Rattlesnake bites hiker; New flower fest; Underrated BBQ spot?; Scenic road reopens; & More

[00:00:05] Welcome to another episode of the The OutThere Colorado Podcast. Once again, I'm Spencer here with Seth. Hello. We got Tim on the video and the audio for today. Once again, a lot of Colorado topics to discuss. This is our midweek episode, so usually a little bit shorter. So we don't say something like, how's your weekend? Yeah, sometimes we ramble. My Tuesday felt like a weekend. I went to a show at the Black Sheep last night. Oh, what'd you see? I saw the Unknown Mortal Orchestra. Don't know them, but... I bet you would know some songs though.

[00:00:35] Really? What's the most famous one? Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Maybe. Multi love. All right. I think it's ringing a bell. You can tell it's still in my head. Yeah. Love the Black Sheep. You think anyone turned into the show expecting me to sing? I don't know. You've done it before. I know. I've been known to do this.

[00:01:03] I've been saying before. I'm a songbird. You gotta let me fly. How was the... How was it? Good show? Great show. Yeah. That's a funky little place. Yeah. Black Sheep. Black Sheep. They packed it out. It was a Tuesday night, man. It was like... I was like, you know, I was thinking like, surely I'm gonna be the only sleepy one here at 930, you know? No, it was like, yeah, it was awesome. Dang. Yeah. Anyway. I... That's one of those venues I check like every month or so just to see who's coming through. They get some sneaky stuff in there. They do. Yeah. They get some good acts.

[00:01:31] Including Unknown Mortal Orchestra. I really like them. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm trying to think. I've seen a number of shows there. I saw Real Big Fish there. Yes. That was a... That was an entertaining show. It was out in the parking lot. Really? The parking lot? Yeah. I saw every time I die there, which is like a metal band, but they were... I think they sold out the Pepsi... I think it was then called the Pepsi Center. I think they sold that out and then came down to Black Sheep if I'm not mistaken, but... Second Hand Serenade, I think, is going there. Oh, yeah. I think I saw posters for that.

[00:02:02] Shout out to the... I don't think Second Hand Serenade has cover bands quite yet in our lifetime, but I think it's the... I think it is. I think it is, yeah. It looks like they're there. Shout out to the emo millennials. Exactly. Yeah. I was a fan of Second Hand Serenade back in the day. Yeah. I have a feeling we got some listeners who might hear Second Hand Serenade and go snag their tickets at the Black Sheep. There you go. Got some big news. We're now... We've now got our... Oh, my alarm's going off. That's fine if it's going off in the show.

[00:02:32] Our 2026. Yeah, we got our 2026 Leave No Trace sign. Officially a proud partner with Leave No Trace for another year. So, that's some exciting stuff. I've got my Rudy's cup today. I wanted to mention that. Okay. Rudy's is one of those barbecue spots in town where... I'm good with it. I'm good with it too. It gets a lot of hate because it's a Texas chain. Yeah. I've never had a bad experience at Rudy's. Yeah. I feel like the value is good too. It's a small chain. Yeah, small chain.

[00:03:00] It's not like there's another one in Colorado, right? Yeah. The only one in Colorado. The vibes are good. The food's good. Yeah, I've never quite understood... I don't... I mean, hate is probably strong, but there are people... There are barbecue snobs in town who'd be like, Rudy's eh. You know? Yeah. And I think you're right. It's because it has a chain attached to it. But I really like the brisket, particularly the wet brisket. Yeah. I always get the sausage too. Yeah. And I like that you can just get like however many buns you want and just kind of make your own sandwich. That's what I do. Yeah.

[00:03:30] I'll get like the... What is it? The spicy chop, which is like the brisket and barbecue sauce chopped up and then just make my own sandwiches. Great. Sounds dangerous. Very good for taking to Fossil right there. You can stop by. Can you take it over there? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. You take it over to Fossil. We started about that. Good to go or good to hit after Red Rocks. Shout out to Front Range Barbecue. Just opened their secondary location while the OG spot in old Colorado city is doing some remodeling. Yeah. I'm very excited about that. When are they going to reopen? Any idea? I haven't heard of it. I haven't heard of it. I haven't heard of it.

