When wildflowers appear (and where to see them); 5-year-old falls from lift; 'Lost canyon' worth checking out; & More

[00:00:06] Welcome to another episode of the The OutThere Colorado Podcast. Once again, I'm Spencer here with Seth. Hello. We got Tim on the audio and the video for today and once again a lot of fun Colorado topics that we'll be diving into. We got some closing dates for some of these ski resorts. We got a look at when wildflowers will appear amid a very dry low snowpack here. We're gonna pick a few of our favorites from the best of the springs report. Yeah.

[00:00:34] So we are called out Springs locals and there were definitely some good ones in there and some that caught our eyes. So I'm gonna go through that a little bit. Our faces are in here Spencer. They are. Our faces are in there. You can see photos that were taken into Gazette studio. There we are. Here we are with other staff. This is the report there. At one point they called us experts. Yeah, local experts. I would never claim to be an expert, but here we are. We do eat a lot.

[00:01:04] So I would think my hairy face would detract readership. But what do I know? You're looking good. I got my mountain sweater on. Yeah, nice favorites. I wore my favorite sweater that day. Mm hmm. The special occasion. But yeah, let's get into it. How's your weekend Seth? I tried your favorite ever burrito. I think as I've heard you describe it.

[00:01:29] Yeah, por favor. How was it? Really good. The video was super good. Yeah. Yeah. Super tasty. Did you drink the was it the the consomme? Yeah. Yeah. You drink that as soup after? No. They recommended you do that. Whenever I was there, one of the owners was chatting with me. Well, I guess it is like a stew, right? Yeah. Yeah. Like, yeah. Like, birria is like a stew technically. Yeah. And then, yeah. That would make sense. It was like, once you're done, you got to make sure you drink it and finish it off like it's a soup.

[00:01:56] Maybe next time. Yeah. Yeah. That was tasty over there. Yeah. You know, for people unfamiliar off Garden of the Gods Road on Centennial. Mm hmm. And they just opened a second location, I think earlier this month. Oh, really? Yes. Up north. Very cool. So to give you any indication of how popular they've gotten. I mean, they've only been there not even two years now. Yeah. And they have another location. So it's been packed when I've been there. Yeah, it was good. My wife got the tacos. Tacos are big. Yeah. Yeah. Good.

[00:02:23] Felt like a good deal, too. Like I was like, yeah, this is this is priced fairly and delicious. Got to try Don Turry's next so we can get that's what I've heard. Yeah. Full circle review there. What else do you get into? Get outside at all? Man, I didn't get outside. Yeah. I mean, for landscaping on Saturday. But the saga continues. Yeah, it's always going to continue. But yeah, Sunday I had plans for a big hike and it just was cold and cloudy and foggy.

[00:02:52] Yeah. Very foggy. Just went to the gym instead. Yeah. Saw some flurries up on some of the trails up there falling. Yeah. Yeah. My weekend was. What about you? Yeah. What'd I do? I did get out on the motorcycle on Saturday. Stopped by Red Leg on Saturday, which we might chat about here, but they got a silver for the best brewery, right? In Colorado Springs. Mm-hmm. On the gold silver bronze system of the best of the springs. Mm-hmm. What else did I do?

[00:03:21] Got a run in on Sunday. Nice. Did get a run in. Waited until later in the afternoon. It was pretty nice. That was the key. Yeah. I would have gone out probably later in the afternoon. I went to a couple breweries that afternoon at Westfax and Fossil. Yeah. Always wonder if I'm going to see you at Fossil. Yeah. Hey, Westfax too. I know. Yeah. They're good. It's been really good lately. Yeah. Then what else? Oh, I watched the Alien trilogy, the newest Alien trilogy. Oh, they? Or not the newest, I guess. You can't say that. Romulus or whatever? Yeah. I watched all three of them.

[00:03:51] I watched Prometheus, then I watched Covenant, then I watched Romulus. Oh, man. And I was diving into the lore. I bet you didn't sleep too well. Oh, yeah. Whenever I went to bed Sunday night, I was up late last night watching Romulus. And I'm like, as I'm going up to bed, I'm like, hmm. Just thinking one of these little zine morphs or whatever lurking. Oh, man. Yeah. But, uh. Tim, you like that stuff? You like the Alien? Yeah, he likes it. He's giving us a nod. Yeah. I hadn't seen him in a long time and watching him in a row like that, it gave me a new appreciation

[00:04:19] for the lore of Alien, opposed to it just being kind of the one-off action. I like Prometheus a lot. Yeah. Recently watched Alien Earth. So that was what inspired that, which is a new series. A series. Tim gave us his opinion on Alien Earth. We always ask Tim. Yeah. He's the one that knows when it comes to film and other media. We should have a special, uh, we should have a special, uh, show in which he discusses summer, uh, films coming up. Yes.

[00:04:50] Yeah. Need to pull them in. Is there a summer movie or a release you're really looking forward to? Spider-Man. Yeah. Supergirl. There's more superhero movies. I'm looking forward to Odyssey. Oh yeah. Yeah. There you go. Long, long time Nolan head. Christopher Nolan's. The latest movie. Yeah.

