The Sherpa Project

Well, it’s been a year and a half since I’ve been on my extended vacation in Colorado and it’s been amazing. I’ve had a wonderful time and seen some beautiful things here. I was able to snowboard almost every weekend for what seemed like an eternity and I was able to do some great hiking. I’ve been taking pictures along the way (over 1,000 photos since I’ve been here), and I thought that I’d post some links to some of the things I’ve seen and places that I’ve been over the past 18 months:

Snowboarding…

I had a pass to Breckenridge, Keystone, ABasin, Beaver Creek, and Vail. All of these mountains are great and they all have their own personalities. I spent most of time at Breck, but most of the locals seem to migrate more towards ABasin. My favorite scene would have to be Beaver Creek because the village is incredibly nice. Keystone is similar to a big version of Snowshoe Mtn. in West Virginia (where I’m from) with some great tree-skiing. ABasin is a great locals mountain with some historic parties in the parking lots (especially at the beginning and end of the season). Vail is exactly what you’d picture. I didn’t really like Vail unless there was powder in the back bowls (Feb/March).

Hiking…

I lived extremely close to hundreds of miles of hiking trails and a short drive from some incredible summits. Some of the local hiking included Three Sisters Park, Chicago Lakes (in the Mt. Evans Wilderness Area), Elk Meadow (across the street from my place), Matthews Winters Park, Maxwell Falls, Mt. Falcon, Rocky Mountain National Park, Lair O’ the Bear, and Chautauqua Park.

The summits that I enjoyed included Square Top, South Boulder Peak, Mount Sniktau, Mount Sanitas, Mount Evans (we only drove to the top), Mount Democrat, Mount Bierstadt, Green Mountain (the one in Boulder), Chief Mountain, Bergen Peak, and Bear Peak. The 14ers (Evans, Bierstadt, and Democrat) are always busy because they are all close to Denver, but the experience of hiking to the summit is still exciting with all of the people around. The 13ers (Square Top and Sniktau) are always less crowded and tend to have views that are just as beautiful. The summits in Boulder are at much lower elevations but the vibe on the Boulder hikes is always good and I love being able to let Kaya (my dog) off the leash in Boulder county.

Locations…

Evergreen (where I lived) was a great town during the day, but there’s not much going on after the sun goes down. We’d have to drive at least 15 minutes to get a coffee after 8:00pm. There is great hiking and mountain biking in Evergreen. To be fair, there are some good saloons, but the saloon-scene really isn’t my thing.

Denver is a pretty nice city. Good nightlife, decent food (it’s either hit or miss), and tons of various activities throughout the week and weekends. The airport is nice, but the flights are expensive and it takes a lot of time to get to your gate from the parking areas. If you’re in town, try and catch a show at Red Rocks, it’s the best venue I’ve ever seen.

Boulder is incredible. I can’t say enought about the area and the people. Location-wise, I will miss Boulder the most. The outdoor activities in Boulder are the best I’ve ever seen and the people are very friendly. The cost-of-living in Boulder is high, but that is about the only downside.

As far as the mountain towns go, most are exactly what you’d expect. My favorite town is Aspen (by a long-shot). As far as the other towns go, Idaho Springs (be sure to visit Tommy Knockers for the best beer on the planet) and Georgetown are both pretty cool towns to kick back after a long day of playing in the mountains.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 7th, 2006 at 11:43 am and is filed under life, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.