In this episode of the OutThere Colorado Podcast, Spencer and Seth chat about all sorts of Colorado-related topics, from the late start to ski season to a swamp dwelling species to the e-bike debate, and more. Plus, this episode includes tips on winter survival gear and coverage of a few top headlines, including a missing teen who was last seen at a national park and a string of break-ins at luxury homes.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Shoot us an email at info@outtherecolorado.com.
[00:00:00] Welcome to the OutThere Colorado Podcast. I am Spencer McKee and today I am here with Seth Boster.
[00:00:07] What's up guys? Back at it.
[00:00:09] We're back at it again. You wanted me back?
[00:00:12] Oh yeah, the people spoke and they loved you Seth.
[00:00:16] Where do the people know?
[00:00:17] Seth is about to start making a very regular appearance on this podcast I would imagine.
[00:00:22] Until the people wise up. Get that guy out of there.
[00:00:25] Currently locked away in our little studio here in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
[00:00:31] Yeah, so we've got some pretty interesting stuff today. Seth's going to talk about a swamp dweller, which I found particularly interesting.
[00:00:38] But the first thing we're going to chat about, two early season ski resorts announced that they are opening today.
[00:00:46] First Arapahoe Basin, followed by Keystone. Curious thing about that is that their opening is not taking place in October this year.
[00:00:55] Seth, you want to tell us about that?
[00:00:56] Right. Yeah. Last time we were in November was the drought and COVID complicated year of 2020.
[00:01:03] Right? A basin went November 9th. Keystone November 6th. Is that right?
[00:01:09] You know, I don't have that date in front of me.
[00:01:11] I'm looking at the list in front of me here.
[00:01:12] I think it is. Yeah, I think it was.
[00:01:14] Regardless, November is kind of the key here, you know, that we're getting into November.
[00:01:17] Well, and you were chatting snowmaking in Arapahoe Basin started in 2002, correct?
[00:01:24] Right. Yeah. Latest. And this would be the latest since that 2020 year.
[00:01:29] So only two times since 2002 there's been a November opening.
[00:01:33] In November, as far as I can tell, man.
[00:01:35] Yeah. Which is pretty wild, too. I mean...
[00:01:37] You usually expect kind of mid-October.
[00:01:39] Yeah. You know?
[00:01:40] Yeah. And call it like a canary in a coal mine, in a sense, where it's like Arapahoe Basin's opening kind of symbolizes like this central mountain part of Colorado.
[00:01:48] Finally getting that snow and getting these openings underway.
[00:01:52] So...
[00:01:53] Yep.
[00:01:53] A little bit discouraging if you're only looking at that opening alone being in November to some skiers, snowboarders around the state.
[00:02:00] Yeah.
[00:02:01] But the interesting thing though is the statewide snowpack is actually at like 155%, I think, when I was looking at the chart this morning.
[00:02:09] We've had a couple of real big snowstorms roll through in October.
[00:02:12] This last one dropped about 30 inches on some peaks down in the Telluride area.
[00:02:17] Yeah.
[00:02:17] So a lot of that snowpack is really down in Southwest Colorado.
[00:02:23] Yep.
[00:02:24] Where Wolf Creek benefited, right?
[00:02:26] Wolf Creek had the honors this year, of course.
[00:02:28] Yeah.
[00:02:28] Which we see here and there throughout the years.
[00:02:30] You know, Wolf Creek gets that, sneaks in and gets that first opening.
[00:02:33] But, you know, I mean, we're talking, as far as last year, we're talking a matter of a few days for A-Basin, right?
[00:02:39] Last year, A-Basin went October 29th.
[00:02:42] So, so much of this too is, you know, these places, as you know, we'll talk about the quality that they want, the coverage that they want.
[00:02:50] So much of it is just timing, what they can make.
[00:02:53] Yeah.
[00:02:53] Well, in Wolf Creek, they're all natural snow, right?
[00:02:56] Yeah.
[00:02:56] Opened on October 22nd this year.
[00:02:58] Yeah.
[00:02:59] Yeah.
[00:02:59] So that's kind of interesting.
[00:03:00] No word on leveling yet as we speak at this moment.
[00:03:03] Yeah.
[00:03:04] Also, also often an earlier spot that opens also uses snowmaking just like Keystone and Arapahoe Basin do.
[00:03:12] Yeah.
[00:03:12] Man, the early season vibes at Arapahoe Basin are really something that helped me fall in love with skiing.
[00:03:19] No doubt.
[00:03:19] Back in the day when I moved here about a decade ago.
[00:03:22] You got the Mug Club, right?
[00:03:24] Yeah.
[00:03:24] At the Sixth Alley Bar.
[00:03:26] We would always try to get there, you know, those first few years I was in Colorado.
[00:03:29] I'd try to get there as soon as possible on opening day to get our mug.
[00:03:33] Yeah.
[00:03:33] Get those bloodies.
[00:03:35] Yeah, get those bloodies, the bacon Bloody Marys.
[00:03:38] Yeah.
[00:03:38] Yeah.
[00:03:38] No, I love Arapahoe Basin.
[00:03:40] As I've said before.
[00:03:42] But yeah, I was excited to hear that they will be opening.
[00:03:46] Yeah.
[00:03:47] Even if it's not October.
[00:03:49] I mean, the snow is always bad in October anyway, right?
[00:03:51] Yeah.
[00:03:51] Definitely around here, man.
[00:03:52] It felt like a dry fall, didn't it?
[00:03:55] Yeah.
[00:03:55] Yeah.
[00:03:56] It kind of felt like spring and summer was pretty wet and it dried out, man.
[00:04:04] Yeah.
[00:04:04] It kind of tapered off.
[00:04:05] Yeah.
[00:04:06] Yeah.
[00:04:06] I mean, we had a pretty wet spring, I think.
[00:04:08] Set some records maybe in certain parts of the state for most year in the spring, at
[00:04:13] least during certain months.
[00:04:14] But yeah, at Arapahoe Basin on Saturday, right?
[00:04:18] That's November 2nd.
[00:04:20] That's right.
[00:04:21] We're sitting in the studio here on Halloween and we'll probably upload this on Friday.
[00:04:25] So it'll be November 1st when we upload this for y'all to listen to.
[00:04:29] But yeah, so starting on Saturday though, the Black Mountain Express lift, which is that
[00:04:33] main lift from the bottom area, will open and it will be servicing the high noon run.
[00:04:40] Arapahoe Basin officials said that it is not beginner terrain.
[00:04:44] It is indeed intermediate terrain.
[00:04:45] And you'll have that early season snow, kind of a smaller layer of snow too.
[00:04:51] So expect some obstacles.
[00:04:52] Yeah.
[00:04:52] Maybe bring your rock skis, so to speak.
[00:04:55] But yeah, it should be-
[00:04:57] Have your wits about you.
[00:04:58] Yeah, right.
[00:04:59] Don't have too many bloodies in you.
[00:05:00] Yeah.
[00:05:00] Don't get hurt on the first day of skiing.
[00:05:03] I was up at Eldora yesterday for a ribbon cutting on their new lodge and it felt wintry
[00:05:08] up there.
[00:05:09] It felt like ski season up there.
[00:05:10] I mean, they scheduled this ribbon cutting at a perfect time, man, with snow coming down
[00:05:14] and the snow guns roaring.
[00:05:17] Yeah.
[00:05:17] Eldora up in Boulder County.
[00:05:18] That's right.
[00:05:19] By Nederland.