[00:04:00] I haven't heard of it. I think it's a big job. Yeah. That's a good barbecue spot too. Another staple. Yeah. I'm glad that it's still going to be served while that goes on. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely, definitely cool stuff there. What else we got in news here? Just to dig through a few of these quicker hits before we really get into the brunt of the show. We got Last Dollar Road is now open for the season connecting Telluride area to Ridgeway and vice versa. Beautiful. You do need a high clearance vehicle, I believe, to drive that road. You've been on it, right?

[00:04:30] Mm-hmm. How was it? It's been too long. Yeah. It's beautiful, man. Often called one of the most scenic drives in the state pretty much the entire time it's open. You have the flowers there and then just the aspens in the fall. I know it's one of Christian Murdoch's favorite spots. Mm-hmm. One of the photographers for the Gazette. He's been around 25 years, something like that. Mm-hmm. He knows these things. Yeah. He knows all the best spots in the state, I would say. Oh, another headline. So this crossed my desk today.

[00:04:58] Someone was bitten by a rattlesnake on a trail up in the Fort Collins area. Okay. So they were on a trail that went to Reservoir Ridge with their family. It was a 39-year-old male that was bitten there with his wife and two small children. And this area, it's kind of around Horsetooth Reservoir, right? Okay. So a very popular area. Apparently he was stepping over a rock on his descent down to the trail back to the parking lot, right? And his family got over the rock fine, but then he was last to go, got bit by the snake. Ooh.

[00:05:28] So obviously that prompted an emergency situation. Yeah. Anytime a rattlesnake bites someone, it is an emergency situation. Mm-hmm. He thankfully had cell phone connection and was able to call emergency services, put that call into 911. They got the antivenom in the helicopter. And this is all based on some CBS news reporting about this incident too. Mm-hmm. But they got that antivenom in the helicopter, were able to get to the scene in time, started,

[00:05:58] flew him to hospital and started administering that antivenom on the way. Okay. So he's on the road to recovery. Oh, good, good. But a scary situation. No, I have a, man, yeah, when you said Fort Collins, my wife and I hiked up to Arthur's Rock in Lorry State Park there, also kind of off the other side of the Horsetooth Reservoir. Yeah. And we were on a trail, like, kind of through like a low canyon forested thing and heard a rattle and couldn't see it. Yeah. And that's like, that's the worst when you hear it and you're like, where the heck, why

[00:06:27] can't I see this thing? Right? Mm-hmm. Of course, we're looking at the ground, right? We're looking all over. We look to our right and it's like on a rock, like head level. Oh, man. That's scary. Still have nightmares. That's very scary. So we made a wide berth, got around, everything's fine. Yeah. Then this professor came up and we told him rattlesnake on that rock over there and he got like all excited, wanted to go see it. Yep.

[00:06:54] A fine line between curiosity and safety there. Yeah. I think he's fine too, but yeah, that story brought that memory back. Yeah. They, they're out and about now. Yep. They tend to emerge like, you know, like April, like late March, early April. Uh, but as things heat up, you know, they're just out more and more on the trail summers when you tend to see them the most.

[00:07:19] Uh, in terms of rattlesnake safety too, Colorado Parks and Wildlife recommends wearing, you know, sturdy boots that can't be bitten through as easily. Uh, long pants can help. Staying on the trail is important. Every time I've seen a rattlesnake in Colorado, at least that I can remember, it's always kind of been off the trail and tall grass. Um, occasionally, occasionally you'll see them crossing the trail too. Uh, but usually you have a little bit of warning there, but yeah, you hear that rattle and, you know.