[00:05:20] That'll be a good one. I'm, I'm looking forward to that for sure. I hope everyone enjoyed our special, uh, our special on summer movies. There we go. Uh, Hey, maybe one of these days we'll talk about some of these drive in movie theaters. That'd be a good topic. Maybe we save that for next week. I'll write that down right now. While I'm thinking. Where to catch a movie under the Colorado stars. Yeah, man. I've always wanted to go to that one in Buena Vista. The, what is it called? Yeah. Is it the Comanche? Comanche. I think that sounds right. I've been to the one in Monta Vista. Is that still there? That hotel? Yeah.

[00:05:50] Yeah. I think it is. I think they've actually. Did it sell or something? I think it did. I was about to say, I think it's under new owners. I think they've added some other, uh, options. If it's the, if it's the one that I'm thinking. And Monta Vista. It's like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Movie manor. I want to say they have like yurts now or something like that, where you can stay on site and some other, other options, but yeah, we'll dig into that chat about next week. Cool. Um, real quick though, diving into some skiing and snowboarding news.

[00:06:18] Everyone's been wondering how the snowpack would impact this season. And it looks like, uh, the last two spots have finally announced their closing days. Uh, it'll be a Rappahoe basin, Copper Mountain tying this year for closing day on May 3rd. So. Boy, when's the last time a basin closed? In May. Early May. At the beginning of May. Right. Yeah. I think it, I, I couldn't find a reliable source that had their, like just through the decades. Yeah.

[00:06:47] Uh, it was the earliest I could find though. Like out of, out of what I was seeing, it was the earliest. It's gotta be at least in 10 years. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know what their operations were during COVID times. They might've, that might've impacted it. But aside from that, at least as far as weather goes, uh, yeah. One of the earliest closings ever, uh, still a really long stretch though. Um, they, they opened on, uh, when was it this year? Like October 26th. Was it? Yeah. October 26th.

[00:07:15] So still got a long stretch, um, close to 200 days of skiing and snowboarding at a Rappahoe basin. I, I'm, I'm gonna say it now. I want to be surprised if they're like, let's actually ski on May 4th just so they can be the last one, but no pressure. Arapahoe. Do a star, do a star Wars theme. May the fourth be with you closing. Yeah. And that was actually kind of the sad part of their, uh, their closing day announcement

[00:07:38] was they essentially were like dress under any theme for a closing weekend because obviously they do have swimwear day, Derby day, denim day, May the fourth day. Right. Which are typically these, you know, these blowout late, late season celebrations and that won't be the case this year because it'll be closing early. So there will be live music. Um, I'm sure copper's doing something as well for their closing day.

[00:08:05] So yeah, that's, that'll be the end of a very low snowpack season in Colorado. Put it to bed. Yeah. Breck did open for a surprise day last weekend. Yeah. Was it for like a scheduled event that they had previously? Yeah. Yeah. They'd closed the lift operations or ski lift operations. And then I think it was, I want to say it was like Wednesday or something. They were like, Oh, just kidding. We'll do one more day on Saturday. Yeah. And yeah, they had music planned and everything.

[00:08:34] One of those spring flings. Cause that was what I really was wondering about. Like approaching April, like all those, those closing days that are scheduled and thought out and with music and, you know, vendors sometimes, you know? Yeah. That's what I was thinking about. Yeah. I mean, Hey, you'll still have another chance this weekend. So get up there. There's no Lake reveal this year either at Arapahoe basin, famous for that little pond skimming area. At least the last report I saw was no lake reveal.

[00:09:01] So snowpack is too low to do some pond skimming up there. Crazy. Which that was always something we would look forward to and go up for. Uh, every year was to check that out. Yeah. So speaking of skiing and snowboarding, this story came across my desk. I thought it was interesting because you do see a lot of kids on the slopes in Colorado. Um, two parents, uh, are getting charged with felony or one felony each.

[00:09:28] So two parents are getting charged with felony, uh, after an incident that unfolded at a Pennsylvania ski resort last March. Essentially a five year old kid was on the ski lift alone and he fell about 20 feet. The kid ended up being fine. He was taken to the hospital, uh, but was released uninjured. And now months later, apparently these two parents are facing a felony charge each of endangering the welfare of a child.

[00:09:55] So pretty interesting, uh, case there just, you know, in terms of the, what liability falls on, on parents at a ski resort when you have, you know, can you send your kids off to go ski? I think in this case, uh, the father had previously told a lifty, uh, as reported by WTAJ, which is a local news source had previously told the lifty that his kid was experienced enough to ride alone. Um, so who knows there?

[00:10:24] Um, the kid was apparently adjusting his goggles. He had been skiing with his mother at the time. According to this report, uh, they were at blue knob ski resort too. So for what it's worth, not, I'm guessing not too many Colorado. I didn't know where that is, but, um, he had been skiing with his mother at the time. Apparently he beat his mother down the slope as a better skier. So she described, and then when she got to the bottom, even though she had told him to stick around at the bottom, he was gone apparently on this lift and then fell. So, yeah.

[00:10:52] So, uh, something interesting. I dug into what resort policies tend to be. Yeah. Children's supervision. Yeah. In terms of children's supervision, in terms of children, uh, riding lifts alone. In general, what you tend to see is there's no minimum height or age requirement, but your child must be able to load or unload.