[00:05:20] Up above Ned.
[00:05:21] Ned.
[00:05:22] I'm going to say it wrong every time.
[00:05:24] I'm going to say it wrong last-
[00:05:25] Just to get the people going?
[00:05:26] Last podcast episode too.
[00:05:27] No, this is just me making an honest human mistake to be frank.
[00:05:32] Notorious.
[00:05:33] Ned.
[00:05:33] Just call it Ned, bro.
[00:05:34] Just Ned.
[00:05:35] All right, Ned.
[00:05:35] Yeah.
[00:05:36] Yeah, I've never been to Eldora.
[00:05:38] Yeah.
[00:05:38] I've wanted to go.
[00:05:40] Attracts a lot of the Boulder crowd.
[00:05:41] Quick shot.
[00:05:42] Yeah, I think a lot's changed up there since they went on Icon.
[00:05:46] Oh, really?
[00:05:47] Yeah.
[00:05:47] That makes sense.
[00:05:47] I sense they've got a lot more people turning their attention to it.
[00:05:51] And I was there for this adaptive snow sports program they've got up there.
[00:05:57] You know, people with disabilities coming and getting on the snow thanks to like a, I was
[00:06:02] going to say a small army of volunteers, but it's like a legit army of volunteers.
[00:06:05] Hundreds of volunteers.
[00:06:07] What?
[00:06:07] 200, 300 volunteers.
[00:06:09] Yeah, tell us a little more about that.
[00:06:10] Yeah, so they're going into the, they're recognizing this here as like their 50th season as a program.
[00:06:16] They're called Ignite.
[00:06:18] And that would make it, they claim to be the second oldest adaptive snow sports program in
[00:06:25] the state after Winter Park.
[00:06:27] Yeah, Winter Park long known for that.
[00:06:29] Yeah, for sure.
[00:06:30] And you might not think like Eldora, little Eldora having a tradition, you know, this long,
[00:06:35] but it kind of makes sense when you think about, I mean, for people with disabilities, you
[00:06:39] know, transportation is a big part of the game of skiing, you know, and being that this close
[00:06:46] to these major front range populations, a program like Ignite is really helpful for
[00:06:52] a lot of these folks.
[00:06:54] It makes sense.
[00:06:55] Yeah.
[00:06:55] And for years, it's like they've been operating out of this sad situation of like trailers,
[00:07:03] you know, they've been in these trailers on these wetlands, like wondering, are these
[00:07:07] trailers just going to sink on us one day?
[00:07:09] They've been, you know, for people in wheelchairs, people on these, you know, set skis, they've
[00:07:14] been like hauling people uphill to get to the lift.
[00:07:17] And now they've got this beautiful new facility that's really going to function as the broader
[00:07:22] kind of lower mountain hangout really.
[00:07:24] Nice.
[00:07:25] But on the first floor, it's all dedicated to Ignite and includes this elevator that goes
[00:07:29] up three levels to this bridge that runs out directly to the lift for these folks.
[00:07:37] That's awesome.
[00:07:38] It's going to be awesome.
[00:07:38] Yeah.
[00:07:39] That's awesome.
[00:07:39] Yeah.
[00:07:39] And Winter Park has a similar setup where they're, I think it's the, I'm going to mess
[00:07:45] up the acronym, but the NSCD.
[00:07:47] That's right.
[00:07:48] I want to say.
[00:07:48] Yeah.
[00:07:48] What do they call that?
[00:07:50] National.
[00:07:50] Yeah.
[00:07:52] NSCD, I think.
[00:07:53] Yeah.
[00:07:53] They're in a nice, nice building.
[00:07:55] Right.
[00:07:55] Right at the base.
[00:07:56] Easy access to lifts.
[00:07:57] Yeah.
[00:07:58] And for the record too, I just looked up how big Eldor is.
[00:08:02] Chances are some of our listeners don't know.
[00:08:04] It's about 680 acres of skiable terrain.
[00:08:07] Yep.
[00:08:08] So some of Colorado's resorts are up 2000, 3000.
[00:08:10] So a little bit smaller, but yeah, that proximity, you know, that makes a lot of sense
[00:08:14] for a lot of people.
[00:08:15] Yeah.
[00:08:16] And went up for sale over the summer.
[00:08:18] Oh yeah.
[00:08:19] So, you know, the ownership picture is a little up in the air at the moment.
[00:08:24] Interesting.
[00:08:24] That could become a little more clear in the months ahead.
[00:08:27] Interesting.
[00:08:27] Man, yeah.
[00:08:28] If I was in Boulder, I would be going to Eldora all the time.
[00:08:31] Yeah.
[00:08:31] It's just, yeah.
[00:08:32] Pretty sure you can ride the bus.
[00:08:34] Really?
[00:08:34] Yeah.
[00:08:35] That makes sense.
[00:08:35] Straight to the mountain.
[00:08:36] It's probably like a 45 minute.
[00:08:37] Pretty sure.
[00:08:38] 45 minute drive or something, right?
[00:08:39] 30, 45 minutes.
[00:08:40] Well, I got, yeah.
[00:08:41] I mean, I think I got there in like 35 minutes from Boulder yesterday.
[00:08:44] Yeah.
[00:08:44] After eating breakfast at the, uh, the buff.
[00:08:47] How was that?
[00:08:47] Great.
[00:08:48] What'd you get?
[00:08:49] I have not.
[00:08:50] What'd you get?
[00:08:51] Got this like, uh, what do they call them?
[00:08:53] Uh, saddle, saddle bags, these pancakes that are like filled with bacon.
[00:08:58] Ooh.
[00:08:59] Infused with bacon.
[00:09:00] Like fit, like get your pancake and bacon.
[00:09:02] That's right.
[00:09:03] That sounds delicious.
[00:09:04] Good little fuel up.
[00:09:05] Yeah.
[00:09:05] Got to meet the owners and neat story there.
[00:09:08] 30 years, almost 30 years, almost 30 years for, for the buff.
[00:09:12] Where's it at in Boulder?
[00:09:13] Right along Canyon Boulevard there.
[00:09:15] 28th and Canyon kind of.
[00:09:17] Nice.
[00:09:18] Well, Hey, also in Boulder, not to switch the subject too much, but, uh, sadly there's
[00:09:25] a video component to this that people, people listening won't be able to see.
[00:09:28] But the podcast is not.
[00:09:30] Yeah.
[00:09:30] Yeah.
[00:09:30] So Google it, look about their Colorado mountain line, uh, Boulder, but there was a big mountain
[00:09:36] lion just spotted kind of like a mile into Boulder from where the open space stops.
[00:09:41] Yeah.
[00:09:42] Uh, and like the urban urbanization of that area starts, uh, big mountain lion recently
[00:09:47] spotted just kind of walking down the sidewalk, uh, at night.
[00:09:50] Uh, yeah.
[00:09:52] A dude was filming it from his car.
[00:09:53] The mountain lion had a limp, which I mean, you know, when, when animals get injured, that
[00:09:58] tends to be a reason that pushes them closer to civilization where prey is a little bit
[00:10:02] easier food, i.e. pets, um, dogs, cats.
[00:10:06] Uh, so yeah, something, something to be aware of for Boulder residents in addition to
[00:10:10] being aware of the buff and their bacon filled pancakes.
[00:10:13] Yeah.
[00:10:13] That mountain lion might've been making a beeline for the buff, you know?
[00:10:16] Yeah.
[00:10:16] Maybe that's what, maybe that mountain lions wise.