[00:07:47] And dogs think about your dogs, you know, especially if, you know, a lot of these rules say no off leash, right? Mm. No better reason to follow that rule than to think about rattlesnakes out there that your dog could be. Yeah. Inadvertedly finding. Yeah, for sure. And rattlesnake bites, um, in the modern era, when we have better communication, better transportation, uh, more access to antivenom, they're not, they don't kill many people every

[00:08:14] year, but it is an emergency situation where you need to get that help fast. So, and I mean, I can remember reporting over the last few years, at least, um, people that have died from a rattlesnake bite in Colorado. Yeah, there's been cases. Yeah. Uh, recall one runner up in, I believe the golden area who was bit and ended up dying. There was a child here in Colorado Springs at a blue stem open space. If you remember that. I don't think that was in the past couple of years. Yeah. It's sad.

[00:08:39] Um, hard to, and like you said, they're there and that you don't really notice where they're at. Yeah. Yeah. Colorado parks and wildlife, uh, to go back to their advice too, they say, if you hear the rattle stop and try to locate the snake. The rattles are warning sound don't run cause you might run further into the snake or startle it. And these bites that they deliver tend to be a defensive mechanism, right? They're not trying to attack a human as prey. They're scared and using it in defense.

[00:09:07] So we talked about last lost Canyon, uh, coming online this summer out in Castle Rock. And man, I should have mentioned there are surely a lot of rattlesnakes in there. I sort of worry about when that does open up what that communication is going to be for making people aware of rattlesnakes in there. Maybe a reason why no dogs are allowed. Could be part of it. Yeah. And that's, that's some of the conservation and wildlife stuff with the dogs too, for sure. Like just treating it like a wilderness area is kind of their management goal, I guess.

[00:09:37] But yeah, man, I mean, that's coming to mind. I think just like Castlewood Canyon State Park, I kind of associate that place with rattlesnakes, uh, adjacent to it. So yeah, if people, you know, listen to our lost Canyon talk and are hyped to go see that be aware, I, I'm quite, quite certain there's some rattlesnakes in there. Valley park in Colorado Springs is one where I see them. That's where I heard my first one. At evening, especially. Evening. Right. And you'll just be walking down the trail and the, some of those trails are pretty wide.

[00:10:04] So you have a good, you know, good birth as you're going through the more rugged terrain. Um, and you'll just hear a rattle and you're just like, Oh, I'm just going to keep walking. And you hear about mountain, mountain bikers just rolling over. Oh, I've hit a snake with my bike before. Um, not a rattlesnake, thankfully, but the snake was fine too. It just kept going on its way, but you're going to ruin my lunch, man. Yeah. Uh, late lunch today. Yeah. Um, what else we got here? Oh, so I did send you a link about this earlier.

[00:10:33] Um, just because it does kind of tie into some of these bigger conversations we've been having over the last few months. Uh, but Pitkin County, uh, could take over some of that, you know, the day to day management and operations at Maroon Bells scenic area. Okay. Right now, a lot of that's managed by the U S forest service. Pitkin County does have a role in some of the aspects of visiting that site. Um, and we're talking about that iconic site for people that might have a hard time picturing it where you have the two Maroon Bells over the lake with the, the valley

[00:11:02] of Aspens around it, very popular in the fall, 191,000 people visited it in 2025 during that main season from May to October. Um, but yeah, kind of an interesting thing. So it sounds similar to maybe what has happened at hanging lake in recent years. Uh, apparently some of the driving factors behind this are related to funding and related to staffing. So in recent years funding hasn't been as consistent, uh, for the area and they, they've

[00:11:32] kind of suffered in terms of the earliest forest services reportedly suffered in terms of their ability to manage this very popular space. So, um, shifting it to Pitkin County could open the door for something, uh, similar to hanging lake where you have a local company that's contracted to manage some of those day to day operations and, and, uh, allow the forest service personnel to do what forest service personnel are trained to do opposed to dealing with parking and things like that.

[00:11:58] So, um, yeah, no, like you alluded to, we've talked about this quite a bit on, on the show about kind of this shifting management. I'm we're going to see it on Mount blue sky here in the coming weeks as that road opens back up, right. Heading into this season, the forest service announced handing off, uh, operations in terms of reservations and who you're going to see kind of at the gate there. Uh, it'll be Denver mountain parks now kind of taking that role.

