. Uh, you don't really see it on the lists of like, here's five things to go see in Rocky Mountain National Park all the time. Yeah. I've kind of said over the years that I feel like that might be the quintessential hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Some people are going to, going to point to Long's Peak, obviously.

[00:25:34] But I would argue Skype, I mean, for everything that you just mentioned, I mean, just the lakes that you see, the waterfalls that you see, the alpine views that you get from it. I mean, yeah, I feel like it is super classic. Yeah. Rocky Mountain National Park. Yeah. You kind of see everything. You're kind of going along a creek, along a lot of the route too. Um, just, I mean, it just feels like a true, like escape into nature in a sense. You're winding through the woods. Um, yeah.

[00:26:01] It's every, every turn seems to give you like another good view. Uh, and even the hike back down, you know, you're seeing it all from a different angle, kind of going back down into this valley. And that's beautiful as well. You know, I did it in the winter, man. Yeah. I did it in the winter and going up, uh, what is it? Timberline? Yeah. Timberline Falls. Yeah. That was kind of sketchy in the winter. Yeah. I did it. Like find the holes. Yeah. I did. I did it in the winter too.

[00:26:24] And, uh, yeah, it was, uh, that was probably one of the sketchier hiking experiences I've had just because, uh, people had gone up to Lock Vale. Uh, but after that, no one had broken trail, uh, for like, I mean the entire rest of the hike. So that's like, you know, three miles or so probably two and a half, three miles. Um, and that snow was like up to my thighs. Yeah. And I was just like trying to find my way and, you know, using my, I had a GPS and a map and I'm like, well, it follows this Creek.

[00:26:53] So I guess I can just kind of shoot this direction and get there. But, um, yeah, that was, uh, and then getting up there too, dude, it was so windy. It was like, it was so cold and windy. Um, and I went out on the ice, uh, cause it was thick enough. I like did my little test and was able to tell it was thick enough. And, uh, so I was like walking out onto a sky pond and that was super cool. Uh, but it was so windy. I like, I was trying to get some photos. I sat down like this tripod to try to get some photos.

[00:27:23] The wind's just blowing the tripod away. And then my phone's dead in a matter of about 20 seconds or so like from the cold. Yeah. It was so cool, but, uh, very beautiful. Very beautiful. Year round. Very beautiful. So yeah. Good shout out. But yeah, Skype on, check it out. Um, maybe not, uh, this, I mean, summer's almost over at this point, but probably a good fall hike too. Beautiful fall colors coming right up. Yeah. If you go in the winter, uh, be prepared for some route finding and, uh, uh, especially if

[00:27:51] there's been any snow recently at all whatsoever. I think it had snowed like a week and a half before I was up there too, which is wild that I was, I was not assuming I would have to be breaking trail. Yeah. Yeah. It is. Man. That is, that is a Colorado bucket list. You got to go to Estes Park and or Rocky during the elk rut. Yeah. I mean, it's just such a cool experience. Yeah. Yeah. And they're everywhere in the town using the crosswalks. The wildlife soap opera. Yeah. Keep your distance. Golf courses close. Yeah. Keep your distance.

[00:28:21] No doubt. Lots of, lots of things to know. There are often stories that maybe, you know, honestly, it's kind of dropped off there for a while. It seemed like it was every year. There'd be multiple stories of people getting gored by elk. Yeah. Maybe people are getting smarter and keeping their distance, but, uh. Elk have a little more mercy, hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't written about it yet. But that's great. Mid-September, mid-October, I want to say. Is when the rut's going on. Yeah. Yeah. You might want to put that on your list, folks, if you've never seen that. A true wildlife soap opera. Yeah. To see what these elk do when they're looking for love. Yep.

[00:28:51] And it is, it is startling when you hear them. Like, they are loud. Yeah. That bugle is loud. Yeah. Those males. Mm-hmm. They don't exactly sound all that, uh, manly. Yeah. It's a pretty, it's like a shriek of sorts. Um, yeah. I don't mean to classify, you know, uh, what, what, what manly is, but. It's more or less a shriek. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, and I mean, fall is the perfect time to visit Estes Park too, you know? Yeah. Oh, yeah.

[00:29:19] It's like a, and maybe this is a good segue for us getting into some of our favorite fall base camps. Oh, it's definitely a fall base camp. Yeah. You know what? Let's do it. For those very reasons. We can jump it right into it on that. Yeah. Let's get into some fall base camps. I'm going to start us off with Estes Park. Yeah. Yeah. There you go. You got the elk rut. We talked about that a little bit, uh, but you got the Stanley hotel, man, with the beautiful scene of Stanley. I know you've been there on some of the ghost tours, done some of the whiskey sample in there. Yeah.