[00:10:18] But, uh, yeah.
[00:10:19] You know, I've pretty, you know, I have still never seen one.
[00:10:23] Yeah.
[00:10:24] In person.
[00:10:24] Never.
[00:10:25] Really?
[00:10:25] Never been, been, I'm sure we've been seeing.
[00:10:28] Yeah.
[00:10:28] Yeah.
[00:10:29] We've definitely been, you know, and there are some areas where you just feel like you're
[00:10:32] being watched, uh, that little, uh, have you ever been there?
[00:10:37] Uh, was it above green mountain falls?
[00:10:40] Yeah.
[00:10:40] Yeah.
[00:10:40] That area there, I'm always like, there's gotta be a mountain lion lurking somewhere.
[00:10:44] Yeah.
[00:10:44] A beautiful, beautiful hike, uh, kind of right under the reservoirs beneath Pikes Peak
[00:10:49] there.
[00:10:50] So I, I feel like I've definitely heard one, you know, you, that you hear about that awful
[00:10:56] like screaming sound that they make in the middle of the night.
[00:11:00] I swear, unless I was having a nightmare or something when I was living in Manitou Springs
[00:11:04] in the middle of the night, I was hearing that unless there was an awful crime going on outside
[00:11:09] my house, I didn't hear about that either.
[00:11:12] But I'm pretty dang sure that was a mountain lion.
[00:11:14] I mean, we've, and we've covered some mountain lion kills that have been spotted on some of
[00:11:19] those trails around Manitou Springs.
[00:11:21] I think about a year ago, maybe, maybe earlier this year, uh, there were, there were some carcasses
[00:11:26] found right, uh, right in the bar trail area, kind of like at the base of the incline and
[00:11:32] that, in that area.
[00:11:33] So, I mean, that's pretty close to town.
[00:11:34] Um, yeah.
[00:11:36] I mean, mountain lions pretty, pretty, uh, intense.
[00:11:40] Something that I, I think maybe I'm happy I haven't seen in close proximity.
[00:11:44] That would, that would probably be pretty, uh, bone chilling.
[00:11:47] I think if you're just out on the trail by yourself and just look up and see a lion staring you down.
[00:11:52] Those eyes.
[00:11:53] Um, also kind of interesting as it relates to the Boulder thing, uh, the official statement
[00:11:57] from the city of Boulder is that they don't really remove or relocate lions, um, that are observed
[00:12:04] in the city.
[00:12:05] A big reason behind that is because mountain lions establish a territory and if they take
[00:12:10] one lion out of that territory, another lion's just going to kind of move in.
[00:12:14] So they kind of, you know, live and let them be, so to speak.
[00:12:18] Um, I don't even know if that's the right phrase to say there.
[00:12:22] I might just mess that up.
[00:12:23] But yeah.
[00:12:24] So either way though.
[00:12:25] Yeah.
[00:12:25] They don't, uh, they don't really remove them or relocate them unless they're acting abnormally
[00:12:31] or aggressively.
[00:12:32] Um, yeah, I think in this case, the gentleman who posted the video, uh, said he contacted animal
[00:12:39] control, um, because of its injury also like it's clearly limping in the video, but also
[00:12:44] walking fine, but clearly limping a little bit there on its left paw, front paw.
[00:12:48] Um, yeah.
[00:12:49] So contact him and they said they weren't going to do anything according to him and just in
[00:12:53] the comment section there.
[00:12:54] So yeah.
[00:12:55] Kind of interesting there.
[00:12:56] Um, yeah, I guess so, uh, this is where we segue into the, into another animal.
[00:13:01] Yeah, we could.
[00:13:02] Yeah.
[00:13:02] Let's do that.
[00:13:02] So you had, you had a recent, and, and as you guys know, Sessa reported for the Colorado
[00:13:08] Springs Gazette, um, always publishes super in depth, uh, reads for about all sorts of
[00:13:15] things, outdoor recreation, lifestyle, culture, wildlife around the state of Colorado.
[00:13:20] One of his most recent stories dealt with a newly discovered swamp dweller.
[00:13:25] So tell us about that.
[00:13:26] This one, not too in depth, I suppose, but a, uh, every now and then they find fossils
[00:13:32] that lead to, uh, new species that were unknown.
[00:13:38] And this one being what a Latin term that I won't even try to pronounce here, uh, but roughly
[00:13:44] translates to swamp dweller because it was around something like 70, 75 million years
[00:13:51] ago when Colorado was pretty much covered by an inland sea and probably resembled something
[00:14:00] more like Louisiana.
[00:14:01] Louisiana, maybe, you know, this is when this animal would have been running around in
[00:14:06] the Cretaceous late Cretaceous period.
[00:14:09] I want to say, but yeah, a mammal that they suspect from teeth that they found.
[00:14:15] Um, and by the way, these teeth were found around a dinosaur national monument, um, in the
[00:14:23] rock out in Northwest Colorado, that area going into Utah there.
[00:14:27] Hmm.
[00:14:28] Based on those teeth, they think it might've been like just like two pounds, you know,
[00:14:32] two pound mammal.
[00:14:33] It's like a little rodent squirrel.
[00:14:34] Yeah.
[00:14:35] Kind of like a, maybe like a muskrat looking thing.
[00:14:38] And apparently, so like that was, I didn't know this, that was like for this period, like
[00:14:42] that was fairly big for mammals.
[00:14:46] Apparently like the biggest mammal we know from that time might've been like 11 pounds.
[00:14:52] Really?
[00:14:52] Yeah.
[00:14:53] Dang.
[00:14:54] So, you know, the dinosaurs, this was the day of the dinosaur.
[00:14:57] Yeah.
[00:14:57] Before the mammals.
[00:14:59] That's pretty wild.
[00:15:00] Yeah.
[00:15:01] So anyway, kind of cool.
[00:15:03] Yeah.
[00:15:03] Well, and it's funny too, because one of the quotes that I remembered seeing in this article,
[00:15:07] uh, is, um, John Foster.
[00:15:10] Right.
[00:15:11] And he's the, was he the person who discovered it?
[00:15:14] Yeah.
[00:15:14] Yeah.
[00:15:14] On the team on the discovery team that kind of led to the, yeah.
[00:15:17] Um, yeah.
[00:15:18] So whenever he saw the jaw, which was described as about an inch long, his quote was, holy cow.
[00:15:23] That's huge.
[00:15:24] Yeah.
[00:15:26] Right.
[00:15:26] Yeah.
[00:15:27] Not him.
[00:15:28] And it quote from Seth Boster, not so huge to the untrained eye, but certainly so to
[00:15:34] an eye familiar with mammal fossils of the late crustaceous period.
[00:15:38] Who knows?
[00:15:38] Sorry.
[00:15:39] Yeah.
[00:15:39] Yeah.
[00:15:40] Yeah.
[00:15:41] Have you been to dinosaur?
[00:15:42] Have you been to?
[00:15:43] No, I haven't.
[00:15:43] I've heard kind of many people.
[00:15:44] It's like the one corner of the state that I haven't been to and I've always wanted to
[00:15:48] go.
[00:15:48] It looks absolutely stunning.
[00:15:49] Yeah.
[00:15:49] And just the history there looks incredible too.
[00:15:52] And I think like people have like, you know, obviously that very, uh, dramatic wall.
[00:15:58] Yeah.
[00:15:58] Of, of bones being amazing in its own right for sure.
[00:16:01] Especially if you have kids.
