In these strange, upsetting times, it is helpful to find silver linings. Sure, my 4-year-old hasn’t played on a jungle gym since March. But he is awesome at climbing the pirate ship/climbing wall/jungle gym built of scaffolding in our driveway. It’s the COVID silver linings that will leave the lasting mark on ourselves and families. Human […]
hiking
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: Colorado needs the CORE Act. It’s time for the Senate to act.
I discovered the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDT) in 2014, the longest of America’s great trails, as part of the Warrior Hike program to help military veterans “walk off” the effects of war. My service in the Army from 2008-12 included time as an aviation officer and UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopter pilot , as well […]
Posted inNews, Outdoors
“A feeling of empowerment and freedom”: It’s become common for women to accompany a hiking tale with a shirtless photo
By Amanda Hancock, The Gazette COLORADO SPRINGS — Lauren Robison had been waiting for the right moment. In awe of the views near the end of a hike through Black Canyon in Gunnison, she thought, “Yup, this is the one.” It helped, too, that no one else was around. Robison planted her feet among some […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Culture, Outdoors
Eager to experience Colorado in a different way, a Boulder woman set life aside to forge a new trail across the state
There was a terrifying, wind-whipped storm on Colorado’s Eastern Plains. There was a run-in with a bear near Minturn. There have been blisters, and many reroutes. But none of it has stopped India Wood from pressing on toward her goal of traversing Colorado from corner to corner, a more than 750-mile journey that has tested […]
Posted inOpinion, Write On, Colorado
As some venture out despite the coronavirus, a critical question arises: Where to pee?
We are all itching to get out. No matter how successfully (or not) we are entertaining ourselves at home—just the limited geography of home makes us want more. One friend says, “What I really want is to drive into the mountains and go hiking.” We are on a group Zoom. I chime in, “You should […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Environment, Health, News, Outdoors
Front Range kayakers, rafters blast Jefferson County’s extended coronavirus closure of Clear Creek
Jefferson County, like the rest of Colorado, reopened restaurants and loosened restrictions on people’s movement this week. But Clear Creek, one of its most popular draws, will remain closed. Sheriff Jeff Shrader extended a ban on all swimming, tubing and kayaking in the creek that bisects the 580,000-resident county. That troubles the Front Range kayaking […]
Posted inCOVID, Health, News, Outdoors
You’re not supposed to travel more than 10 miles for outdoor recreation during Colorado’s safer-at-home phase
Colorado is loosening some restrictions on people’s movement starting this week as the state enters a new phase of its battle against the new coronavirus, but travel for outdoor recreation is one area that’s not being relaxed. In fact, there may actually be stricter limits in place for people seeking some fresh air. Gov. Jared […]
Posted inColoradans, Environment, News, Outdoors
He climbed and descended 50,000 vertical feet for 13 days — blind. His dog, Lulu, showed him the way.
Trevor Thomas was stuck near Avalanche Gulch in the shadow of Mount Yale. The trail had been erased by the winter’s avalanches. The reroute of the technical Collegiate Loop Trail around the debris field did not match his directions. “I had absolutely no idea where to go. I said to Lulu, ‘I don’t know what […]
Posted inCulture, Environment, Outdoors
Technicolor explosion of wildflowers springs from epic snowpack in Colorado’s high country
Residents of Crested Butte have been wearing out superlatives as the piles of snow around the Wildflower Capital of Colorado have slowly begun to disappear. “Astounding!” “Extraordinary!” “Incredible!” Those adjectives are popping up from petal peepers like the blooms that had been lying in wait under the epic, late-melting snow. After a few sunny days […]
Posted inBusiness, News, Outdoors
Colorado climber stepped over newly dead bodies to summit Everest. He’s still wrestling with what it all means.
Dr. Peter Lowry, a 38-year-old radiologist from Golden, passed two bodies on May 23, casting a shadow on his life-long dream mere steps from the summit of Mount Everest. “I thought I would see bodies from five, 10, 20 years ago. Not from this season. I did not mentally prepare to see people who had […]