[00:11:13] A lift under their own power is something that a lot of resorts have in terms of, uh, just whether or not a kid can ride a lift in terms of riding alone. A lot of resorts also leave that up to parental discretion. So, or guardian discretion. Um, some resorts do have policies where, uh, children under 55 inches tall, uh, must be accompanied by an adult on a chairlift. Other ones say 51 inches. Uh, but yeah, it varies quite a bit.

[00:11:42] Uh, apparently this family was used to, um, had been used to skiing at another spot where there was a height requirement. This one, I, it was hard to track down if blue knob had a height requirement or not. I could not find anything listed on their website there, but yeah, just a interesting topic in terms of, um, you know, uh, kids, kids freedom, so to speak, when they're at a resort or parental freedom there to let their, let their kid go off. Obviously, skil lifts are dangerous.

[00:12:09] And I mean, the big ball can have some pretty catastrophic, uh, uh, consequences. Yeah. And in this case, just like, yeah, though, whenever we, whenever we mentioned kind of, uh, out of state legal cases going on, our minds are always wondering about precedent and, you know, if there's any sort of new liability thread to that, you know, maybe industry people are paying attention there.

[00:12:34] Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, you don't see too many cases that result in criminal charges either. Um, a lot of like civil cases can stem from some of these resort, uh, incidences. But yeah, the fact that there were, um, some felony charges there, the parents were, um, I think initially taken into custody, but very quickly released on bond. So, um, I believe that bond was the type of bond where it's just on, uh, I think unsecured is the right term.

[00:13:03] Cause your kid falls and then you get a bail. Your kid falls and then you get arrested. Yikes. Right. Yeah. Not a good day. Yeah. Scary situation. Apparently it took resort staff about 15 minutes to find one of the boy's parents too, after the fall occurred. So that was a factor in this case. Um, all these things are allegedly obviously, and who knows how this will shake out ultimately, but something to keep in mind if you're a parent out there taking your kid to the slopes. Yeah.

[00:13:30] Make sure they really know how to do the, to ride the lift properly. And no, no judgment. Yeah. Parents, you know, have their own parenting style. Yeah. And I mean, it doesn't, I cannot imagine letting my five-year-old go run around. Well, and it sounds unintentional. Different ski area. Sounds like a small family ski area. Yeah. And it sounds unintentional. Sounds like the kid is supposed to wait, been at wait type of thing apparently.

[00:13:54] Um, also doesn't sound like the kid was doing anything irresponsible necessarily, like adjusting his goggles, trying to mess with that. And, um, I mean, that's a good reminder for anyone, you know, it's like a lot of times when people do fall off the lift, it's they're trying to get in their backpack. It's not like they're on the lift dancing around or something. Right. Like they're trying to get in their backpack or the poles get caught on something and that fall takes place. So keep it in mind. It's the end of ski season, but for next year, you have several months to figure out what your policies are.

[00:14:23] You are a, uh, a parent to young children. Um, let's dig into this one. So Colorado is very well known for its craft beer scene and, um, probably not too surprisingly, uh, Colorado got a lot of awards in the world beer cup, which is perhaps the most prestigious beer award ceremony in the country. I'm excited to hear about this one. I haven't caught up on the, uh, uh, beer world cup news.

[00:14:52] Yeah. So the state, uh, so the ceremony took place in Philadelphia last week, the state walked away with five gold medals, 12 silver medals and tens lock can talk 10 bronze medals. Um, pretty, I mean, to, to put it in perspective, how big this competition is too. There were over 8,000 entries, uh, that were submitted a total of 1644 breweries. Um, 186 styles of beer were judged if you include the subcategories.

[00:15:21] So yeah, pretty, pretty, uh, wild. Uh, they had 255 judges. It was all blind taste test. So they don't know what they're tasting whenever they, those judges are trying this. I think the most notable win for Colorado was the Colorado took home the award for the best West coast style IPA. It was a category where there were 293 entrants as the biggest category of, um, of all these different styles of beer.

[00:15:50] Uh, that went to Cannonball, uh, Cannonball Creek brewing. I know about it in golden. Yeah. And golden project alpha 81. Okay. That's the name of that beer. So I've never had that beer. Apparently it's very good. It beat out. I love a West coast. Yeah. Yeah. Same here. That's often what I'll go for. Um, do you have, do you have a dream to be a judge in this competition? Dude, I don't think I'm qualified nor do I, I don't think I drink enough to be honest. I was going to say, you got to have the stamina. Yeah.

[00:16:19] I mean, that's, and it just feels bad if they're just like tasting it and spitting it out. That kind of feels bad too. So yeah. I'm just digging through the list here to see if quite a few first place. Yeah. Getters here in Colorado. Yeah. Bull and Bush Brewery out of Denver. They got a gold medal for, uh, Ghoul Fuel Rum Diaries Edition, which is a wooden barrel age beer, uh, Kieran Brewery, which is, uh, people don't associate that brewery with Colorado,

[00:16:47] but they produce their, uh, their Kieran Light in, uh, at New Belgium Brewing Company in Fort Collins. So, uh, that counts as a Colorado win, um, River North Brewery in Denver. Squirrels just want to have fun. It's a coffee beer that got a gold medal. It's all that. And then Ska Brewing in Durango for their True Blonde, which is a beer they've had for a long time. Um, and still, still a favorite. Uh, but yeah, it's an English style pale ale. So yeah, those are the five, uh, gold medal winners in Colorado.

