By George Sibley

It is hard to find things to write about in a positive and optimistic way these days without feeling like Pollyanna – looking on the bright side of life, like those guys hanging on crosses put it in “The Life of Brian.” But, in an era when nearly everything seems to be going to hell, there is one thing that is getting better and better, and that is beer. All those ales, lagers, pilsners, stouts and other things along a spectrum from hoppy to malty that get lumped together as “beer.” Read the rest of this article

 By Mike Rosso

The Beaver Creek Wilderness Study Area (BCWSA), near Penrose, is a hidden gem encompassing nearly 27,020 acres. Administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), a portion – 13,734 acres – is within an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. As part of the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the BLM was directed to inventory areas for their wilderness characteristics. These areas are known as Wilderness Study Areas (WSA). Until Congress makes a final decision either to designate these areas as wilderness or release them for other multiple uses, the BLM manages WSAs to preserve their suitability for designation as wilderness. Read the rest of this article

By Virginia McConnell Simmons

The Roaring Twenties, the Charleston, and the speakeasies never happened as far as folks in the San Luis Valley could tell, but on the whole, this high valley was not dry.

In the 1920s, the agricultural economy was limping everywhere and mining was severely crippled at places like Creede; and that was before the market crashed and the mines shut down completely in 1929. As if that were not bad enough, this was the era of Prohibition. In fact, it had already begun in 1916 in some of Colorado’s cities and towns, where reformers outnumbered rugged individualists. Read the rest of this article

By Ashlyn Stewart

Pew Research’s Internet and American Life project’s most recent findings come as little surprise to us teenagers – the generation notorious for staying glued to its cell phones. The study, released on March 13, concluded 78 percent of teens have a cell phone, and 47 percent of them own smart phones.

Because so many teens own these devices, countless questions about where and how they should be used by such impressionable minds have surfaced. Pair this with how quickly the technology changes and it’s a wonder any users know what cell phone etiquette should be.

Fortunately, teens do. Read the rest of this article

By Tyler Grimes

Colorado has been known as a beer-brewing mecca for years, and recently that trend has shifted to micro distilleries. In early 2011 the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau had issued 18 distilling permits in Colorado. In November, Wood’s High Mountain Distillery in Salida received the 38th permit in the state. The distillery on 1st Street opened its doors to the public on March 2, becoming the second distillery in the valley. Deerhammer opened in Buena Vista in February 2012, and two more distilleries hope to open this spring: Two Guns in Leadville, and Boathouse Distillery in Salida. The boom in craft-beverage making has certainly made its way to the Upper Arkansas River Valley. Read the rest of this article

By Patty LaTaille

When I was asked to write a story about Bill Forrest, I hesitated briefly. Having met Bill during an interview assigned by The Mountain Gazette, I spent a number of fascinating hours listening to his stories and poking around his workshop filled with all sorts of innovative climbing devices and snowshoe models. He introduced me to his wife Rosa, and so began a friendship of shared meals, chance meetings and a memorable snowshoe adventure at Beaver Creek, in which Bill in his ever gracious manner shoveled out my Subaru not once, but twice from neighboring snow banks. Read the rest of this article

 By Kevin Patrick

“I’m callin’ about the stay away.”

“The stay away?”

“Yeah. The stay away.”

… “The STAY away?”

We began again. The serves and whiffs went on for a ridiculous minute before I realized a transplanted New Englander was responding to an ad I’d run to get help rebuilding a stairway (“stay away”). What you say hinges delicately on how you say it.

Place names tend to be less confusing, as they’re generally embedded in a rich contextual stew of language, geography and history. But even if the meaning is clear, many within earshot generally stand ready and willing to be offended by your pronunciation. Read the rest of this article

By E.J. Phillips

I reach up a wee bit higher, first with one hand, then the other, clinging to the round, gritty surface. My arms spread out and fingers grasp tight. Inch by inch I scale the rock until I reach a small scooped-out hollow carved by wind and rain. I wiggle into the little nook, then turn and peer carefully over the edge to see how high I have climbed. Cautiously I creep up a few more steps until I stand on top of a giant boulder. It is like a gray stone fortress, standing guard over the arroyo stretching beneath me.