[00:29:46] Um, it is a perfect destination for fall, especially like the tail end of fall as like those leaves kind of start falling away, you know? And, uh, that like first little bite of winter hits. Totally. It's a, it's a great spot. And unlike all these other places, the one thing Estes Park has more than these other places is that abundance of elk, right? When the rut goes on, uh, the elk are taken over Estes Park and to just see that season

[00:30:15] of love play out backdrop by the fall colors, just perfect. And access to Rocky Mountain National Park too. You know, um, there's probably not a better concentration of natural beauty in Colorado. Um, but yeah, I think that's a, that's a good, good fall spot. No doubt. Got to know those reservation rules. Also good to know, like for Barrel, uh, what is it? The, uh, Barrel Lake corridor, you got to do it super early. I think it's like five by 5am, but some of the other places, the rest of the park, you

[00:30:44] can go in before nine and you want to go in early anyways when, when elk are active. And I think it's after 2pm, you can also go in without a reservation. And that's also when you'd want to go in to see elk activity like closer, uh, in the late afternoon slash early evening. So yeah. Is it, is it 2pm? It might be. I think it's fairly early, man. I think you're right. Double check that folks. But, uh, also don't overlook the peak to peak scenic byway, which goes Estes Park to Blackhawk. I want to say. Yeah. That's really great for fall colors.

[00:31:12] That's a great drive that, uh, you know, everyone's going trail Ridge road understandably, but other side of town, the peak to peak is awesome. Well, and even talking about another base camp, if you do take trail Ridge road, Grand Lake. Yeah, totally. Grand Lake's a great fall spot as well. Get the early morning noose out there, you know, got the, the little like bit of a fog rising off the lake at that time of the year and those early morning hours. But yeah, man, I think, uh, both of those spots that kind of bookend Rocky Mountain National

[00:31:41] Park, great places for fall. Uh, what else you got? Crista Butte. Of course. Kevlar Pass. Like I've talked to people before, well aware of, uh, Pando what's regarded as like the biggest Aspen Grove, uh, in the world. And that's just because it's actually been studied and quantified. Right. But if something like that were to go on, uh, that kind of work where to go on on Kevlar Pass, people tend to think, uh, Pando might have a, some competition there. Easy to see, easy to think when you drive it.

[00:32:11] I mean, that is just a tunnel of Aspen all the way. And just, uh, the hillsides that are, they're always a wash of like different colors. It's not everywhere you see, I feel like, uh, oranges and reds, but in my time going to Crested Butte and driving Kevlar, I feel like I can always count on like some different colors going on in that side of Colorado. Another town where, uh, or Crested Butte's another town where the overall vibe of the town really carries to fall. Got a lot of those older buildings and that like Victorian style era.

[00:32:40] Um, and yeah, that, you know, it has that little bit of like a spooky touch in a sense, just like you're, you're walking through on a crisp fall day in a positive way. Yeah. Um, I'm going to, I'm going to throw Kenosha Pass out there. I went up there for fall for the first time this last year, did a whole like fall color motorcycle trip around part of the state. And, uh, man, it was, there was some stretching groves of Aspen's up on Kenosha Pass. A little closer to Front Range, a go-to for us Front Rangers.

[00:33:10] And it turned out to be a go-to for a lot of Front Rangers. Oh yeah. We didn't even stop and get off the bikes because it was so, uh, it was packed. Nowhere to stop. Yeah. It was, it was crowded, but either way from the road, even very beautiful. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah, what else? Much farther away from the Front Range. Mm-hmm. Telluride. Oh, you got to say that. That gondola ride during the fall color even. I mean, you can talk about so many different drives around there from Lost, uh, Last Dollar Road, you know, O'Four Pass.

[00:33:40] Those are kind of on the rougher side, right? Yeah. Um, Imogene also very much on the rougher side, but then there's like Highway 145 and Lizard Head Pass, which I think is more friendlier. But to your point, you don't have to go anywhere. You can stay in town, get on that gondola and see just, that's like the best panorama you can hope for. Yeah. Talking about the free gondola between Mountain Village and Telluride. Um, yeah, it takes like what, 10 minutes or so? And it is just absolutely stunning. Mm-hmm. Hit that at the right time. Got bridle.

[00:34:10] Yeah. Perfect. Bridal little falls up the way. Yeah. Got to give a shout out to Mueller State Park and Cripple Creek. Back to the Front Range. Yeah. Back to the Front Range and Cripple Creek. Yeah. Um, and Victor, right? Yeah. Can't mention Cripple Creek without also mentioning Victor, but, uh, heading up there at the right time and you will see plenty of, uh, plenty of fall colors. Also, I hit a rabbit years pass last year during fall colors for the first time and that was stunning as well. What time were, what, whenabouts were you there? Do you remember? It was in September. Was that earlier? Yeah.

