Decades ago, I rode through the twisting, winding road that follows the rim overlooking the plateau carved by the Colorado River. I was not the one driving then; this time I was. At times, the twenty-three mile road seemed precariously close to the edge, sometimes with guardrails and sometimes without. At one of the firstContinue reading “Colorado National Monument”
Category Archives: Colorado
Western Slope towns
A rainy day was a good time for indoor and in-town activities on my recent road trip to western Colorado. We visited nearby Cedaredge, a small town of a little over two thousand people in the shadow of Grand Mesa. Historic Pioneer Town Museum is a sprawling eclectic mix of buildings and memorabilia evoking anContinue reading “Western Slope towns”
Fruitgrowers Reservoir
On this western Colorado road trip, I stayed for a few days with a friend who lives high on a hill with 360 degree views of mountains. On the other side of the hill lies Fruitgrowers Reservoir. The reservoir provides irrigation for the orchards and farms in the area. But we were there to seeContinue reading “Fruitgrowers Reservoir”
Dominguez Canyon
I haven’t taken a long hike in a while, just an hour or so along my favorite well-beaten paths most days when the weather’s good. The friend I visited on this Colorado road trip reminded me to pack my hiking gear. The Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area covers a broad area along the Gunnison River, includingContinue reading “Dominguez Canyon”
Grand Junction sculpture
In Colorado, the cities, towns, foothills, and mountains east of the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains spanning north to south are referred to as the Front Range. The Western Slope covers the mountains, towns, and more desert-like landscape west of the divide. An artist friend recently moved to the Western Slope and invited meContinue reading “Grand Junction sculpture”
Breckenridge snow sculpture
Every January, the ski town of Breckenridge, Colorado hosts the International Snow Sculpture Championships. For over twenty years, teams of snow artists from around the world come and ply their creative craft with the natural materials of the Rocky Mountains. Each team begins with a twelve-foot block of snow along Breck’s Riverwalk. At the beginning of the week,Continue reading “Breckenridge snow sculpture”
Aspen
Most winters, I take a break to soak in the natural pools at Glenwood Springs, just a few hours west of my mountain home. Last week, I spent some time at the hot springs and drove to Aspen for a day. I hadn’t been there in decades, when I attended the Aspen Music Festival withContinue reading “Aspen”
Antonito
The little town of Antonito lies just north of the Colorado/New Mexico border, on the Colorado side. When I’ve headed down that way, I’ve stayed a few times at the Indiana Jones Bed and Breakfast. On this road trip in October 2022, I spent a night there on the way down and the way back.Continue reading “Antonito”
Leadville
Starting out for a week-long road trip to Santa Fe and environs in October, I took one of the many scenic routes through the Colorado mountains. Leadville, at 10,000 feet in altitude, was a convenient place to stop and stretch my legs, walking around town. Like the town I live in, and many Colorado mountainContinue reading “Leadville”
Ode to a tree
My home is perched on the side of a mountain, at the edge of town. In an earlier essay (Thoughts for the new year), after a devastating fire near Boulder, I wrote about fire danger in my mountain neighborhood. There are a few houses above mine, but only a few. The landscape and a rockyContinue reading “Ode to a tree”
Ruth Rosenfeld 