[00:16:02] Right.
[00:16:03] But like that landscape is gorgeous in there that those Canyon lands are fantastic in the
[00:16:08] river through there.
[00:16:09] Yeah.
[00:16:09] I always think of that.
[00:16:10] Is it?
[00:16:12] I messed it up.
[00:16:13] It's like ship rock or something like that.
[00:16:14] I was going to say, what is it?
[00:16:15] Yeah.
[00:16:16] On the Dolores.
[00:16:17] Iconic.
[00:16:18] Yeah.
[00:16:18] Is it the green or the Yampa river through there?
[00:16:21] Yeah.
[00:16:21] Maybe.
[00:16:22] Yeah.
[00:16:22] Maybe both.
[00:16:23] I think they converge around that area.
[00:16:25] Yeah.
[00:16:25] You're right.
[00:16:25] That's a beautiful part of Colorado.
[00:16:26] You don't hear people talking a whole lot about.
[00:16:28] Well, and also I think that's the same area where that dude just found the largest,
[00:16:33] uh, was it a Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil or something?
[00:16:37] Oh.
[00:16:38] Um, the state is no stranger to, to fossils.
[00:16:43] That is for sure.
[00:16:44] Yeah.
[00:16:45] And to tracks.
[00:16:46] Well, and I'm going to, I'm going to make sure I pull this up real quick so I get it
[00:16:50] right.
[00:16:50] Um, yeah, it was originally said it.
[00:16:53] Okay.
[00:16:53] So it was a Stegosaurus.
[00:16:55] Um, one of the most complete Stegosaurus fossils ever found.
[00:16:59] Um, it was originally said to be worth about four to $6 million.
[00:17:03] It was going to be, uh, auctioned off by Sotheby's.
[00:17:07] Uh, yeah, I think it ended up going for like $20 million, which is wild.
[00:17:12] Um, good time to remind people unless you have a permit or unless you're the scientific
[00:17:17] people digging around like this is ill-advised slash illegal.
[00:17:23] Yeah.
[00:17:23] Well, and this, the person who found this one, uh, he was a paleontologist that found it on
[00:17:29] his own land.
[00:17:29] Uh, uh, so he purchased like a massive, massive swath of land and, um, yeah, found this fossil
[00:17:36] on there.
[00:17:37] So that, that clearly paid off.
[00:17:39] Have you gone out and seen, uh, the tracks out in Southeast Colorado around the Luhana?
[00:17:45] No, I was wanting to chat with you cause you've been there, right?
[00:17:47] Years ago.
[00:17:48] Years ago.
[00:17:48] Yeah.
[00:17:49] How's that?
[00:17:49] It's one of the largest track sites in the world.
[00:17:52] More than you expect.
[00:17:52] Just like circular tracks going kind of like what you'd expect a long neck to be.
[00:17:57] I can't remember the exact dinosaur it is, but.
[00:17:59] Yeah.
[00:18:00] Picket wire Canyonlands track site, right?
[00:18:02] Picket wire Canyonlands.
[00:18:03] Out by Lahunta.
[00:18:04] Yep.
[00:18:05] Hey, is it Lahunta or is it Lahuna?
[00:18:07] Lahuna.
[00:18:08] Lahunta.
[00:18:09] I don't know.
[00:18:10] We're going to always come into it.
[00:18:11] It always comes back to pronunciations.
[00:18:13] Whenever I stopped trying to, uh, really make an effort to pronounce some of these names
[00:18:17] correctly, it's just my Southern Indiana accent comes out and I can't help it, but.
[00:18:23] Picket wire Canyonlands.
[00:18:25] Cool place though.
[00:18:25] For sure.
[00:18:26] Yeah.
[00:18:26] According to USDA, uh, there's over 1900 prints in 130 separate track ways, uh, across
[00:18:33] a quarter mile of bedrock, um, along the banks of the Purgatory river.
[00:18:38] So yeah.
[00:18:38] Yeah.
[00:18:39] Pretty interesting round trip hike to see those tracks is 11.2 miles.
[00:18:42] Yep.
[00:18:43] Uh, which.
[00:18:44] That's a haul, especially if it's hot in the summer.
[00:18:47] That's what I was going to say.
[00:18:48] I wouldn't recommend it.
[00:18:49] I think you can ride your bike though.
[00:18:50] Right?
[00:18:50] I think you can.
[00:18:51] Yeah.
[00:18:51] I think they also do some like ranger guided tours.
[00:18:54] I was going to say the only way you can drive into it is joining the forest service
[00:18:58] on like these auto tours that they'll do seasonally.
[00:19:01] Yeah.
[00:19:01] That's how I went in.
[00:19:02] That makes that.
[00:19:03] Yeah.
[00:19:03] That seems like the way to do it.
[00:19:04] Yeah.
[00:19:05] And I'm trying to, I think it is like during the summer when they do it, you know, when you
[00:19:09] would not want to be.
[00:19:10] Oh, and you just be out in the middle of nowhere.
[00:19:12] Yeah.
[00:19:12] And you'd be exposed to.
[00:19:13] Yeah.
[00:19:13] I would imagine.
[00:19:15] But it's more than, um, the tracks.
[00:19:18] Like it's like you're in like a bowl of time.
[00:19:23] Um, because like you see dinosaurs and then you see, um, you know, Native American rock
[00:19:32] art.
[00:19:33] Oh really?
[00:19:34] Um, you see grave sites of like Spanish explorers and you see more modern, shall we say, homesteads
[00:19:43] sites of like, you know, the 1800s.
[00:19:45] Yeah.
[00:19:46] That's pretty wild.
[00:19:47] You only hear about the dinosaur tracks.
[00:19:49] Right.
[00:19:49] It's like a bowl of a bunch of stuff.
[00:19:51] Dang.
[00:19:52] Pretty much.
[00:19:52] Like this rugged road goes down and you're going down into a progressive time pretty much.
[00:19:59] Dang.
[00:19:59] Yeah.
[00:19:59] Yeah.
[00:19:59] That sounds definitely worth a visit.
[00:20:01] Uh, also related to dinosaur tracks, um, a site out in Ure, Ure, Ure, Ure, Ure.
[00:20:08] Ure.
[00:20:08] Yeah.
[00:20:09] Hip hip Ure.
[00:20:10] Yeah.
[00:20:10] Hip hip Ure.
[00:20:11] Uh, I'm just gonna start pronouncing these wrongly on purpose for the, uh, for your
[00:20:18] entertainment.
[00:20:19] Um, everybody email Spencer.
[00:20:20] Yeah.
[00:20:20] Everyone email me.
[00:20:21] Um, yeah.
[00:20:23] So this, uh, another set of dinosaur tracks, uh, that was on once private land, I believe,
[00:20:29] um, or at least, uh, only privately accessible, uh, 134 fossilized dinosaur footprints.
[00:20:35] Uh, it's now accessible, uh, via a hiking trail.
[00:20:38] Uh, it's now on public land.
[00:20:40] Um, which is pretty, pretty awesome.
[00:20:43] It's, it's supposed to be like one of the only cases of evidence that, uh, uh, a sauropod
[00:20:49] dinosaur, which I believe is like the long neck, the long neck.
[00:20:51] Yeah.
[00:20:52] Uh, could do a turn.
[00:20:53] So it's actually like, if you look at the tracks from above, um, it's, it comes in and
[00:21:00] it does like a 270 degree turn and you can follow it out.
[00:21:03] Yeah.