[00:12:23] And, um, uh, you know, we've seen it at, um, I'm, I'm really interested in this concept that I know I've talked about with you about in, uh, Frisco, Colorado. Yeah. Um, you know, a big massive recreation area that the forest service has watched has, has been in charge of over the years. They're now turning to the town of Frisco to start developing and managing recreation there in a big way while working on fire mitigation.

[00:12:48] And I think that's kind of an interesting example because yeah, in this time of reduced, uh, resources, like the forest service seems to be really leaning into like that responsibility. Like we've really got to focus on fire mitigation and recreation management is something that really benefits, uh, these communities that want to see tourism. Yeah. So can we lean into these communities, right? Like Pitkin County maybe. So yeah, I think we're going to keep talking about this. I think we're going to keep seeing models like that.

[00:13:19] Yeah. And I think one side effect that we've talked about before, um, but one side effect that's important is it seems like when this shift of management takes place, um, these places become a little bit better funded and maybe more reactive and how they're able to use that funding. Uh, for example, with hanging lake, they had a wildfire, they had landslides, they had all of these things happen. And if you're, you know, stuck behind this tape of bureaucracy to try to get these massive

[00:13:45] projects underway, having that, that source of revenue that comes directly from the spot and goes directly back into the spot seems to be effective in the sense of getting these projects moving quicker. And I mean, hanging lake trail is reopened and more polished than ever now. And a big part of that seems to be because of these funds that were generated from this more local management. So hope to get on hanging like this summer. Yeah. I know I've mentioned it before. I've never gone to hanging lake. It's it lives up to the hype, man.

[00:14:15] Yeah. Lives up to the hype. It's a lot steeper than people think. I know. Yeah. So that is no one difference, but it lives up to the hype. Um, speaking of something else that, that lives up to the hype, you were talking about Monarch crest. Oh yeah. And one of the beautiful spots, um, of Colorado, right outside of Salida there. Uh, but you have some pretty, uh, pretty notable updates here. Yeah. So tell us about that. Yeah.

[00:14:42] So Monarch crest, um, regarded as one of the world's best mountain biking, uh, rides, you know, going over the high Alpine outside, uh, Salida there over the Monarch crest, as we know it at the top of Monarch pass there popularly, that's kind of a hub. And from that hub this summer, if people are familiar, they might be thinking about the trail that, um, descending toward Marshall pass, it becomes like a double track road, double

[00:15:11] track road, open to Jeeps and ATVs. And, um, this trail has historically always been open to motorcycles to dirt bikers to that, um, mountain bikers are on and through hikers of the Colorado trail. It's a stretch of the Colorado trail that we're talking about through here. So that double track is now going to have an adjoining, uh, single track to about two miles. Um, hopefully getting some of people on foot and two wheels off of that and, um, continuing

[00:15:39] kind of that single, that classic single track experience that is the Monarch crest. So. So, and to put it in perspective to Monarch crest trails, like 35 miles long. Yeah. So it's a long trail. A lot of it's above tree line. Yep. Um, a high elevation trail, uh, scenic views all around. Usually you can, I think there are a few companies that offer shuttle rides for the trail too. So it's, it's really almost viewed as one of those destination trails for a lot of mountain bikers around the state of Colorado. Yeah. Big time.

[00:16:07] And the idea is to here is to kind of continue like that iconic experience on like single track that people picture when they picture the Monarch crest, not so much this double track that people have known over the years. This, again, this stretch approaching a Marshall pass and in terms of the downhill descent there. I'm seeing in your reporting, it's about a 1.8 mile stretch. Yep. Yeah. So not, you know, as it was described to me, like not big mileage, but a big addition

[00:16:35] is what, is what, um, I was told in, in the sense of, um, separating that use, right? There's been accidents. I was told over the years, some serious injuries, um, with some of that use colliding there again, ATVs, Jeeps, bikes, motorcycles are on that. Um, it's interesting, man. Like, I don't think I was aware of this. I was talking to the, uh, head of the Colorado trail foundation, who's kind of been overseeing

[00:17:01] some work over the years, including this one upcoming, like in, in the through hiking world, in terms of trails, like the Colorado trail, right? Like these vaunted long distance through hiking destinations. He told me, um, this is the only one in the U S that has any single track stretch open to a motor cycle use. Hmm. Interesting. And for that matter, like, um, it's also one of the only ones open to mountain bike use

[00:17:31] in terms of these through hiking trails. Um, I don't think that really ever occurred to me. Yeah. You know? And, uh, so what does that mean from like the management and maintenance? You know, we kind of see an example of that here, like maintaining, um, this trail that people know as a through hiking trail, but parts of it, like the Monarch crest very much sought by a lot of different user groups. Yeah. You know?