[00:17:16] But a lot of these breweries also got multiple awards. Uh, Bull and Bush, Bull and Bush did Cannonball did Cannonball Creek, I guess I should say. Um, same with River North. So yeah, a lot of, uh, a lot of good picks. Didn't it? I don't think there was one from Colorado Springs on here though. Not that I'm seeing. Yeah. Which is surprising because Colorado Springs does have some really good beer. A lot of Fort Collins representations. Yes. Which is not surprising. Yeah. Between Odell and New Belgium and a lot of the small ones in Fort Collins.

[00:17:45] I keep seeing Fort Collins coming up quite a bit. Yeah. Yeah. So you can find this list on the Out There Colorado website or on the World Beer Cup website. But if you want it condensed down to just Colorado, you can look it up. It's out of 293 hopefuls. It's Colorado, West Coast IPA style. Mm-hmm. Uh, beer was dubbed the best is the name of that article. So you can go hunt that down. But Cannonball Creek looks like they got a second two. Yeah. For their mind bender. For strong pale. Yeah. Mind bender. Yeah.

[00:18:15] I hear good things about Cannonball Creek. I haven't been in a minute. Yeah. The New Belgium Triple, too. You always hear people talk about that. I like that one. New Belgium, obviously one of the bigger ones. But it's still cool to see them included there for that. Just because you always, people will say that's one of the best beers ever. Mm-hmm. Apparently it is worthy of a silver medal in this competition. River North get a couple? Was I seen that? Yeah. River North. I think River North might have gotten the most if I remember correctly. In terms of Colorado? I'm writing this up. Yeah.

[00:18:46] Which is three. One, two, three. Yeah. I bet they are. Yeah. So these are pretty spread out, too. I think that's worth noting. It wasn't like there was one brewery. I guess if you technically, if you count Kieran as a New Belgium beer, which it's under a different company, under a different brand. Just brewed there. But they got three, too, if you count that. But yeah. I mean, they're spread out. So there's a lot of craft breweries in Colorado. So we've talked about it a lot, though. So we've talked about the industry plenty on this show, I think.

[00:19:16] Yeah. People can't say we don't talk about beer every now and then. Yeah. I was, I wonder if Urban Animal in the spring submitted anything. Because I would venture to say that they would have a pretty good shot at getting some of these little specialty categories, just with how diverse their range tends to be. They do a test tap on Wednesdays. You know about that? No. So this test tap. Like an experimental one? Yeah. Small. Yeah. Kind of harkens because the new location, it might just be at their new location.

[00:19:45] I'm not sure if they do it both. But the new location downtown, it's in the old Fieldhouse Brewery. And the Fieldhouse used to do a test tap Wednesdays. So it kind of harkens back to that. Oh, OK. This week they had this divine chocolate beer that was like a lager, but it tasted like chocolate. It was so good. Nice. Yeah. But yeah, something. And they're always themed. So like around April, you got Easter. So candy. Right. Yeah. But definitely worth checking out.

[00:20:11] Is this the time we get into the best breweries according to Best of the Springs voters? Yeah, we could. After this, let's chat about... After we get into Best of the Springs, let's chat about when wildflowers will appear. OK. Because I do want to include that. I want to tease it a little bit before we just dive into a pretty spring-heavy segment. But worthwhile for people traveling down to Colorado Springs. Mm-hmm. So holding this up so you can see it, people that are watching right now.

[00:20:39] Best of the Springs released their results. This is a reader-voted publication produced by the Gazette. There was a big party last week. They handed out awards. Yeah, a lot of winners. They judged, I don't know, 100-plus categories at least. Dozens of pages for food. Yeah. You can see some of Seth and Seth's favorite picks and my favorite picks in here as well.

[00:21:05] We are among the six local experts that were included in this year's edition. Not our words, theirs. Yeah. What were some of your favorites here? Well, we got to start with brewery, right? Yeah. On the brewery topic. Yeah. I don't think locals wouldn't be surprised by gold for Goat Patch. Mm-hmm. Silver, I don't think locals would be surprised by this one too. Red Leg Brewing. And if you're visiting, I mean, that is a brewery to go visit for sure.

[00:21:36] That's starting to feel like a destination brewery. Yeah. For just the sprawling outdoor space there, close to Garden of the Gods, overlooking kind of the hogbacks that roll toward Garden of the Gods there. Yeah. This really beautiful complex. Beautiful view. Yeah. Expect a lot of people. Yeah. It's always, always packed. Very packed. But packed for a reason. Yeah. But big. Room to move. Yeah. And there's like all these like shipping containers with different food, including Sasquatch cookies. Yes. I never leave without a cookie. Yeah.