[00:21:04] And well, and one of the really interesting, uh, parts about this that I thought was kind
[00:21:08] of funny was the family that owned this land, they would, they knew these, these pothole
[00:21:12] like things were there probably maybe had a hunch there were tracks.
[00:21:16] Uh, but the way they described them was they would kind of fill up with water and they
[00:21:20] would, uh, whenever they were out there with their dogs, their dogs were just like, you're
[00:21:23] chill in these tracks, just lay in these puddles.
[00:21:26] Um, that's funny how you just described it like potholes, you know, like thank goodness
[00:21:30] CDOT didn't come and fill those things.
[00:21:36] Yes.
[00:21:37] Well, yeah.
[00:21:37] So there's your dinosaur stuff.
[00:21:39] Yeah.
[00:21:40] Go check those things out.
[00:21:42] Maybe next summer, I guess the little hunt on is probably pretty accessible in the winter.
[00:21:46] There's not usually a ton of snow.
[00:21:47] I always thought like fall and like spring, you know, escape the heat a little.
[00:21:51] Yeah.
[00:21:51] Yeah.
[00:21:52] And there's a, you know, Southeast Colorado, there's look up like Vogel Canyon and picture
[00:21:58] Canyon.
[00:21:59] Yeah.
[00:21:59] There's really gorgeous Canyon lands with a lot more historic intrigue out around there
[00:22:05] that I think they're trying to build some more tourism around it.
[00:22:08] Yeah.
[00:22:08] Forest service has a lot of good information on how to access and how not to access those
[00:22:13] places, but definitely an overlooked part of the state.
[00:22:16] Yeah.
[00:22:17] And you never really hear about tourism kind of on that whole, like east of I-25, so to
[00:22:22] speak.
[00:22:23] Or canyons on the plains.
[00:22:25] Yeah.
[00:22:25] I mean, I think that whole concept is just really fascinating.
[00:22:28] That is cool.
[00:22:28] Yeah.
[00:22:29] Nice.
[00:22:29] Well, there you go.
[00:22:30] Anyway, if you think you've ran out of things to do in Colorado, go to Dine and
[00:22:33] never have in the Northwest and then go down Southeast and explore.
[00:22:38] To the other side.
[00:22:39] Yeah.
[00:22:39] What else you been up to?
[00:22:40] Well, so one thing that you also have been covering pretty extensively lately that I,
[00:22:47] I mean, I've been curious about hearing a little more on it is the debate over e-bikes
[00:22:52] on trails.
[00:22:53] Sure.
[00:22:53] Because I think a lot of people that are listening, maybe they might not have an e-bike.
[00:22:58] They might not even have like mountain bike, road bike, et cetera.
[00:23:01] So you just kind of hear that there's this like very heated debate brewing over e-bikes.
[00:23:07] Certainly locally.
[00:23:08] Yeah.
[00:23:08] It seems kind of innocent, I think, to like an outsider, so to speak.
[00:23:12] Yeah.
[00:23:12] But I mean, people have a lot of passions about it.
[00:23:14] So yeah.
[00:23:14] What's the breakdown of why that debate's going on?
[00:23:17] Yeah, for sure.
[00:23:18] I mean, so again, definitely here in the Springs, right?
[00:23:21] From what I've been reporting on here in the Springs, the conversation is definitely
[00:23:25] and also in Steamboat, you know, Steamboat has had a lot of heated conversation over this,
[00:23:30] particularly in around Emerald Mountain, right?
[00:23:34] It got up to official boards there and they shot down e-bikes going on, on those trails.
[00:23:41] And that's, and from there, the conversations, because as far as I know, it's kind of just died
[00:23:46] out in terms of expanding that access on dirt, single track like trails, you know?
[00:23:53] Yeah.
[00:23:53] I mean, I don't know.
[00:23:54] I guess we go back to like 2017-ish, is that right?
[00:23:59] When the state kind of adopted these federal definitions of e-bikes.
[00:24:05] Yeah.
[00:24:05] With the different classes, right?
[00:24:07] Right.
[00:24:07] Yeah.
[00:24:08] And they go up to what, like, like 22 miles per hour or something like that?
[00:24:12] It's like motor assisted, like class one, as long as you're pedaling, that motor can be
[00:24:17] activated up to 20 miles per hour.
[00:24:20] Class two includes a throttle.
[00:24:23] Okay.
[00:24:24] Class three is assist up to 28 miles per hour, I think it is.
[00:24:29] Okay.
[00:24:29] So pretty quick, especially compared to your average mountain bike.
[00:24:32] Which it's, it's an interesting point to touch on here because I think like my impression
[00:24:37] is like the way we talk about that for people less aware, they get this idea of like e-bikes
[00:24:44] going 20 miles per hour for sure.
[00:24:47] You know what I mean?
[00:24:48] Uh huh.
[00:24:48] When in reality, your standard mountain bike very well could be going 25, you know?
[00:24:54] Yeah, that's true.
[00:24:55] That's true.
[00:24:55] And I think that perception kind of carries into where the conversation gets more heated
[00:25:02] as it has here in Colorado Springs.
[00:25:05] There's also a point of the conversation in Colorado Springs that has to do with our
[00:25:11] open spaces being established and these trails being established and maintained through
[00:25:15] this 1997 voter approved initiative that collects these funds and says that these funds, according
[00:25:24] to critics, goes to non-motorized trails like in that language.
[00:25:30] Interesting.
[00:25:30] So a lot of people are lingering on that when it comes to this, right?
[00:25:34] Well, and I'm familiar with why people like e-bikes, right?
[00:25:36] Like it makes them more accessible.
[00:25:38] Yeah.
[00:25:39] You know, they can be used for commuting, which-
[00:25:42] For sure.
[00:25:42] It, you know, reduces the number of cars on the road and kind of an ever increasing
[00:25:47] population center.
[00:25:48] Yep.
[00:25:48] Um, and, uh, yeah, I mean, it makes it so you can kind of get more laps in if there's
[00:25:55] like a hill that you got to go up.
[00:25:56] Yep.
[00:25:57] Uh, I was thinking like shoots trail out and, uh, kind of at the bottom of North
[00:26:02] Shining Canyon where it's like, if you have an e-bike, you could probably lap that, you
[00:26:06] know, seven times and in a night versus only being able to do it once or twice just because
[00:26:12] you run out of energy.
[00:26:13] Yeah.
[00:26:14] Um, from having to go back uphill.
[00:26:15] Um, so pretty familiar with why people like e-bikes, but why, why don't people like e-bikes?
[00:26:21] Sure.
[00:26:21] I mean, there's some would tell you that maybe it's an ego thing.
[00:26:26] Maybe those people earning that uphill don't like people passing them uphill with that motor
[00:26:31] assist.
[00:26:31] Right.
[00:26:32] Other people, you know, there's, there's, there's people, especially here who just, who
[00:26:37] really worry that it's going to alter like the overall trail experience, the way that
[00:26:44] we share or don't share trails, the way that we designate trails.
[00:26:49] Right.
[00:26:49] We see, we've seen in Jefferson County, for example, um, over the years, a lot more trails
[00:26:56] open to hikers on certain days and close to bikers on certain days, a lot more trails
[00:27:01] designated with directions and whatnot.
[00:27:03] And for people who are real, um, big on multi use, they feel like e-bikes factor into that, like
[00:27:13] more e-bikes causing more problems potentially, you know?