[00:17:56] Um, so this is one of like a few reroutes that we've seen, um, along the Monarch crest in recent years, um, including along a, uh, a perennial snow drift up high where, uh, you know, the season would start, but the snow field would remain and people would either be glissading it or trampling the tundra. So there's a reroute recently last summer, I think around that snow drift. And so, yeah, just kind of interesting to think about the kind of management and maintenance

[00:18:25] that goes into, uh, a stretch of the Colorado trail like this and a stretch of highly beloved mountain bike trail. Yeah. And I mean, we were talking about the alternating use aspect of trails and how maybe having, uh, hikers on a trail one day and bikers on a trail the other day couldn't can lead to a safer situation in some situations in some scenarios. Um, the motorcycles on an, on a trail like this is an interesting topic. And like, I have, yeah, I'm like, I have an adventure or adventure bike.

[00:18:55] Like that is trail worthy. Like I, I'm on gravel generally, but, uh, could take it on the trail if I wanted to. And, uh, that's something that, you know, even being a part of that community, I still like it when there's a separation between moto sports and, and human powered sports, just because, you know, you're dealing with bikes that weigh a couple hundred pounds at a minimum generally. And, uh, they go a lot faster.

[00:19:24] And while we'd love to think that every hiker doesn't have their headphones in and every biker isn't, you know, headphones in tuned out blasting down the trail, you're almost just begging for those collisions to take place. And there are a lot of really good examples in Colorado where they're designated trail systems that are, you know, really designed for motos. And yeah, I think that is a situation where the separation does make sense in, in some regard. Yeah. And that's definitely the idea here.

[00:19:49] And also notable that it's getting funded, um, by a motorized grant as they're called through Colorado parks and wildlife, right? So these, this is a grant, uh, source built up from those OHV tags that off-roaders pay for. Um, so it's interesting to think about, I mean, that's a significant funding source when it comes to achieving some, some of these trail projects that like that we're talking about.

[00:20:15] So there's certainly some skin in the game in the motorized community. And in this case, I mean, this is a project being spearheaded by the, um, central Colorado mountain riders, the local, um, uh, motorcycle group there in Salida. So, you know, yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people picture trails like as non motorized. I mean that there's a lot of that in Colorado, but there's also a lot of, uh, motorized, uh,

[00:20:44] uh, folks who, who want to experience these trails and there's funding funding to do it. Yeah. Yeah. Interesting. Um, you want to talk about some flowers? We haven't talked about flowers. Yeah. We haven't talked about flowers. This is a season for flowers. It, yeah, exactly. And we haven't talked about it since, uh, there was a big dry spell hitting Colorado. Right. And since we talked about it, it's like they knew we were going to talk about it.

[00:21:09] And all of a sudden we got a ton of snow and the snow pack has kind of been bolstered a little bit and we'll probably stick around a little bit longer. So maybe a more traditional wildflower season. Uh, but you were on the phone with some people about the Breckenridge wildflower festival. The inaugural Breckenridge wildflower festival. So tell us about that. We all know about the Crested Butte wildflower festival, I think going into its 40th year. Now we've got one coming into its first year.

[00:21:36] The Breckenridge wildflower festival is scheduled for the week of July 2nd through 12th. Um, I was talking to, um, some folks over there who just got this feeling that, um, this is a great place for wildflowers and maybe Breckenridge hasn't been as well known for that. So this is kind of an attempt to generate some interest and turn more eyes to the flowers across Breckenridge.

