Down Wiley!

 

I took the Fam on a trip to Colorado recently.  No, it wasn't cheap, but it was 36 degrees in the morning out there.  Not to mention the mountains!  It's really hard to beat the west when you want to get away from an oppressive Florida summer.

We stayed in a quaint town called Breckinridge.  All you rich folks have already been there skiing and snowboarding.  I'd never been.  In fact my first ever trip on a ski lift was when we loaded the bikes to do a lift run on the mountain.

Riding the lift for the first time was scarier than riding the bike back down.

 

 

 

We'd hike a day, then rent bikes the next.  The altitude was a struggle at times but not completely debilitating. 



 

 

 

 

 

Locally brewed beer for lunch. Doesn't a weekday lunch beer always taste great?

I thought the bike trails on the mountain would be groomed but they were mostly just cross country type trails that zig zagged back down to the base of the ski lift.  It was a zoo at the base, miniature golf, bungee jumping, a kiddie coaster, and a restaurant, made for an area packed with kids and parents.  Not what we had in mind when we started that day.

Trails on the lift run were less than we had hoped.  Still it was pretty.

The Kid just had to go play in the snow.  This is July?

 

The Lovely Wife had been training for weeks for this day, unfortunately the chain on her bike broke right after we got it off the lift, so she rode back to the base with no chain.  Once she made it down she'd had enough.  I was disappointed with the bike shop employees attitude, set up, and service on the rental bikes.  Did I mention Colorado has legalized marijuana?   The Kid and I managed to find some better riding off the mountain and rode till we'd had enough.

 

 

Downtown Breckinridge on a Wednesday evening.  I'm having 60's flashbacks.

 

They tell you to stay away from alcohol and caffeine at altitude, then they sell both on every corner in town.  Needless to say food and adult beverages were consumed in mass quantities after a day on the trails.  Restaurants were excellent and not terribly expensive.  There was a shuttle to take you wherever you wanted to go.  Plus we could walk from the townhouse to downtown.

 

 

Inside the saloon, supposed to be the oldest liquor license west of the Mississippi.  Sorry it's blurry, they mix the bourbon strong.

Anyhoo, the next time just The kid and I rented bikes and I was able to get things set up better.  The town of Breckinridge has built 100 miles of trail that connects to public trail on the national forest.  It was much more fun than the lift stuff.  We got run out of the woods early due to thunderstorms but still had a great ride. 

 

 

Hiking

The hiking was amazing.  Since Breckinridge is above 9000' you can get above the tree line pretty quick which makes for some killer trails.  I was surprised by the number and "condition" of some of the other hikers we encountered.  I'll just leave it at that.

I noticed that everybody has a dog in Colorado, and they take them wherever they go.  On the hike to Mohawk lake we counted 10 dogs at the summit. Of course out of the 10 there has to be one male who hasn't been fixed.  This was Wiley.  He'd sneak up behind the other dogs as they played by the lake and um, attempt to, well, you know.  Barking and growling would ensue followed by his owner hollering "down Wiley!".  Wiley would then sneak off only to pop up again in a few minutes on a new unsuspecting friend.  Wiley had himself a busy day.

Wiley is the brown dog in the back, preparing for another assault.

Coming Down

They only have 30 frost free days a year in that part of Colorado.  That means it's cold as hell most of the time.  I tried a long time ago to make a living out there and came home with my tail between my legs.  It can be a tough place.  But even knowing that, it is still hard to come home.

Ah Leadville, the real Colorado.