[00:27:17] So I was going to say like the state kind of defined these things really intending to
[00:27:24] open up that commuter, you know, use and get e-bikes away from people not having to worry
[00:27:31] about the DMV to register quote unquote motor vehicles.
[00:27:35] Right.
[00:27:35] That's so the state kind of defined these things allowed where other bikes are allowed.
[00:27:40] That opened up kind of the can of worms as people would say, well, they can go on these
[00:27:45] open spaces.
[00:27:46] They can go in these mountains.
[00:27:47] Right.
[00:27:48] Um, and for years, local jurisdictions like counties, cities, BLM has opened up more over
[00:27:55] the years, especially out in Western Colorado around Fruita.
[00:27:58] Um, um, forest services still kind of wrapping their heads around this stuff.
[00:28:05] It would seem, um, but yeah, like here in Colorado Springs, um, it's going to these voter
[00:28:13] boards if according to, if the plan stays in place to decide on expanding their use out in
[00:28:19] what we know to be these parks and open spaces in mountains.
[00:28:23] And yeah, there's, there's a lot of push for and there's a lot of push back.
[00:28:27] Um, a lot of people point to like when snowboards were coming along in the 1980s, you know, just
[00:28:32] representing an unfamiliar technology on these slopes.
[00:28:38] Right.
[00:28:38] And they've seemingly learned to play along with each other.
[00:28:41] A lot of people think that's what needs to happen.
[00:28:43] They just, people got to learn to play along with each other.
[00:28:45] And to be clear, these things are out there, you know, we see them all the time.
[00:28:48] Yeah. All the time. We don't, a lot of people don't know that it's an e-bike. They think it's just a bike.
[00:28:53] Yeah. Right. Yeah.
[00:28:54] So it's getting smaller and smaller for sure. And quieter and quieter and also maybe more capable. Right.
[00:29:01] Yeah. That's the other big concern with people is that we can hardly see, uh, we can hardly differentiate between a class one and a class three.
[00:29:10] What does class seven look like? What does class eight look like? What does class 10 look like?
[00:29:14] And do, if we open things up now, are we going to be able to regulate later? You know?
[00:29:21] Yeah.
[00:29:21] For what may or may not be coming.
[00:29:23] Yeah. I think that's, that's a good point for sure. Yeah. You do see, um, I I've always wondered also, so e-bikes right now, at least they weigh more, they tend to go faster, especially uphill.
[00:29:35] I've always wondered if that contributes to like more erosion as well.
[00:29:40] Yeah.
[00:29:40] Just from the additional weight and, um,
[00:29:43] International mountain bicycling association. Is that right? They point to some study from years ago, I think out of Oregon.
[00:29:51] And it's really the only study I've seen people pointing to that suggests no more environmental threat than standard bikes.
[00:30:00] All right. Well, I don't know. Yeah. I mean, that's it. I think, but I think that's true. That's a good thing.
[00:30:04] But that's a, that's another big question of people is how much evidence or not do we have on that? You know?
[00:30:11] Well, and I think another thing that's kind of interesting with e-bikes is that this is obviously applies to like mountain biking and cycling, right?
[00:30:17] Yeah. They're starting to have some like exoskeletons for hiking too. Have you seen some of those?
[00:30:22] Yeah. Motorized hiking.
[00:30:24] Yeah. Right.
[00:30:24] Yeah. Um, yeah.
[00:30:27] And where it's like attached to the, like robo legs pretty much.
[00:30:31] Yeah. It kind of like, it works with your knees essentially. Um, uh, you can imagine it has an attachment point on the thigh and attachment point kind of on the shin. I think it goes in your pants. I want to say.
[00:30:43] Yeah. Um, and it's been a while since I saw those, I think I'm trying to figure out what the name of it is, or at least the company behind it. Um, cause I did not cover this directly, but I saw, I, I think it like alleviates like, um, or, Oh yeah, here we go. Here's a, here's a quote from one of them where it's, uh, can reduce the, the weight, uh, on the body by like 50 to 80 pounds.
[00:31:08] Essentially. It's like the, the feeling that you get from wearing these. So if you have a heavy pack, all of a sudden you're, you don't even feel that pack plus some probably, you know? So we're just all be, I mean, hike further and faster. And yeah. Interesting. Since the dawn of social media, we've just been becoming robots more or less. So now we're just physically transforming into robots, I guess. Yeah. Right. It's like you turn into like a super soldier almost like from like a sci-fi for your hiking trail. Uh, yeah. The one that,
[00:31:38] uh, the one that I was reading about that seems like it's the closest to release at least, uh, on a, on a large scale is one by skip and Arc'teryx. Uh, so the Arc'teryx makes the pants that it goes in. And then. Okay. Yeah. If, if, if you folks listening, haven't seen these things, look it up. Yeah. It's straight out of sci-fi for sure. $4,500 is what I'm seeing here. Yeah. Look it up. Don't quote me on that, but yeah. So I mean, that, that, that even brings up, I mean, maybe e-bikes do too. Obviously Colorado's kind
[00:32:08] of had some of these programs that make e-bikes cheaper. The tax incentives. Yeah. But there is a question of like, as these new technologies that make accessing outdoor recreation easier emerge, are they going to be restricted to people that can drop $4,500 on a set of pants? Like, does that bring in a whole question of where you almost have to pay to access these areas in the same fashion? Yeah. Um, kind of creating that disparity between who can and can't, you know? Sure. So that's, I mean, that's a question that I'm sure, I mean,
[00:32:37] many people are asking also. I think so much with the, with the e-bike thing, like with, for advocate, I think a lot of advocacy groups, like, you know, standard mountain biking advocacy groups struggle to even, um, some just don't even have a, have a statement on these things, right? Like there's a mountain biking group in Boulder that just doesn't want to touch it. Steamboat, same thing. Like advocate and steamboat told me that, you know, we've got other access issues to where e-bikes is really a thing that just fires up
[00:33:07] people who say, I don't like e-bikes and you know what, I don't like bikes, you know? And I think like, I think mountain bike groups have really got to make an effort to get ahead of it and decide, you know, what, um, how these fit into kind of the current and future landscape of, of their sport.
[00:33:30] Well, and there's always kind of a conflict between hikers and bikers on the trail anyways. Right. And obviously that's bad. And by no means are we condoning that by mentioning it, but, uh, there is a little bit of like uneasiness sometimes between like bikers wanting hikers to move out of the way so that they can, you know, hit their Strava time or keep their stride, so to speak, keep their momentum. Um, whereas hikers also are like, ah, we're frustrated by bikers blasting through the trails and we don't know they're coming.
[00:34:00] And there's, uh, there's a safety hazard there. So there is this like ongoing conflict there.
[00:34:05] Yeah. Yeah. Um, just like, just like mountain bikers say, you know, like our, our lives are, have changed from being able to get out in these places on these wheels.
[00:34:15] E-bike people on e-bikes say the same thing, you know, like people on e-bikes, a lot of them, um, you know, they, they've aged kind of past their mountain biking prime.
[00:34:26] Maybe they've had a disability come up that puts them well past their mountain biking prime.
[00:34:30] And they say that this motor assist, you know, expands their life, you know, so yeah.
[00:34:36] And on that note too, I do a lot of work with a nonprofit shout out up and down. Uh, but one of the things I'm very involved in is every summer we do like these Thursday bike rides, um, just out of different breweries or whatever.
[00:34:49] And we kind of do a little short ride, you know, five to seven miles. Um, but one thing we do try to do is, uh, we always try to partner with an e-bike provider, um, that makes these gatherings kind of more accessible in a sense.