[00:34:38] I want to say it was a little bit earlier, uh, compared to when the fall colors pop in Southern Colorado. Yeah. That's a general, uh, general rule of thumb too, is it's, it goes from North to South in terms of when the fall colors appear, um, tending to appear at higher elevations sooner than lower elevations as well. Um, man, we haven't even mentioned Maroon Bells. Aspen. It's called Aspen. The town is called Aspen. What do you expect, right? Yeah. This list is about to be 50 places long. Yeah.

[00:35:07] I mean, we could keep going brother. Yeah, man. But yeah, gotta have Aspen on there for the Maroon Bells and you know, like I think it's Castle Creek Road. I mean, that's what, that's where there's amazing, amazing stuff off Castle Creek Road. Yeah. Gotta mention, uh, gotta mention Breckenridge too. Mm-hmm. Um, very good spot for just in terms that, you know, the infrastructure of that town is built out a little bit more than a lot, than a lot of these smaller mountain towns.

[00:35:34] Well, it still has that like small town charm, I think. Yeah. Um, and they fully embrace the fall colors. Like they, they, I don't know if you saw it, but there will be a, uh, a free shuttle that goes from the ice rink to, uh, Aspen Alley Trail. Aspen Alley. Yeah. Yeah. Um, they got the Leaf Brief, which is this online source where they're regularly updating what the colors are doing. So especially in a year like this, that could be super helpful when people are wondering if these colors are going to come maybe earlier than we typically expect due to drought.

[00:36:04] So the Leaf Brief, uh, could have you covered there, show you what's going on around Breckenridge. Yeah. Summit County. Definitely. Yeah. That is a great fall basement. I feel like we could almost include just the entire state. Now we're going to do it. You just want to live in Colorado for the fall. You got Lake City. You got Silverton. Man. Two more great spots for fall. Yeah. Um, yeah. What else do we have?

[00:36:30] You know, uh, Vail also some of those trees when you're coming into town, very beautiful. So later in the season, I always shout it out. That Highway of Legends, spectacular. Mm-hmm. Uh, kind of, um, going between La Vida into Trinidad. If you've never seen that, maybe put that on your list this year. Again, it's kind of, it's going to be more later, like I think late September or early October. Yeah. Is that that side of the state maybe? Um, but people don't realize, I mean, yeah, Highway of Legends in that side of the state

[00:37:00] going through, you know, the Spanish peaks. So, you know, you're getting above 11,000 feet, I want to say, but, uh, beautiful lakes along the way. Great Spanish history along the way that you don't see anywhere else. Mm-hmm. And then either where you do it, Trinidad, La Vida, cool towns. Yeah. Uh, that, uh, get overlooked quite a bit. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I gotta, I gotta think, uh, I gotta mention as well, one spot in Colorado Springs that are like top of Cheyenne Mountain. Mm-hmm. Uh, there's a nice little Aspen Grove up there. It's a long hike. Uh, but.

[00:37:29] Gotta earn it. Yeah. You gotta earn it. Probably what? 14 miles or so round trip, but, uh, yeah, the top of, uh, top of Cheyenne Mountain, right? Right here in Colorado Springs. Yeah. Pretty cool. Good ones, man. Yeah. We got a, we got a nice little list of, uh, spots for fall colors. I think we hammered fall. It sounds like you and I are ready for fall. I'm ready for fall, man. I'm ready for the, the, uh, cooler weather that makes it more practical for me to wear my flannels. Boy. I know.

[00:37:55] For those who don't view and just listen, Spencer is in a flannel. Like thick flannels. Yeah. It's like literally lined. Yeah. That looks hot, dude. Yeah. It's a hundred degrees. He's wearing it. It works. I don't know. I don't know. My body just regulates its temperature very well, I guess. Um, very Colorado. So I was about to take it off at the beginning of the episode. I was like, yeah, no, we'll, we'll roll with it. Um, yeah. What else we got here?

[00:38:22] You want to, you want to touch on, um, a couple of these, uh, 150 things to do. Just, just put this out, close out the show with that. The Gazette, uh, got this in their Sunday paper a little while ago, honoring 150 years of the state with 150 things to do. I thought it'd be funny just to turn to like a few pages and see what's on there. Yeah. Because 150 things, I mean, where to start, but we got the UFO watchtower. Uh, we got, uh, um, Dylan Amphitheater. We talked about that not too long ago. Yeah, we did. Put that on your list next summer for a show.