My grandparents called this place Bear Gulch. Located in southern Colorado, this gully-ridden, jagged mountainside was dotted with straggly cedar trees that struggled to stay alive.  Covered with smooth rocks, sharp-edged rocks, little rocks and big rocks, it was a place where big black bears and little brown bears once roamed, built their homes, and hid their young. Read the rest of this article

After years of on-the-ground research and action that stretched all the way from the rapids of the Arkansas River to Washington D.C., the Friends of Browns Canyon (FOBC), a local nonprofit group, still needed an effective way to tout the landscape and allure of Browns Canyon, which lies between Buena Vista and Salida.

They’d made great progress on the effort, particularly with help of photographer John Fielder, who donated his time to create beautiful images of the proposed wilderness area. They also captured the attention of Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, who has visited the Browns Canyon area several times. Read the rest of this article

By Mike Rosso

One of Salida’s early residents went on to become the wife of a well-known author as well as a tragic and controversial figure herself.

In the summer of 1884, Caroline Starr Balestier, aged 21, moved to Salida from New England with her brother Wolcott, then a promising young author. Wolcott had been impressed with Colorado from an earlier visit and was returning with his sister. She had a friend in Salida, Miss Amy Graves, whom ”Carrie,” as friends called Caroline, had met at an Eastern school. Read the rest of this article

By Tina Mitchell

Every weekend from mid-March through early August, you’ll find me checking more than 100 nestboxes on our 39 acres in western Fremont County. Remember that scorching, enervating, record-breaking heat of last summer? Yep, I was out there, on foot, each Friday and Saturday afternoon, sweating, plodding – and having a grand time. Why? Monitoring nestboxes affords me glimpses of bird families in the thick of raising their young. If all goes according to plan, for a few weeks each summer two parents spend every minute of daylight protecting their young and delivering protein-rich insect meals to their offspring multiple times an hour. And I get to watch. Read the rest of this article

By Patty LaTaille

Solar Damages?

Is Ron Briggs in a position to claim property damages due to Saguache County’s decision to permit California-based SolarReserve to build a concentrated solar power planet directly across from his property north of Center? Saguache County courts are willing to consider his case against the county, and it could be on its way to trial.

Attorney Jessica Muzzio, representing Saguache County, has filed a motion to dismiss, claiming Briggs is not entitled to the $7,500 in damages he is seeking on the basis of the county’s sovereign immunity and his failure to file a complaint in district court within 28 days of the re-zoning decision. The county authorized the SolarReserve 1041 permit on April 3. Read the rest of this article

Uranium Mine on the Horizon?

Western Fremont County might become the site of multiple uranium mines if the price reaches a profitable threshold, according to The Mountain Mail.

Black Range Minerals Colorado owns the mineral rights to 13,500 acres on the Hansen site, which contains one of the largest deposits of triuranium octoxide ore, approximately 90 million pounds. The 13,500-acre site is located northeast of Cotopaxi, along Tallahassee Creek. Officials with Black Range have dubbed the site the Taylor Ranch Uranium Project.

Worldwide demand for uranium is on the increase and if prices reach $70 a pound Black Range hopes to begin borehole mining. Prices are currently $45 a pound. Permitting for the operation through multiple U.S., state and local agencies, could take up to three years. Read the rest of this article

By Christopher Kolomitz

Skiers seem to always go big.

Big air, big adventures and big falls.

And they dream big, too. This year, many are dreaming of massive amounts of snow following a lackluster season last year. More than 30 years ago, developers of two ski areas in Central Colorado were dreaming as well.

Separated by about 80 miles, the Conquistador and Cuchara ski areas share a remarkably similar and sad fate. They were both within a day’s drive of Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, and no major mountain passes had to be navigated, which was good for marketing. Both were affordable, low key and offered beginners the chance to learn. They were nestled in idyllic valleys, home to historic ranches and scenic vistas. Read the rest of this article

By Duane Vandenbusche

The Pioneer Ski Area began during the winter of 1939-40 and was located three miles up Cement Creek and eight miles south of Crested Butte on the side of spectacular Cement Mountain. Pioneer would become famous as the first ski area in Colorado to employ a chairlift.