[00:22:04] And I mean, to talk about the gold medal winner there too, Goat Patch, now with two locations. Yeah. So you have to think that probably helps get the word out about their beer. And their beer is good. Also- Three locations. Monument. Oh, you're right. Yeah. Three locations. Yeah. Also, you can find their beer on tap at a lot of places in Colorado Springs. Yeah. And on tap for a reason. But yeah, no, that is a good spot as well. A newcomer with bronze called Ascent Brewery.

[00:22:34] Yes. I bet people in Colorado Springs haven't heard about Ascent Brewery. Yeah. I had that. That's out east, kind of toward Callahan, if I'm recalling right. Yeah. Let's see where- It feels like an escape out there. I've stopped for a beer there. Like work in a paint mines trip. Yeah. This is kind of your post-paint mine stop at Ascent Brewery. It's a real pretty space that has been developed there, kind of on the countryside. Yeah. Feels far away from Colorado Springs, but it's not. Located in Falcon is what I'm saying.

[00:23:04] Is it Falcon? The address? Okay. Yeah. Northeast Colorado Springs area. We're thinking it's off the highway that runs out to paint mines? Yeah. Highway- Yeah, it's 24. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You keep taking 24 out that way. Yeah. Yeah. So you're right. It is about halfway between Callahan and like downtown Colorado Springs. Yeah. Paint mines. Yeah. A lot of people are going to be going there this summer, I would imagine. So I like this one, the best bed and breakfast. Oh. The glinery victory. Uh-huh. A little castle, literally. Absolutely.

[00:23:33] Over by Garden of the Gods. Yeah. Really cool little spot. Also, they have their tea time there. Yeah. A literal tea, not golfing tea. But yeah, tea time there on the weekends and something worth checking out. A great spot for history. I mean, it is the former home of the city founder, General William Palmer Jackson. Yep. Lived in a castle, of course. In Queens Canyon there. In beautiful Queens Canyon off Garden of the Gods.

[00:24:00] That's so named for his wife, whom he called Queen. Yeah. And it's private property too. Yeah. So that's important to know. Like you got to make a reservation at like the tea time or something like that or book a stay and then you can go check out this little beautiful area that is very, very under traffic, I would say. Things maybe have changed and it's been a few years. But if you go to the bookstore, if you go through by the gate and say you're going to go check out the bookstore, I think they'll let you continue.

[00:24:30] Nice. Don't take my word for that. All right. But as of a few years ago, that might be a pro tip there then. Maybe. Maybe. Or a bad tip. Well, here. Yeah. Let's look at some food here too. So I was happy to see this one. Bella's Bagels. Have you been there? It's funny, man. I thought about going there over the weekend. Just because of the new buzz. They just got an award, a national award at the West Coast Bagel Awards or Bagel Fest or something like that. I saw that.

[00:25:00] But for their green chili schmear. So something to check out there. But was glad to see them get acknowledged with the gold. We have so best burger in Colorado Springs was one that we don't really talk about much. I've been once or twice and loved it, but skirted heifer. Of course. With a cheese skirt. That's an out-of-town destination too. Yeah, for sure. I need to go there more often. You know? Best buffet. The Broadmoor. Obviously.

[00:25:29] Seriously, people do not. I mean, there are people who get sticker shock and they don't touch the Broadmoor brunch with a 10-foot pole or whatever the saying is. But man, for real. That's a bucket list thing. Yeah. I mean, that is incredible. It is. Go there once. That buffet. It is expensive. It is very expensive. You know, maybe it's a big anniversary. Maybe it's your family in town and, you know, you won't regret it. I don't think you're – you won't regret it.

[00:25:59] You will not regret it. Yeah. Best brunch with sugars. It's a great spot. Yeah. Good spot. Good spot for lunch. Yeah. Quickly developing south side of Tejon area. Yep. Down in Colorado Springs. Here's another great destination in or outside Colorado Springs, Juniper Valley Ranch. South of Colorado Springs out on the countryside there. Kind of a swath of Colorado that people really only see if they're like going to Canyon City or something like that. Of 115. Yeah.

[00:26:29] Yeah. Hides out this – it's like a mud hut, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like a mud home, like an adobe home that dates back, I think, three or four generations of family who've been serving fried chicken family-style dinners. Mm-hmm. Biscuits and the apple butter is out of this world. Yeah. That's another must-do. Yeah. Fried chicken, right? Juniper Valley Ranch. Something that they're known for fried chicken.

[00:26:57] Speaking of chicken wings, the Edge got gold for best chicken wings, but Oferi's got silver, which – got to give a shout-out to Oferi's. I like Oferi's. Yeah. Have not been to the Edge. I haven't either. Might need to go. Hidden Gem and barbecue, the Chuck Wagon. Mm-hmm. Nicely done, Best of the Springs voters. Yep. That's a really good spot. I think that one also got best takeout spot. Yes. I remember it as well. I think I saw that. The Brit Pub. They got four awards.

[00:27:23] They won Best New Restaurant and Best Pub in the city, so that's something that's new to check out down by the soccer stadium. Mm-hmm. We've chatted about that before. That's a cool spot, man. Yeah, cool spot. Good vibes, too, even if you're just going for a beer. Best Dive Bar, also. That was something that we chatted about a lot on this show. Mm-hmm. Cleats, which I don't think either of us have been to, but they won gold. And then Tony's right downtown.