[00:38:51] Uh, we talked about the Telluride Gondola. Mm-hmm. Definitely gotta be on there. Next page. One other page. Uh, the Creed Repertory Theater. Broadway in Creed. Known as one of the best places to see Broadway off of Broadway. Believe it. Yeah. The Petrified Wood Gas Station. Mm-hmm. Out by Lamar. So can you visit that, actually? It's right off the side of the road. It's just right there. It's not open. It's locked. Yeah. Um, but you can see it. Yeah.

[00:39:17] And, at least last time I was there, like, next to it, there's a, the family who owns it runs, like, the mechanic shop next door. Mm-hmm. And a fella might just come out and give you, like, a brochure about information on the miracle. Petrified Wood Gas Station. Yeah, it's so funny. Uh, Crestone Ziggurat. Mm. That's a good one. You know about that one? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Fill people in. It's a... It was built...

[00:39:45] Someone, someone with a good amount of money built it, uh, for the community after having a spiritual connection to Crestone, I believe. Mm-hmm. Crestone famously home to, um, I think more religious groups and sects than, uh, than anywhere else in the country, I want to say. That may or may not be accurate, but it is, like, there are a lot of, uh, religious groups headquartered in Crestone. Yeah. So, it's, it's beautiful, too. Um, you can see it on the hillside. It's, like, this giant yellow tower that just kind of has, like, this, like, like, maybe

[00:40:14] staircase going around here, you know? Yeah. But, definitely a cool spot. The Boulder Dushunbi Tea House? Yes. It's about the prettiest place you can... Interesting story behind that, too. Yes, there is. It was a trade from, uh, with a sister city. Right. And, uh... Across the world. Was it South Korea? Uh, well, Dushunbi is between, like, China and Afghanistan, I want to say. It's named for that part of the world. Oh, yeah. You're right. You're fully correct here. Uh, Tajikistan.

[00:40:45] Yeah. Yeah, there you go. Yeah, they have a few other sister cities around. They have 11 sister cities. Yeah. Uh, but yes, uh, Tajikistan, uh, we gave them an internet cafe. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah, they gave us the tea house. We gave them an internet cafe. Uh, which is... It's very American of us. Yeah, I mean, turns out, uh, you know, I think internet has had a bigger boom since, uh, 1987 when this trade took place compared to... Comparatively. Uh, Tayred Bluegrass Festival.

[00:41:13] That's been on my list for as long as I've been out here. Sure, Wiss, I've done that by now. Uh, Buckhorn Exchange. Mm, yeah. Um, in Denver. That's a... That's a must hit. Established in 1893. Yeah, and so I've heard that, uh, Buckhorn Exchange, uh, is on the up and up, too. I've heard from multiple people recently that they've, they've revisited it in recent years. And it's even better. Yeah. That they liked it, liked it more. I really liked it when I was there years ago. Visits, yeah. Yeah.

[00:41:43] Um, all right, one more? Yeah, it's as good as one more. Uh, what do I like on this page? Tennessee Pass Sleep Yurts. Yurts. Ooh. Look this up for your winter. It's pretty romantic if you want to go with a partner. Right there by, uh, Leadville? Pretty much like same or close to the parking lot for Ski Cooper. Mm-hmm. Um, so you, you either Nordic Ski or snowshoe to these yurts in a winter wonderland and get a super good dinner and sleep in a cozy yurt.

[00:42:11] That's pretty, it's a pretty, uh, unique Colorado experience. Yeah, the Tennessee Pass Cookhouse. Yeah, there you go. If you're, if you're looking it up online. Yeah. Uh, you can go during summer, too. For sure. It takes, it's like a mile hike or so, I think, in the summer. Yeah. Um, yeah, dude, that's been on my list for a long time. I haven't done it yet. Yeah. I'm going to start looking at the menu and make a reservation. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, it'd be good for you and your partner. Yes. Uh, um, the granddaddy of Colorado rodeos.

[00:42:39] The longest going, I want to say, Cattleman's Days in Gunnison. Mm-hmm. That's a good one to put on the list for next summer. There we go. We nailed some out. We could, like I said, we could do that every show, man. Yeah. Seth opens the magazine to a random page and starts talking. It's a good way to get a conversation going, you know? Yeah, going, the rodeo going since 1900. Yeah. Yeah. It seems a very cool thing. And also the granddaddy of Colorado, was it Colorado rodeos? Yeah. Granddaddy of Colorado rodeos is its actual slogan here. It looks like. Yeah.

[00:43:09] I stole that. Not just Seth's creativity. Not my words, their words. Um, cool. Well, yeah, I think we, uh, chatted about a lot of things today. A lot of recommendations here. Um, yeah, I think that's about it. You got anything else? Good, man. All right. All right. Until next time. I'm Spencer. I'm Seth. We'll see you out there. Here's the squeaky. Here's the squeaky. Here's the squeaky. Thank you.