The ski area was hatched in the minds of Gunnison skiers Rial Lake, Art Fordham, Chuck Sweitzer and Wes McDermott. All of these men had skied off Monarch and Marshall Passes in the 1930s, but they yearned for a ski area that could eliminate the long treks to the tops of mountains. The four men knew the region around Crested Butte to the north had everything needed for a great ski area – tremendous snow, high mountains, and a great ski tradition dating back to the early 1880s. Read the rest of this article

By Tyler Grimes
The weekend forecast called for cold temperatures and a chance of snow – ideal conditions for sled dog racing, one would think. But for the participants of Colorado Mountain Musher’s Dryland Mush, snow could mean race cancellation.

But the snow held off and the 7th annual Dryland Mush was held at Adventure Unlimited (AU) outside Buena Vista on Nov. 10-11. All four events were held despite the cold.

The races are: Canicross; – contestants run with their leashed dogs; 1-2 dog Scooter-jor; – dog(s) pulls contestants on scooters; Bike-jor; – bikes are outfitted to connect to the pulling dogs; and the Small Team Cart; – a max of four dogs pulling contestants by cart. Each race took place on both days and the combined times determined the winners. Read the rest of this article

By Duane Vandenbusche

The Western State College ski team began innocently enough. Shortly after the end of World War II, veterans returned to the college. Some had been members of the famed 10th Mountain Ski Division, which trained at Pando near Tennessee Pass and had fought in the mountains of Italy. The idea for a ski team came from two veterans of the 10th Mountain: Crosby Perry-Smith from New York and Dick Wellington from Maine. Read the rest of this article

By Mike Rosso

Election day in Salida was unusually bright and sunny. Since I’d already voted by mail, I decided to spend some time sipping coffee in the sun outside Café Dawn, chatting up some of the customers and passersby.

I started asking random folks how they voted, not on the general election – around which there was much anxiety – but how they voted on Amendment 64. “Which one was that?” was a common response, and when I mentioned it was about the statewide legalization of marijuana, most relaxed and their answers came as a surprise. Read the rest of this article

By Tyler Grimes
Kent Weber enters a gate into the fenced-in home of three wolves. He makes his way down into the aspen grove where the wolves are dispersed, playfully calling them. They perk up from their food-induced stupor brought on by the 15 pounds of meat they gorged on the previous day. The wolves are drawn to Weber’s gentle authority and come to greet him. They jump up on their hind legs, place their front paws on Weber’s chest and sniff his teeth, the signature wolf greeting. He pets them like a dog, which they accept momentarily before running off. Read the rest of this article

The Lobato (Costilla Crossing) Bridge is the southernmost bridge over the Rio Grande River in Colorado. It sits on County Road G between Antonito and Jaroso, Colorado and was originally constructed in 1892 by Joseph F. Thomas. He was a civil engineer and the Conejos County Surveyor and lived in Manassa, Co.. The bridge was purchased from the Wrought Iron Bridge Company of Canton, Ohio for the sum of $8,400. The bridge parts were shipped to Colorado by train and assembled on location. Read the rest of this article

Dateline – Near Salida and Cañon City, Colorado. It seems counterintuitive, a misnomer. The Arkansas River heads in the high country of southern Colorado, and a portion of northern New Mexico. It’s the fourth longest river in the United States, obviously named for an encounter in its namesake state. But it seems like it ought to be called something else, like the “Rio Truchas” or “Boulder River” or “Pike’s River.” Its moniker doesn’t fit, here at least. Zebulon Pike passed through here under Jefferson’s watch in his zealous attempt at exploring the then-northern Spanish colony. Pike got arrested for his endeavor, and in the complex outcome, was paroled in Mexico. For it all, he got a peak named after him; its waters feed the Arkansas. Read the rest of this article

Written and composed by A.J. Fynn, “Where the Columbines Grow” was adopted on May 8, 1915 as the offical state song of Colorado by an act of the General Assembly. While traveling by horse and wagon to visit Indian tribes in the San Luis Valley in 1896, Fynn received inspiration to pen the song after he came across a Colorado mountain meadow blanketed with columbine flowers. He dedicated the song to the Colorado pioneers. Read the rest of this article

By Elizabeth Ritchie, RN

The entire conversation of health care reform starts with the consensus that in the United States the health care status quo cannot be sustained. Reining in health care costs and putting health care back in the hands of individuals rather than insurance companies has been attempted by presidents since Teddy Roosevelt’s administration. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the single greatest deficit-reduction package since President Clinton’s budget of 1993. It is the single biggest legislative action of President Obama and the most significant ruling by the Supreme Court in decades. Read the rest of this article

For a week or so this summer, the majestic Sangre De Cristo mountains served as the backdrop for a colorful array of gravity-defying crafts, catching thermals and drifting on the wind.