[00:22:05] Kind of similar to Crested Butte. Um, you know, there's varying terrain from meadows to forest to high Alpine around Breckenridge where, yeah, you can kind of see this vast colorful array. So there's going to be this attempt to showcase that, um, there's going to be, you know, stuff going on in town. Uh, just kind of like we see it in Crested Butte, you know, artsy, uh, real festive environment is kind of the thinking.

[00:22:33] And yeah, it also kind of struck me as interesting when we're coming off, uh, the winter that never was, if you will. Well, and towns like Breckenridge really felt that, you know, ski towns like Breckenridge really felt that in economic terms. I was told lodging was down 13%. I'm going to double check that. Um, yeah, you know, lodging. Yeah. Lodging was down 13%.

[00:22:57] Um, and so, yeah, this kind of comes in line with this increased hope for year round tourism, you know, no matter how winter goes, summer is here. Hopefully the wildflowers are here. There's a reason why we're seeing this, uh, scheduled earlier in Breckenridge.

[00:23:15] Typically they consider their peak for wildflowers like later in July, but local naturalists, uh, recommended doing it earlier in July because of that lack of snow pack thinking that blooms could come earlier. So, um, but yeah, I think the hope is kind of just to turn more eyes to Breckenridge as a wildflower destination. Yeah. A little bit of overlap, but basically the week before Crested Butte Wildflower Festival this year.

[00:23:41] Um, so where, what, what activities are they planning around this in Breckenridge? Like, is it going to be something where it's in partnership with the resort where they're using the gondolas and the lifts or is it something where it's like hikes in the area or what's that look like? I'm told free guided hikes. Uh, there's going to be some, uh, concerts, some free concerts, um, some painting classes amid the flowers.

[00:24:05] That's kind of cool to picture that. Uh, I guess Breckenridge distillery is, uh, is teaming up with some, uh, floral cocktails. I like that too. So yeah, I was told businesses are excited about it. You know, it sounds like, uh, those storefront windows might be adorned, uh, in a floral, uh, festive kind of feel.

[00:24:26] So yeah. And other activities I think are on the deck on deck, like yoga, I was told. So yeah, similar to like what we've seen in Crested Butte where there's just kind of an array of events and activities. Very cool. Yeah. Um, yeah. Sounds like they are really, uh, using it to embrace the vibes of summer here. Yeah. So, uh, Piper, uh, out there, Colorado reporter covered, uh, several other festivals that are related to flowers to attend in Colorado recently.

[00:24:53] And, uh, wanted to mention a couple of those. Have you heard of the Colorado lavender festival? Yes. Out in Palisade? Palisade? Yeah. June 26th to June 28th. Yeah. The photos look really cool. I mean, lavender, obviously that purple flower, right? It was one together. Um, yeah, just a flood of colors there. Uh, then you got Rocky Mountain flower fest in Colorado Springs. On August 9th. Um, so that'll be something where it's kind of in the foothills of Pike's Peak. Uh, you got the tulip fairy and elf festival in Boulder.

[00:25:23] That happened already. So April. Sounds very Boulder. Yeah. So generally in April is when this happens. Um, they, they describe it as waking up the tulips, right? Uh, so maybe put it on your calendar for next year. Uh, there's also a lavender festival in Littleton. It takes place in July to July 18th and 19th this year. So definitely something, uh, maybe worth checking out. Ways to smell the flowers. Yeah. Yeah. The lavender festival in Palisade, uh, definitely caught my attention. I mean, it's an excuse to get out to Palisade. It's been on my list, man.

[00:25:53] Yeah. But then it's like, do you drive out for that or do you drive out for the peach festival? That's a good point. Or do you do both? When is the Palisade Peach Festival? I can't remember. I'm looking it up. Double check me. How far apart are they? I'm not sure. August 21st and 22nd is what I'm seeing. And lavender was when? Quick Google search. I don't know. I just, I used the page where I was looking that up. Anyway, I got it. I got it here. Uh, it is June 26th to 28th. So. They're spread out. Yeah. They're spread out. Maybe get out to Palisade twice.