[00:27:51] And then Hatch Cover and Muffs tied for third. Mother Muffs. Mm-hmm. So we're obviously fans of Mother Muffs. We talk about that about every other show. But yeah. We talked about pizza a few times. Mm-hmm. Slice 420, took home gold, followed by Louie's. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And followed by Walters 303. And yeah, Walters 303, that's it. Or Tide, Tide for Silver with Walters 303. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm.

[00:28:21] Cool. Cool stuff. Yeah. Never a shortage of, see, now you find me just flipping through here and discovering If you can find- Discovering stuff. If you can find a place to pick one of these up, it is very good for food recommendations. Should be able to find them in the newsstands, I would guess, around the city. Cool. Yeah. Cool stuff, though. That's the Springs plug. Let's talk about some wildflowers now. Let's do it. What do you know about wildflowers?

[00:28:51] So Colorado's known for its wildflowers. Mm-hmm. This year, it's going to be very different in terms of when they show up and how well they show up. Obviously, it's a very dry season. Drought is widespread in Colorado. The snowpack is disappearing very rapidly. All projections that I've been looking at are showing the snowpack totally gone well before the end of May.

[00:29:19] Probably like that second week of May, third week of May. Snowpack gone from the high country. 98% of the state still in drought. Doesn't look like that will be changing anytime soon. And yeah, I mean, the typical wildflower peak comes around the 4th of July in most years. Not looking like that will be the case. You got to keep in mind that snowpack is a key factor in when these wildflowers appear, right? So that snowpack melts away.

[00:29:47] These flowers get hit by that sunshine and they start popping up on the mountainside. And we're talking about alpine flowers too. They generally start to appear a little bit earlier at lower elevations. But yeah, with this lack of snowpack, that snow is going to be gone earlier. So these flowers are probably going to appear earlier too. Generally, snowpack tends to be gone late June roughly. And then 4th of July hits. And that's when that peak wildflower season starts in the alpine.

[00:30:15] And this year, it's about a month ahead of that. So, you know, the season's pretty unprecedented in terms of the snowpack especially. It's a record low and has been a record low for months of the season. And it's hard to say exactly how this will impact it. But I would guess that peak's going to come, you know, weeks earlier, if not a full month earlier. It'll really just depend on when that snow's gone.

[00:30:40] So something to keep in mind as you're kind of planning these wildflower hikes. Also worth noting that drought tends to mean that wildflowers don't appear in as great of numbers. And also that they don't stick around for as long. So expect a narrow window. Yeah, the hillsides won't be quite as colorful this year in Colorado. The capital of wildflowers, as it's called in Colorado, being Crested Butte.

[00:31:08] Looks like their wildflower festival is scheduled July 10th through 19th. So that is always kind of an indication of when peak is kind of hoped for, at least. So, yeah, I mean, maybe earlier than that is when you want to get to... Yeah, what is when you want to get to... July 8th. July 10th through 19th. 10th through 19th. So who knows? Maybe earlier than that is when you got to get to Crested Butte. Yeah, I mean, the season for wildflowers in Colorado, it tends to run from like May to August.

[00:31:37] So, you know, saying it'll be a narrower time that they're around doesn't mean it'll be like, you know, here for a day and gone. Still probably you're looking at weeks, but yeah, I mean, it'll be interesting to see. Where's your favorite place to go find wildflowers? I do love Crested Butte. Yeah, it's hard to beat that. Yeah, I love Crested Butte. I love... I'm trying to think where I really love seeing wildflowers over the years.

[00:32:05] You know, like desert wildflowers are really cool to me. I remember kind of being fascinated by stuff in Colorado National Monument a few summers ago. That was kind of cool. Yeah, it is cool. And the Grand Mesa in that same area. I mean, there's beautiful flowers up on that side of the state. All the sunflower fields too. Those are always some really cool scenes to see. Yeah, I mean, we'll have to see.

[00:32:34] I've always liked to find the wildflowers on the 14ers. That's always been my favorite, which will probably be one of the areas that's more impacted this year, especially with a lot of the drought in this more mountainous terrain that people head to. But yeah, it always shocks me how many different types of flowers you can see just on like one hike. You know, you'll see like 10 to 20 or more different little species along the way from just going up through the forest when you're starting out and then getting above tree line

[00:33:03] and seeing some of the little smaller growths that are popping up there. And yeah, I mean, I'm going to have to say 14ers are my favorite spot. Mount Evans. Sorry. Mount Blue Sky. Apologies. Mount Blue Sky. Mount Blue Sky is a good one. Whenever I hiked it, it was still called Mount Evans. But same trail. So yeah, Mount Blue Sky is a good one for flowers. What else do we have?

[00:33:29] Definitely some of the best I've ever seen is when I went on the Alpine Loop. Oh, yes. Out of Lake City there. Into, what are some of those basins out there? Is that American? Yeah. American Basin. Am I right in thinking of that? You got sunshine and red cloud right there. Right. That's due to the 14ers. I remember going into that basin. It was just, it was just splashed with color. It was awesome. Well, that connects all the way over to Silverton too. Yeah. So you can, what is it, like 70 miles or so? Pretty rugged road.