Dubbed Colorado Fly Week, an event held this past July just east of Villa Grove hosted nearly 130 hang gliders and paragliders from all over the U.S., testing their skills, enjoying the views and raising money to improve access to their launch point. Flyers enjoy the valley view after launching from a nearby bluff, a fifteen-minute drive up from the landing zone (LZ). Along with various festivities, there is a friendly competition based on a number of factors, including total air time and altitude gain. One flyer managed to soar all the way down the Sangre De Cristo range to Taos, New Mexico, where he reportedly spent the night in a homeless shelter due to the fact that he carried no money on his flight. Read the rest of this article

by John Orr 

Drought and Trout

Back in May, Front Range cities were falling all over themselves telling their customers that there would be no watering restrictions over the summer turf season, despite the fact that a meager snowpack – rivaling the drought year of 2002 – was melting out weeks early.

When the Upper Colorado River, South Platte and Arkansas River basins dried up and melted out during May, Stage 1 restrictions – usually voluntary – suddenly became the name of the game up and down the populated side of Colorado. But with record high temperatures consumption was through the roof, as much as 20% above 2011 for the year in some of the cities around Denver. Mandatory water restrictions are now on the horizon in areas worried about the Water Year 2013 snowpack. Read the rest of this article

By Cara Guerrieri

As a young girl with romantic leanings, the legend of Waunita Hot Springs fascinated me. It is said that the tears shed by the beautiful Waunita, a woman of the Ute tribe, created the hot springs. She had fallen in love with a Shoshone warrior, who was then killed in battle. In her grief and sorrow, Waunita wandered the valley and was so heartbroken that she died within days and was buried in a nearby cave. Her love was so strong, however, that where her tears fell, the earth weeps. In the remote valley twenty-seven miles from Gunnison, Colorado, millions of gallons of water per day flow at up to 174°. The legend of Waunita is written on a plaque near the springs and as a youth, I remember reading it and trying to imagine a love that powerful. Read the rest of this article

By Jessika Vandivier

The day my grandpa died I laughed. It was getting close to my eighth birthday. I had been at the babysitter’s all day when my dad called and said he was running late. When he finally came to pick me up, he wasn’t himself. On a normal day he would stay and talk football with my sitter’s husband, but all he said was thank you and we left. He didn’t say anything in the car. I, on the other hand, couldn’t stop blabbing about how good my day was. He sat there in silence. From that moment on, all of the memories of that night remain in my head; no detail is lost.

Instead of going home, we went to my grandma’s house. I was excited because I got to see my grandpa. I ran in the house and found all of my grandparent’s friends sitting in the living room. They all looked over at me with sad expressions on their faces. I didn’t think anything of it. I ran past them and went looking for my grandpa. I was calling out his name while searching the house. My efforts failed, but instead I succeeded in making my grandmother cry. Before that moment, I had never seen her show any emotion but happiness. At this moment, for some twisted reason, I began to laugh. Read the rest of this article

Part 3: The Fry-Ark Project

 By George Sibley

In 1948, after six years of study and planning, it finally happened: the Bureau of Reclamation released plans for a big project to bring water from the Gunnison River Basin through Central Colorado to the Arkansas River Basin. A really big project – exceeding the fondest dreams of Arkansas Basin water users – the “Gunnison-Arkansas Project” proposed transferring 600,000 acre-feet of water through the Continental Divide. That was twice as big as the Colorado-Big Thompson Project up north, moving West Slope water to the South Platte Basin. Read the rest of this article

By George Sibley

Part 2: The Quest for the Rational versus the Irrational and – Immortal?