[00:26:23] Check out some of those mountain bike trails out there. Yeah. Uh, they're very good camping in the area. A lot of, uh, BLM land, uh, to be found. So definitely, uh, definitely a cool spot for sure. Maybe it's a little hot this time of year. Yeah. Western slope. Yeah. It does get hot. So brace yourself for that. But, um, oh, here, here's a topic that I wanted to get into too. So hiking season, we're, we're both already looking ahead to summer. Hiking season's right around the corner.

[00:26:53] Um, which means hiking safety becomes a concern for, you know, search and rescue organizations around the, around the state. And there are a lot of very simple things that people can do, uh, in terms of bettering their situation, uh, if something goes wrong and also decreasing the chance that something goes wrong. I've got a question for you. How often when you hike, do you carry an emergency shelter? Never. Most people would say the same thing.

[00:27:23] Emergency shelter. Yeah. So Tim's, Tim, I mean, when I'm, when I'm backpacking with my tent, that's my primary shelter. Yeah. It's the right. It's not my emergency shelter. Yeah. Right. And I mean, emergency shelter being something like a little bivy sack or something you can stay warm in if you end up having to stay in the back country overnight, you know, maybe you break your legs, search and rescues, uh, any search and rescue operation you look at, it's never like, Oh, that was 15 minutes of, of operation.

[00:27:49] It's like, no, that was an eight hour situation just for a pretty simple thing or seemingly simple thing. Um, so this report came out, uh, it was published by, uh, Kuru, uh, K-U-R-U. It's a footwear company. Uh, but they were looking at how, uh, people get injured on the trail and what prompts search and rescue or what prompts the need for search and rescue nationwide. Right. So this isn't Colorado specific, but still interesting.

[00:28:18] Um, when asked that same question, only, uh, only about 18% of hikers carry emergency shelter. Right. Glad to know I'm part of the, uh, minority, majority. What am I trying to say? Yeah. Part of the, the 82% majority does not. So, uh, also, also interesting, only 23% of hikers carry first hate, first aid. Um, 32% of hikers don't tell anyone their plans when they go out.

[00:28:44] They just, they just send it without, uh, without, without saying anything about where they're going, when they'll be back. Are these questions being asked? Like, are they backpacking? Are they going on a little? These are just general hikers. So they kind of interviewed everyone from the casual hacker to the experienced hiker in this survey. Yeah. So, uh, a lot of variety there. Yeah. Um, these numbers aren't necessarily something to be like, like, this is the, the golden numbers related to hiking. Because the approach is different when I'm backpacking and when I'm going on a two mile hike after work.

[00:29:14] Yeah. You know what I mean? It's true. I mean, maybe still say something about the two mile hike, right? All right. Um. I'll let you know next time, Spence. But yeah. Let you know where I'm going. Yeah. Thank you. I'll get a text, you know, just be able to. Hey man. I can't wait to talk about it on the, on the show Monday. Hey man, I'm going on Palmer. I'm going to Palmer Park. Hey man, I'm going to North Cheyenne Canyon. I like it. I like it. I'll just show up and be like, me too. I'll be like, who'd you tell you're coming? I told you. Um. I don't mean to make light of this. This is, yes.

[00:29:43] When you are going, when you are going overnighting, for sure. When you're going on a, on a serious hike. Yeah. You, you let people know. Well, and I think, I think the real takeaway from this tends to be that a lot of the reasons why search and rescue ends up getting called is because a lot of very basic, uh, mistakes are made when something could have been done differently. Um, something, you know, it's like, and to be honest, I, I rarely carry any sort of emergency shelter as well. I might have a poncho a lot of the time to kind of keep the rain off me if I get caught in rain.

[00:30:13] But, um, in terms of an actual emergency shelter of some sort, I very rarely do that. Maybe I should more. Um, but it's one of those things where I've never needed it and you don't need it until you need it. And then all of a sudden, uh, situation goes from bad to worst or worse because you don't have that. Um, water was another one where a lot of people, uh, weren't bringing adequate, inadequate amount of water with them as well, which I've definitely, uh, I've definitely done that

[00:30:41] quite a bit of times where I'll run out of water on a run, especially trying to limit what I'm carrying while I'm running. And then all of a sudden you're out of water. Yep. Um, so yeah, I mean, uh, like I said, the takeaway, take a look at, uh, the, the 10 essentials. Yeah. Uh, from Colorado search and rescue. You can find, find that published on a ton of different websites too. Uh, but the 10 essentials, make sure you have those with you when you're hiking, especially when you are doing some sort of a, uh, more remote excursion.