[00:33:59] Yeah. If you're planning on traveling it. But you can rent those, rent those little ATVs and the 4x4s and check it out that way. And what else? I really liked Mount, Mount of the Holy Cross. That was a really good flower hike for me. La Plata Peak, another one. I think we talked last week about Mohawk Lake outside Breckenridge there. Yes. Yeah.

[00:34:29] I saw some great flowers going to that lake some years ago. Yeah. That's a good one for sure. Breckenridge area. You know, you can always count on some good flowers around there usually. You start at a pretty high elevation too, so you don't have to, you know, climb a whole 14er to see it. And Huron Peak, that was another good one that I remember. It's very lush. On a lush year, I guess. But I remember really liking that hike. And Willow Lake en route to Kit Carson Peak.

[00:34:56] I remember camping out at Willow Lake and being surrounded by flowers. That was awesome. Yeah. Another lush area. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they're usually pretty easy to find. Yeah. And I hope that's the case this year. Yeah. I do too. I don't think it'll be as bad as maybe it's made to sound, you know, but I think drought and the early snow melt will definitely have an impact. So hopefully we get some spring snow. Hopefully nature finds a way. I think about the pollinators too.

[00:35:23] I mean, you know, when they're expecting in a couple months to find the source of pollen and all of a sudden it's coming up early for them, you know, you wonder about those cascading effects, you know, when you talk about a drought like this. Yeah. And even if you have a wildflower season, that's not as spectacular as it normally is, what that means maybe for next year as well. Like how long those impacts could be, but I'm not a botanist. So yeah, I do not. I don't know.

[00:35:52] But yeah, it'll be something to get out on the trail a little bit earlier for this year though. So get it on your calendar if you're wanting to see flowers, maybe show up a couple weeks early. What else we got here? This is, so this is something you were writing about last week and we've talked about before, but this fossil rich destination that is often closed to the public. Yeah. But you can tour it under certain circumstances. When this time of year rolls around. Yeah. Tell us about that.

[00:36:21] If you haven't heard of Corral Bluff's open space, that's probably for a reason. It's a highly protected, what some might say, treasure trove, east of Colorado Springs. Treasure trove in the sense of the paleontological wonder out there.

[00:36:40] It's considered a hotbed of showcasing fossils and revealing species of life that came after the dinosaurs. Right? So something like 66 million years ago, I want to say, when the dinosaurs went extinct. Double check me on that, Spencer. And when mammals started rising. It's known as the KT boundary in scientific fields.

[00:37:07] And Corral Bluffs demonstrates this. I think an executive of the Smithsonian puts it as like, it's probably one of 20 places worldwide that showcases this kind of significant fossil record. Right? Yeah. That's what they say here on the site. It says one of the top 20 sites in the world for the preservation of the first 1 million years of the age of it, the mammals. Yeah. So after dinosaurs.

[00:37:36] So, yeah. I mean, seriously. I mean, I've heard stories of people who frequent Corral Bluffs. Officials, right? And researchers and land managers being the only ones who frequent Corral Bluffs. Rangers. Who like, they'll just be walking around and they'll see fossils, you know? I went on one of these tours last summer and a rock had fallen off a hillside and the ranger had said, you know, like, yeah, we'll be keeping an eye on that in case it cracks to see

[00:38:06] what it reveals. What's inside that rock. You know, it's that kind of fossil rich place. So, yeah. Why are we talking about it? Because when summer rolls around, they do tours out there, free guided hikes out there that you can, you got to pre-register for. And I think it's the first Saturday of the month when they're doing it for Corral Bluffs. So that might be something to add to your list. Yeah.

[00:38:36] Corral Bluffs, first Saturday of the month from May through October. So, and I think that's a weather pending thing as well. Well, and also a little bit of bad news in terms of planning for it. A pop-up here says all spots for the 2026 season are currently full. I'm not sure if that's accurate. Okay. I think that might be a glitch in the system. Okay. It also says you can be put on a wait list if it is accurate. Yeah. And there might be, I think it's a thing where they take those hikes if the wait list gets to a certain number of people.

[00:39:06] Oh. So it might be a technical thing there. That's fair. Check it out. That's where that new species was found, right? Yeah. There's new species getting found like every other year over there. Yeah. This one that looks like a little like a raccoon ferret looking thing. Remember that one? I really talked about that a while back. Yeah. Also interesting this year. Meliotocodonlidae. I was right about dinosaurs going extinct about 66 million years ago, by the way. There you go.

[00:39:34] I wanted to check my dino knowledge. Also interesting this year, they're putting out a call for guided hikes at Jimmy Camp Creek, which is kind of in that same vicinity east of Colorado Springs. Like same vicinity, but drastically different. Like lush and creek fed and tall conifers. Yeah. Explaining why it's believed to have been a popular place for people potentially going

[00:40:04] back 8,000 years. Last I checked, the record shows like 3,500 years of people being there. And the suspicion is that it could go back to like the, I think the group of people known as the paleo Indians as far back as 8,000 years ago. Wow. Yeah. So here we have this place of like animal life, right? Of prehistoric animals.