Lying astride the Continental Divide, Central Colorado has been a crossroads for some action and a lot more “discussion” concerning the state’s central problem: an arid region with 90 percent of its people on one side of the Divide, and around 80 percent of its water on the other side. The Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, celebrating the 50th anniversary this year of its “creation on paper,” is one of Colorado’s solutions to that problem, moving water from the West Slope through the Divide to the Arkansas River Basin. This second part of the story details how the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project came to be. Read the rest of this article

By Phillip Benningfield

Most of us, if fairly avid outdoors folks, have strolled along the Colorado Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the easy-to-get-to trails surrounding our little mountain towns. What we miss by taking the well-trodden routes – although these aforementioned trails are superb – is the personal gratification we find when our minds are fulfilled. We feel the need to see what is around the next ridge, what is over the next pass, what sublime view we might otherwise miss. The selections here are certainly known by the more adventurous who can’t get enough of Colorado’s fine offerings. If you have not seen the rock formations in and around La Garita or even further along the off-the-beaten path, then pack a lunch and dinner, take plenty of water and do not plan on getting home on time. A detailed road atlas and/or gazetteer will show all the necessary roads. Read the rest of this article

By Ann Marie Swan

Milagros means miracles in Spanish. Fittingly, a miracle would be helpful right about now to keep Milagros Coffeehouse on Main Street in Alamosa. The lease ends this year and this beauty of a building is for sale.

All profits from Milagros support the nonprofit La Puente, which means the bridge. La Puente’s mission is to feed, clothe and shelter people in the San Luis Valley. Milagros, in the center of town, is a public relations storefront for La Puente’s work. Other La Puente enterprises include a motel, two thrift stores and a boutique.

The nonprofit’s message doesn’t appear on Milagros’ exterior, a red-brick historical treasure. The philosophy is experience the place first, then learn of the mission later. Read the rest of this article

Moose foothold gaining strength in Central Colorado

By Christopher Kolomitz
Once considered a rarity in the state, moose are quickly becoming another attraction to the Colorado wild lands, right up there with snow-covered peaks, blazing aspen stands and cold, clear streams.

Specifically, it’s the Shiras moose that has tourists and locals doing a double-take. Typically smaller than their cousins to the north in Canada and Alaska, the Shiras moose has gained a foothold in Colorado, thanks to reintroduction efforts by state wildlife officials, a lack of natural predators and abundant suitable range. Read the rest of this article

Senator Gail Schwartz (D-Snowmass) was elected to represent Colorado’s Senate District 5 in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010. Previously, she was elected to serve on the Board of Regents of the University of Colorado from 2000 to 2005 and, before that, she was appointed by Gov. Roy Romer to the Colorado Commission on Higher Education from 1995 to 1999.

Colorado Central: Could you briefly explain SB12-048, the “Local Foods, Local Jobs Act” and how it will affect residents of Central Colorado? Where does the bill currently stand?  Read the rest of this article

By Jennifer Dempsey

When wounded war veterans arrive at Eagles Summit Ranch in Westcliffe, Dave Roever understands their skepticism.

“These men and women are beat up pretty badly and aren’t buying into anything until I walk in,” said the 65-year-old Vietnam veteran. “Then they see all the disfigurement, all the damage I’ve been through and there is an instantaneous bond. They see I’ve been down the road before them and they trust me. My biggest advantage is my scars, they scream authenticity.” Read the rest of this article

Story and photos by Mike Rosso

Regular travelers on the east side of Monarch Pass have seen it. Just north of Maysville, the crumbling remains of a four-sided mansard roof rise like a sentinel above the guardrail on the south side of the highway. At 55 mph, that’s about all that motorists are likely to see, but closer inspection reveals an impressive piece of historic architecture that won’t likely survive any expansion plans on the part of the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Read the rest of this article

By Ann Marie Swan

A unique chapter of South Park history is that for 27 years, Fairplay was home to a fire-breathing beast that belched smoke for days, luring artists, students and the curious to be near its flames.