[00:31:09] Um, obviously that amplifies the risk. And I think this report along with, uh, kind of the rattlesnake story that we covered at the beginning of the show, uh, looks at how it's so important to make sure you're able to communicate with the outside world whenever you're on one of those hikes. In this case with the rattlesnake, they were able to, they had cell phone connection, right? A lot of the time you won't. So those GPS devices are, are hugely important.

[00:31:37] Um, one last thing from this report, uh, what type of injury do you think is most common? A serious injury. Serious. In, in the sense of, uh, something that can be immobilizing, not like my shoulders are sore from the back or I have blisters on my feet from my shoes, um, or from the backpack. But, uh, yeah. What type of actual injury do you think is most common? I was going to think like a rolled ankle or a broken or sprained ankle or something. Yeah.

[00:32:04] So this report, uh, looked at between 4,000, 5,000 serious injuries that occurred last year, 42% involved, uh, uh, involved the ankle. Yep. So, um, so that is something to watch out for most. And I mean, this is a shoe company that's writing about this. So this is probably what they're trying to highlight. Um, but, uh, most injuries were due to slips and falls. So, which makes sense. Yep. I mean, anytime I've gotten hurt on a trail, it's due to a slip or a fall. Yep. Yeah.

[00:32:30] You know, I remember the conversation or at least this was raised following the tragic death of that woman who was killed by a mountain lion in Colorado. And, you know, there were some people raising this point of, you know, all the attention going on mountain lions and this risk or danger of mountain lions. But our feet are way more dangerous, right? The whims of our ankles are way more dangerous that put us in really gnarly bad situations in the back country. Yeah.

[00:33:00] So, you know, related, unrelated, but my mind kind of went there of like, what are the serious, uh, more prevalent risks that exist out there? You know, that's one of them for sure. Yeah. I mean, you think about things that maybe get more attention, um, animal, like you said, animal, animal attacks, very, very low. Like there's a reason you hear about it so much when it happens. Um, report also said like things like falling rocks and debris account for only 5% of injuries.

[00:33:28] Um, meanwhile, equipment failure, uh, accounts for only 3% of incidences. So it's like, if you have, you know, gear that you can trust, that's not outdated, it's very unlikely to fail you and put you in a bad situation. And a lot of the time, um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, interesting stuff. 18% of all hiking, uh, accidents or incidents, uh, involve a lack of proper equipment. So people not bringing what they need. Um, yeah.

[00:33:57] Poor planning accounts for 22% of accidents. Uh, exceeding the ability was also, so like when someone pushes themselves past what they're, what they're able to do, that was also something that was pretty noteworthy. 17% of hiking incidents is someone is at least one of the contributing factors is pushing yourself past what your ability is. So, which makes sense too. Know your boundaries. Yeah. Yeah. Slips and falls were 50% of all serious injuries. So. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Um, interesting stuff. Yeah. That was from Kuru.

[00:34:27] Uh, so KU, are you got to give them. Shout out for that. Um, yeah. I mean, what else do we have? I want to, I'm still wanting to talk about Colorado's first serial killers, um, slash America's first serial killers, but I think we saved that for the Monday show. Sounds like a good tease to me. Yeah. I think we also. Grim tease. Yeah. Grim tease. I think we, and it's a wild story too. Um, I'm, I'm morbidly excited to tell you about it because it is one of those stories morbidly itching.

[00:34:56] My jaw kept dropping while I'm like doing some research into this. Um, I also think we'll save this chat about this spaceship mansion for Monday as well. Mm-hmm. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. And with that, I think that's about all we've got to chat about today. Sweet. So until next time, I'm Spencer. I'm Seth. We'll see you out there. Good deal.