[00:40:27] And then up the way, this place of intense like human activity for thousands of years. I've had a historian here locally like describe it as comparable to like the Four Corners region in terms of scientific intrigue and wonder, you know, just hiding out there east of Colorado Springs when you're driving the highway, I think 93, 94 going out there. So pretty amazing.

[00:40:56] And you can learn a lot from being in those places. So it might be something to put on your list, one of these ranger led hikes. Yeah. I'm intrigued. That sounds really cool. It's always wild. Like how much is just hiding kind of even in plain sight, you know? And you mentioned the Four Corners region. There are a few YouTubers that I follow where they'll just go out on these like rugged expeditions to find something that they found on Google Earth where it'll look like there was like,

[00:41:24] oh, like this might be a cliff dwelling and we'll just find this cliff dwelling that's been previously undiscovered. So yeah, pretty wild. Probably don't get as much of that on the front range here, but yeah. We think we know everything in the state, but no, it's active discovery all the time. Yeah. Still finding new stuff. Yeah. So how about maybe to briefly touch on it, but there's a new outdoor recreation development near Red Rock Amphitheater?

[00:41:54] For the Denver listeners? Oh, right. Yeah. I just came by this headline. I'm still learning more, but Denver Post is reporting a Jefferson County open space, which manages Matthews Winters Park, if people are familiar with that, by Morrison. That beautiful area kind of that shoots off the Red Rocks Amphitheater, like you mentioned. Very popular trails, hiking, mountain biking, a lot of mountain biking back over there.

[00:42:22] Looks like that park is growing by another 347 acres. Oh, wow. So very significant land acquisition and expansion. At least I'm reading this as an expansion of that park. I'm not totally clear on that. But 347 acres right around that area adjacent to Red Rocks Park and Matthews Winters Park. Very cool.

[00:42:50] So yeah, pretty good big development there. Yeah. It looks like Matthews Winters Park is currently about 2,400 acres. That's what I'm saying. Mm-hmm. You ever been over there? No. It looks beautiful. Yeah. It's gorgeous, man. It looks really pretty. I had no clue I was there. Like right off, what is that? Where 70 and 470 are meeting, you know? Dang. Like just imagine driving up past Red Rocks. It's all right back in there. Yeah. It's really pretty. Really, really pretty. Good for wildflowers.

[00:43:15] It feels like you're probably escaping from the traffic noise and everything too, just from these photos. The busiest highway and the busiest city in Colorado is just a stone's throw away. And here you are in this kind of wonderland of red rocks and hogbacks and forests and meadows. And yeah, it's a great escape back in there. And cool to see it's growing. Makes me wonder what else there is to see back around there. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. Awesome. What else we got here? Maybe an update on Lost Canyon. Yeah, Lost Canyon.

[00:43:45] Speaking of open space, the one I'm a little more familiar with, we've talked about that. I've kind of been calling it, these are my words, maybe the most significant open space acquisition between Colorado Springs and Denver in quite a long time. Maybe at least since like that sandstone ranch. Didn't we talk about that? That Douglas County open space, that sandstone ranch open space. I mean, take it from the town of Castle Rock.

[00:44:13] They've called it, it is their biggest ever open space acquisition, the town of Castle Rocks. This Lost Canyon ranch, which is hiding out on like the southeast edge of town of Castle Rock. Short drive from downtown to put this in perspective. Short drive, like five, 10 minutes from downtown Castle Rock. And yet it's like this wild canyon land. And if you're familiar with Castlewood Canyon State Park, very similar to that terrain where

[00:44:39] it's like these low-lying canyons and forest and creek and there's this gorgeous mesa top. You know? Yeah, I'm seeing from your article here from last fall, one of the quotes you have says a stunning blend of grasslands towering ponderosa pines and dramatic canyon cliffs. Yeah. Yeah. I guess I keep finding words to try to describe it.

[00:45:05] Because it is beautiful and you just wouldn't expect it in Castle Rock. The way the assistant parks director put it to me was like, it's bringing the mountains to Castle Rock, which you don't really associate with Castle Rock so much. So yeah, that is set to open this summer. They have committed to opening that this summer. It sounds like there's been a lot of progress on the trail system. It's going to be about 15 miles of stacked loops back in there, exploring kind of these

[00:45:35] different environments. It's going to be hiking only in line with a conservation easement. And what land managers and official planners are saying is kind of what the feedback has been, you know, for this more of this quiet, wild escape, more of this wilderness kind of feel. Hiking for humans only too. Yeah. No dogs allowed. Right. No dogs allowed. Good point. Yeah. So anyway, that might be something for your radar.

[00:46:03] I mean, people have been waiting really just a couple of years now since the acquisition was announced. But a new place to discover right on Colorado's Front Range. You know, again, right when we think we've seen it all on Colorado's Front Range. I mean, here's this really rugged, wild, beautiful place that people are going to get to explore this summer. Yeah. It looks beautiful too. Yeah. It's absolutely beautiful. Yeah. Cool.

[00:46:31] I think that's about all we got for today here. You got anything else? I don't think so, buddy. Yeah. I don't think I got anything else. So yeah, we will be back in the studio here midweek chatting about some other news and other things. But until next time, I'm Spencer. And I'm Seth. And we'll see you out there.