[00:35:04] So like, uh, whether it's, it's kind of like the commuter bikes that you see with Pike ride around, around the Colorado Springs area or, uh, some heavier duty specialized bikes, uh, from criteriums, the shop we partner with there.
[00:35:18] Um, we see that a lot of people show up to these bike rides that normally wouldn't show up to a bike ride because those e-bikes make it possible for them to get outside.
[00:35:28] Yeah. Um, so, and, and I mean, that's the thing. It's like if somebody's maybe like out of shape or like you said,
[00:35:34] maybe they're, um, aging a little bit and their legs just don't quite work as well as they used to, et cetera.
[00:35:42] Um, having the option to hop on a knee bike and be able to participate in outdoor recreation.
[00:35:48] I mean, I think that's something that once you really break it down, a lot of people that are passionate about outdoor recreation can kind of get behind.
[00:35:54] That is an accessibility thing. Yeah.
[00:35:56] Like end of the day, like a lot of people would say that.
[00:35:59] And then just as many people would say, uh, okay, so now we're going to hear people talking about scooters.
[00:36:05] We're going to hear people talking about these one wheels out on these mountain trails.
[00:36:09] You see the one wheels out at Red Rock Canyon.
[00:36:11] For sure.
[00:36:12] I've been running out there and all of a sudden there's like, you know, 10 to 15, a group, a group of 10 to 15 people on these one wheels.
[00:36:18] A big group?
[00:36:19] Yeah.
[00:36:20] I have not seen the group.
[00:36:21] There's gotta be a meetup.
[00:36:21] I've seen them out there multiple times.
[00:36:23] Um, I mean, it looks fun, I guess.
[00:36:25] No matter the rules.
[00:36:26] It gives me some like rocket power vibes whenever you see them going down on like the mountain boards back in the day on Nickelodeon.
[00:36:32] Yeah.
[00:36:32] Um, yeah.
[00:36:34] Very fringe reference.
[00:36:35] Maybe like five, 5% of our audience will get that reference.
[00:36:38] Knows rocket power.
[00:36:39] Yeah.
[00:36:40] Rocket power.
[00:36:41] Auto rocket.
[00:36:41] Gotta be 90s babies, right?
[00:36:43] And Sam.
[00:36:44] And who's the other dude that always wore the hat?
[00:36:47] Gosh, it's been a long time.
[00:36:49] Well, I got auto.
[00:36:51] Yeah.
[00:36:51] Or he's the main guy.
[00:36:52] Auto rocket.
[00:36:53] Oh, wait.
[00:36:55] Was Reggie the, Reggie Rocket was the girl.
[00:36:57] That was, yeah.
[00:36:58] It was auto Reggie Sam.
[00:37:00] And then that other dude.
[00:37:03] We'll have to do a whole other podcast on rocket power.
[00:37:06] Speaking of 90s, I watched James and the Giant Peach last night.
[00:37:09] Remember that one?
[00:37:10] Uh, that movie, whenever I tried to watch it when I was younger.
[00:37:13] Creepy.
[00:37:14] It scared me.
[00:37:15] I don't think I could watch it.
[00:37:16] Scared me when I was older last night.
[00:37:18] Yeah.
[00:37:18] It is creepy.
[00:37:19] It's Tim Burton, right?
[00:37:21] No.
[00:37:22] No?
[00:37:22] Very Tim Burton-esque.
[00:37:23] Oh, I can't think of it.
[00:37:24] Same guy who did Coraline more recently.
[00:37:26] Oh.
[00:37:27] I think that's right.
[00:37:28] Yeah, let's see.
[00:37:29] Gotta be double-checked.
[00:37:30] Have you noticed these podcasts are entering this, like, tradition of, like, talking about
[00:37:33] film at the end?
[00:37:34] Toward the end?
[00:37:35] Henry Selleck.
[00:37:36] Henry Selleck.
[00:37:37] Based on a Ronald Dahl novel.
[00:37:39] Yep.
[00:37:40] World Dahl.
[00:37:41] World Dahl, yeah.
[00:37:43] Oh, produced by Tim Burton.
[00:37:53] Palisade Peach?
[00:37:54] That could have taken place in Colorado.
[00:37:57] Wow.
[00:37:57] All right, so if Palisade's listening, now they gotta do, like, they gotta build some, like,
[00:38:01] James and the Giant Peach around their festival every year, I guess, right?
[00:38:04] I wanna go through a James and the Giant Peach haunted house out in Palisade.
[00:38:08] Ooh.
[00:38:08] Out of Peach Farm.
[00:38:10] There's your idea, Palisade.
[00:38:12] Take it and run with it.
[00:38:12] There's your idea.
[00:38:13] Take it and run with it.
[00:38:14] Yeah.
[00:38:14] I give you permission to go do that.
[00:38:17] That's cool.
[00:38:17] As long as you invite our team out.
[00:38:18] That's cool.
[00:38:19] Soon you'll see a bunch of people dressing up as giant grasshoppers and spiders and the
[00:38:24] worm and the centipede, remember that guy?
[00:38:26] Oh, yeah.
[00:38:27] The cigar-smoking centipede?
[00:38:28] Yeah, to be honest, I think-
[00:38:29] It was wild.
[00:38:30] That movie would still give me the heebie-jeebies.
[00:38:32] It was totally wild, man.
[00:38:34] At the end, when the crazy sisters just get spun up and the policeman says, get them out
[00:38:39] of here, and you don't see them again.
[00:38:41] Those sisters got spun up by that web and they're gone.
[00:38:45] Oof.
[00:38:46] What happened?
[00:38:46] Yeah, that's what we're giving children in 1996.
[00:38:51] That's why we're so messed up, man.
[00:38:52] Pretty disturbing.
[00:38:53] Yeah.
[00:38:54] Still, I think.
[00:38:56] Yeah, also on a much heavier note, but also disturbing, some news broke today from Arapahoe
[00:39:04] County Sheriff's Office that involves a number of break-ins that have taken place on homes
[00:39:10] homes that are, and this is a quote from them, homes that are in areas described as budding
[00:39:16] up to open space, green belts, canals, trails, golf courses, or heavy tree cover.
[00:39:23] So I think that's something where it's like every Colorado kind of dreams about having a house
[00:39:27] that butts up to one of these spaces where there's just kind of a natural area behind
[00:39:30] them.
[00:39:31] But yeah, apparently some, I think there's two to four suspects right now that have been
[00:39:37] targeting these homes for break-ins.
[00:39:39] There's been nine cases in total.
[00:39:42] That includes four cases in Cherry Hills Village, one in Columbine Valley, two in Littleton,
[00:39:50] and then two in unincorporated Arapahoe County.
[00:39:52] Luxury homes that are being targeted.
[00:39:54] The thefts for those nine cases is close to a million dollars of goods, stolen goods.
[00:40:00] So kind of interesting there, something to be on the lookout for just in case you see,
[00:40:05] in case you live in an area in this Denver metro area that's kind of close to something
[00:40:09] like that and see something suspicious, report it.
[00:40:13] Authorities recommended locking doors and windows and setting alarms.
[00:40:17] Though they did also make a tie to some crimes and burglaries that have been happening in Arizona
[00:40:23] and California that are similar, in which the suspects are, or other suspects presumably,
[00:40:29] but suspects and potentially in the same crime syndicate, we'll call them, or a similar
[00:40:35] crime situation.
