I just returned from a book event in Colorado outside of Vail, Colorado. As many on the blog know, it is hard for me to visit places like Beaver Creek without hitting the trails. I have previously written about my love for Colorado and the many wonderful areas for backpacking and hikes. I wanted to share a few pictures from my hikes around Beaver Creek Mountain.
There are a great number of trails around Beaver Creek, but one starts near the Hyatt Resort at the base of the mountain. The overlook trail goes straight up the mountain for about 3.5 miles. If you reach the top, you can take a gondola or ski lift back down the mountain. However, the last gondola leaves around 4 pm. so you need to take care of your time. Also, on all of these trails, you need to take plenty of water. The air is quite thin and it is easy to get dizzy if you are not acclimated. It can take five days to get used to the altitude. Water is essential.
I ended up passing on the gondola in favor of hiking back down the mountain. It made for some long hikes, but it was rejuvenating.
One of the things that I look forward to on Colorado trails is the aspen forests. My hikes around Beaver Creek offered an abundance of such spots. It was wonderful to just sit among the aspen and listen to the wind.
There were also fields of wild flowers. Locals explained that the abundance of wild flowers was due to increase in rain fall this year and warmer temperatures. The flowers were a second blooming that offered a surprise bonus.
I saw plenty of bear signs but never was able to spot any. However, after complaining to my driver on the way to the small airport in Eagle that I had not seen any bear, a young bear ran in front of our car.
Another surprise was to see burn piles on one side of the mountain. The piles are meant to clear the undergrowth to reduce wild fires.
Here are a few pictures from the two days of hiking that I was able to fit into the trip:
Gee, lawyers get emotional these days.
Lovely photos! I went to DU Law and miss Colorado. Thank you for sharing!
I loved the pictures. I’m a native of Idaho, stuck in Maryland, but have also lived in Colorado. You should try northern Idaho for one of your treks.
Ah, the Sawtooths!
I heard great things about your presentation. You have a big fan base in BC.
I’m assuming you made it up Overlook. Someone said they saw you. Good on you for hiking back down, probably on Cinch.
BTW, great advice you gave, but I’ll add that one much be very careful of afternoon T-storms in the Rockies, especially during monsoon season which seems to have gone on all summer this year. In BC, people look north and they don’t see any threatening clouds, but the storms come from the west and southwest, impossible to see from the base.
Prof. Turley, I enjoyed your comments and pictures from your time in Colorado. As a local, I live between Vail and Beaver Creek, I noticed that half of your pictures of flowers include the dreaded Thistle weed. Though colorful, they are a noxious weed in Colorado and I spray them every chance I get. If you get to the area again, please feel free to reach out and we can enjoy a similar trip on horseback.
During my life I’ve lived in the desert, by the sea, in the south and grew up in the Rockies. I was fortunate to live high in the mountains and have parents that trusted me and allowed me to start venturing with buddies at 13 to remote fishing locations where a bike ride could be more than 2 hours (single speed) and a hike of one to three hours or more on rare occasions to fishing spot(s) and stay two to four days. We would hike to find places where others wouldn’t normally. This was a majestic time, but I’ve found the desert has more to offer, but it takes more effort to find than in the mountains. In the desert you can go places where you’ll be lucky see one other individual for days on end and where plants may only bloom once a decade, you’d experience more wildlife than any mountain from the bench to the peak, thought I admit feeding the chipmunks in Estes Park was a blast. Where I’ve lived in the 60 years since leaving Ma & Pa: Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida. Would I trade where I now live in the desert with anywhere else, nope!
Not that any of that matters to anyone but me.
Thanks Professor Turley for jarring my memory ant to remember there are things other than Politics’!
Professor Turley, Many Thanks for including us on your Hikes…quite refreshing!! ..and a Big Reminder that Life is worth Living ..Exploring.. despite all the drama away from Nature….
Jonathan. So glad that you find the mountains so refreshing. They can be an oasis for the mind. You may not flyfish, but it takes mountain hiking to a new level, whether hiking along the edge of an alpine lake looking for rising trout or especially from a drift boat down a beautiful river canyon. As I’ve edged into retirement from legal practice, there is really nothing like it. Feel free to hit me up if you’d care to begin the adventure.
Prof Turley, If, on your missionary trips to convert the heathen speech functionalists, you happen to be in the Seattle area I would be happy to be your guide to some awesome day or overnight hikes in the Cascades or Olympics.
I appreciate your multidimensional interests.