Master potter Mark Zamantakis fired up his massive three-chambered, wood-burning Japanese kiln in June at an elevation of 10,880 feet to imprint his pottery with the subtle, ethereal variations of the flame’s life and moods. The pottery recorded the experience of the present moment, giving each piece richness, depth and uniqueness. Read the rest of this article

Story and photos by Kenneth Jessen

There are well over 1,500 ghost towns in Colorado. Many are abandoned mining camps spread out over the western half of the state. Among the most obscure is Duncan, located along the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

The history of Duncan started in 1874 when John Duncan followed an old trail over Medano Pass into the San Luis Valley. At the mouth of Pole Creek, he discovered some “float,” or gold-bearing ore, that had washed down from the mountains. He constructed a durable cabin made of hand-hewn logs locked tightly together with corner notches. As word got out other prospectors were attracted to the area, and in 1890 a town grew up around his cabin. Duncan then turned from prospector to town promoter, laid out the town of Duncan, and sold lots for $25 each. Read the rest of this article

By Jackie Powell

Filling stations. Service stations. Gas stations. Aren’t they all the same thing? Maybe and maybe not. But they have certainly changed since I was a child in the 1950s.

My father would drive into a gas station and the attendant would come out wiping his hands on a greasy red cloth. Full-time attendants wore a complete uniform – jacket and shirt with embroidered name and logo, slacks and cap. High school boys working part-time often only had a shirt with their name on it. Read the rest of this article

By Virginia McConnell Simmons

The economic potential of booming mining camps inspired the board of directors of Colorado Springs’ First National Bank to build a standard-gauge railroad through the Rockies. They believed they could provide the mountain region with better equipment and service than the region’s miniature railroads were already doing. The optimistic capitalists of “Little London” soon learned some hard lessons about pitting money and machinery against the high country. Read the rest of this article

By Maddie Mansheim

Sixteen teams totaling 128 professional bike riders will embark on a seven day feat of extraordinary physical ability, mental endurance and competitive ambition through a strenuous 518-mile trek traversing the demanding Coloradan terrain in the upcoming USA Pro Cycling Challenge (UPCC). This inaugural journey begins on Aug. 22 with the prologue in Colorado Springs, the start of the race in Salida on the 23rd, with the final destination being Denver on the 28th. The route entails a plethora of grueling climbs up challenging passes, mountains, and perhaps the most taxing of all obstacles, the elevation of over 12,000 feet. Read the rest of this article

By Mike Rosso

A unique team of firefighters are being trained in Chaffee and Fremont County through a program with the Colorado Correctional Facility.

Dubbed the State Wildland Inmate Fire Team (SWIFT), the program is designed to prepare offenders for placement on Type 2 hand crews to be utilized on wildfires statewide.

Begun in the summer of 2002, the program is operated by Colorado Correction Industries ( CCI), a division of the Colorado Department of Corrections. Read the rest of this article

By Kenneth Jessen

The Civil War started 150 years ago when Confederate forces attacked a United States military installation at Fort Sumter, South Carolina. It might seem distant to Colorado, but it had an indirect effect on the state’s development. Read the rest of this article

Located A few miles northwest of Westcliffe off Colorado Hwy. 69, the historic Beckwith Ranch has been undergoing restoration by a group of dedicated volunteers in recent years. This spring a new phase of the restoration will begin when work starts on the interior of the main house. Read the rest of this article

We decided to brave the U.S. Census Bureau website (not for the faint of heart or Mac users) to see how the population numbers have changed over the past decade in our neck of the woods. Overall, Colorado gained 727,935 souls for a grand total of 5,029,196. Here in Central Colorado we saw mostly modest increases although many rural communities in the San Luis Valley saw drops in their populations. Also, despite its apparent growth, Salida actually lost population although other communities in Chaffee County saw gains. Lake County and Leadville also saw a decrease in their numbers. Cañon City’s increase is not due to more prisoners – they are not counted in the census.

Read the rest of this article

 By Ed Quillen

The American Civil War, whose sesquicentennial begins this month, started years before there was a place named Salida, and even its nearest battles were hundreds of miles away.

Even so, there’s a big stone memorial that faces F Street from Riverside Park behind a park bench. The letters are getting indistinct, but they remain legible if you get close: “Our Honored Heroes. 1861-1865. Erected by Salida Circle No. 12 Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic Department of Colorado and Wyoming, A.D. 1916.” Read the rest of this article