[00:40:37] They've been using jammers to disrupt home security and alarm systems and then breaking in.
[00:40:41] So creepy situation.
[00:40:43] Thought it was worth mentioning, though.
[00:40:45] Yeah, darn.
[00:40:45] Just to kind of cover that in case you want to take some extra precautions there.
[00:40:52] Another kind of, obviously, a sad situation here, too.
[00:40:58] There's a missing 19-year-old in the area of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park,
[00:41:03] or last seen in the area of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.
[00:41:06] His name's Dallas Roberts of Montrose.
[00:41:08] It was last seen on October 28th.
[00:41:10] So if you're in the area, keep an eye out for any sort of signs that there might be something wrong.
[00:41:18] So yeah, something to watch out for there, too.
[00:41:24] I'm like, what's the other...
[00:41:25] No sign if he was climbing?
[00:41:27] No, they didn't really release anything in that regard, just that he was seen in that area.
[00:41:33] Also, some other news.
[00:41:36] Independence Pass has officially closed for the season.
[00:41:39] It closed earlier this week after they got like 18...
[00:41:41] They were about to get like 18 inches.
[00:41:44] That ended up happening.
[00:41:46] And they're just going to extend that closure until next spring.
[00:41:48] Usually that pass, which is between Aspen and Twin Lakes area,
[00:41:53] pretty crucial for people from Colorado Springs headed to Aspen.
[00:41:57] Usually that pass reopens the Thursday before Memorial Day.
[00:42:02] I think that's May 22nd or around that time this year.
[00:42:05] So that's something that is worth keeping in mind.
[00:42:11] Yeah, there's...
[00:42:12] I think that covers a lot of...
[00:42:15] Which officially means we're going into winter.
[00:42:17] Yeah, officially means we're going into winter.
[00:42:19] Yeah, Trail Ridge Road closed a week or so ago.
[00:42:25] Cottonwood Pass out in BV area.
[00:42:27] I believe that's closed as well.
[00:42:30] So yeah, winter is here in Colorado.
[00:42:32] I believe we got two snowstorms on the way kind of in that first week, week and a half of November.
[00:42:39] Bring it on.
[00:42:40] Yeah, bring it on.
[00:42:40] Bring on the snow.
[00:42:42] Yeah, we got about surprise six inches in southeast Colorado Springs or in that area.
[00:42:47] Kind of by...
[00:42:48] Oh, really?
[00:42:49] Yeah, it was out by Fountain, right?
[00:42:50] I was driving, well, like I mentioned from Boulder.
[00:42:54] I was coming back at like 6.30 and up north.
[00:42:56] God, yeah, just started dumping.
[00:42:58] Oh, yeah.
[00:42:59] Dark.
[00:42:59] And I was reminded, boy, I'm not ready for my winter driving yet.
[00:43:02] Yeah, you get that like Star Wars like light speed.
[00:43:05] Yeah, exactly.
[00:43:06] Yeah, warp speed.
[00:43:07] What do they call it?
[00:43:08] Oh, my gosh.
[00:43:08] Star Wars fans are going to hate me.
[00:43:10] Hyper drive.
[00:43:12] Yeah.
[00:43:12] Whatever it's called where the stars are whizzing by.
[00:43:14] Go-go Millennium Falcon.
[00:43:16] Yeah.
[00:43:16] Yeah, that is the vibe that it was.
[00:43:19] I was white knuckling, man.
[00:43:20] I couldn't believe it.
[00:43:21] I was like, I was not expecting that.
[00:43:22] Well, and it was like that freezing snow too.
[00:43:24] Like it was hitting the ground and freezing.
[00:43:25] Like I was in my car probably around seven around town.
[00:43:28] And yeah, it was like 32, 31 degrees outside.
[00:43:32] And yeah, my car was just covered in a sheet of ice whenever I got home.
[00:43:36] No thanks.
[00:43:37] Yeah, pretty wild.
[00:43:38] Mostly Colorado Springs.
[00:43:39] I was scraping my car and my wife's car this morning.
[00:43:42] Yep.
[00:43:42] Start of winter.
[00:43:44] That is how you know.
[00:43:44] Yeah, and also I guess as it relates to that, we did publish a list of 22 survival items on outtherecolorado.com this week.
[00:43:54] Every Colorado driver should pack for winter travel.
[00:43:57] So that's something to kind of check out if you want to just Google search that real quick.
[00:44:03] You know, it's got like the ice scraper, a shovel, blanket, sleeping bag.
[00:44:07] And again, this is like in case you get stranded or stuck in your car for a long period of time, right?
[00:44:13] You know, the water, tire chains, toe strap, jumper cables.
[00:44:16] I guess I'm just going to go through them all real quick here.
[00:44:19] First aid kit and make sure you have like the personal medications that you might need for if you're stranded for, you know, a day.
[00:44:27] Like there's cases in Colorado where people are stranded for close to 24 hours or stuck in traffic at least for that long.
[00:44:34] Toe strap, jumper cables, flares, battery powered radio, spare gloves, hat, et cetera.
[00:44:41] Another layer of clothes, chemical based hand warmers, non-perishable snacks.
[00:44:46] This is an interesting one.
[00:44:47] Non-clumping kitty litter or sand.
[00:44:51] Put it beneath the tires to get traction.
[00:44:54] Yeah, kitty litter.
[00:44:55] Having some kitty litter around could save your life.
[00:44:58] But yeah, deck of cards, windshield wiper fluid that's designed for winter use.
[00:45:02] Flashlight with extra batteries, high capacity battery bank, GPS communication device, portable tire inflator, and a storage container.
[00:45:10] Also, some ski goggles and a traction device for your boots might not be a bad idea too.
[00:45:16] And then store it all in like some sort of a container, right?
[00:45:18] So it's easy to get to, easy to take in and out of your car when you need it.
[00:45:22] But yeah, so kind of quick list there.
[00:45:25] Good job, man.
[00:45:26] Yeah, very quick list as I ramble through those.
[00:45:30] But yeah, I think, I mean, that's probably about all we got today, right?
[00:45:34] Happy Halloween.
[00:45:34] Yeah, happy Halloween.
[00:45:36] I mean.
[00:45:37] We are talking on Halloween.
[00:45:38] We hope your Halloween was good, I guess.
[00:45:40] That's right.
[00:45:41] Shoot.
[00:45:41] Yeah.
[00:45:41] No, that's okay.
[00:45:42] We can still say happy.
[00:45:43] Happy late Halloween.
[00:45:44] Happy late Halloween.
[00:45:45] Still getting used to recording these things and when they drop.
[00:45:48] Yeah.
[00:45:48] So, and we are about 46 minutes in.
[00:45:50] Cool.
[00:45:51] I think, I think we call it.
[00:45:53] It's been real, folks.
[00:45:54] Yeah.
[00:45:54] Have a great day.
[00:45:55] Until next time.
[00:45:56] And we'll chat with you soon.
[00:45:57] Peace.
[00:46:06] Peace, sure.
[00:46:07] All right.
[00:46:07] This is recording.
[00:46:08] Cool.
[00:46:09] Go ahead and, okay, cool.
[00:46:11] And we're live.
[00:46:12] Welcome to the Out There Colorado podcast.
[00:46:15] I am Spencer McKee.
[00:46:16] And today I am here with Seth Boster.
[00:46:19] What's up, guys?
[00:46:20] And we're back at it.
[00:46:22] We're back at it again.
[00:46:23] We've got some.