|
|
|
Written by Donovan Henderson
|
|
Tuesday, 21 March 2006 |
|
|
|
|
Timed just right, Steamboat Springs is the quintessential Colorado mountain getaway.
It’s western yet it still has all the conveniences of a resort. It’s extreme and it’s laid back. It’s winter and it’s spring.
Nestled in the Yampa Valley in north-central Colorado, it’s only a three- to four-hour drive from the Tri-Cities. You can go through Denver and up the Interstate 70 corridor, or you can take the more scenic drive on Colo. 14 up the Poudre Canyon and over Cameron Pass.
 A few years ago, about this time of year, I drove to Steamboat taking the route up the Poudre Canyon. I started in the early morning, before the sun was up, and was slowed by herds of elk and big horn sheep before I had made it to Rustic. Once on the plateau west of Cameron Pass, I saw mule deer, antelope, coyotes and what I was pretty sure was an eagle.
This all before I made it to my destination.
The vista-view as you come down off Rabbit Ears Pass and into the Yampa Valley is spectacular. Once in Steamboat, your activity choices are many and varied. The Steamboat Chamber of Commerce’s Web site — an excellent source for activities, outfitters, lodging and dining — lists almost 50 outdoor choices, including the sedate such as fly fishing and golf to the more offbeat such as cattle drives and chariot racing (you read that right — Ben Hur, look out!).
On my weekend, I snowshoed on Rabbit Ears Pass in the morning and mountain biked one of the many trails in the muddy valley that afternoon. That evening, in one of the town’s hot springs (which was included in the price of my room at the Rabbit Ears Motel, I soaked in the warm, outdoor pool while it snowed. It’s great to live in Colorado.
Steamboat, and all the mountains in the northern and central Colorado Rockies, is enjoying a great snow season. The snowpack is about 130 percent of average and growing. It’s the third largest snowfall on record. Of course that means great skiing at Steamboat Ski and Resort, but that means a longer season for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing and what could be a spectacular rafting season on the Yampa and Elk rivers.
 “We’ll have plenty of water, plenty of green grass. It’ll be a good river season,” Riley Polumbus, communications director for the Steamboat Chamber of Commerce. “Everybody’s going to get some of the snow.”
Polumbus predicted the rafting season, with the high-time traditionally starting the end of May and lasting into mid-June, would go a little longer. In turn, the tubing season will start a little later, once the bulk of the mountain snow has melted and made its way toward the Pacific Ocean.
Because of the snowfall this year, a month or so is still left to take advantage of the snow, particularly by snowshoeing. Ken Schumacher, manager at Rocky Mountain Ventures, said activity’s popularity is taking off, especially among women who aren’t interested in hitting the slopes everyday they’re in Steamboat.
“Just because there’s snow on the ground doesn’t mean you have to give up hiking,” said Schumacher, whose company leads guided tours for snowshoers, snowboarders, rock climbers, ice climbers and the like.
If you go during a full moon, you can take a snowshoe hike with Ventures at night, exploring backcountry by the moonlight.
And you might catch a glimpse of a fox or an elk making its way quietly through a meadow.
It doesn’t get any more Colorado than that. | |
Nude Hotsprings?
Written by JenGran on 2006-03-22 11:29:22
I grew up near Steamboat and there used to be a nude hotspring. May be worth checking out... |
Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. |
|
|  | "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth." | |
|  | We're not that bright, even though in our own little world, we're geniuses. We like 80s hair bands and one-hit wonders, but among us we have respectable tastes, too. Metallica, Iron Maiden, U2. Pursuit of all things trivial is a lifestyle, not just a game. We like some sports, love other sports, and can find something to say about anything. We watch TV and movies and we've read a book or two, even a few classics (Yes, Classic Comics count!)
We call it insight, you call it what you will. | |
|  | Felix Wong is an outdoor enthusiast living in Fort Collins. A mechanical engineer by day, he is especially passionate about bicycling, running, and backpacking. | |
|  | Hola Amigos! I'm Sandra. I like to believe that people are 70 percent good and 30 percent dumb. I'm stickin to that story. Reading this blog might make you want to be good, but probably just dumb. | |
|  | Donovan Henderson is editor of NEXTnc. | |
|  | Here at Nextnc we have some characters. Get a sneak peak behind the curtain and find out what amusing antics our staffers get themselves into on a weekly basis. | |
|  | What is up FoCo?
I am a recent college graduate of Minnesota State University Moorhead. After recieving my B.A. in English and Mass Communications this past August I moved down to Colorado.
I enjoy long walks on the beach, candlelight dinners, and heavy metal. My hobbies include reading and writing, music, movies, and getting drunk. Some of my favorite contemporary authors include Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, and Kurt Vonnegut. My top movies are anything directed by Kubrick. I enjoy listening to anything that rocks.
Right now I am just trying to get to know Colorado and FoCo better. Mostly in order to find the best drink specials on each day that ends in Y. So if you know where I can get a cheap drunk on, let me know!
--Drew | |
|  | Life's little morsels of inspiration, observation and encouragement seen through the eyes of the Nextnc reporter.
| |
|  | Ms. Giles currently lives in Colorado where she stars in her own private reality show. She writes aphoristic accounts of her life, taken completely out of context, and embellished with characters and situations disguised to resemble something close to interesting. | |
|  | over and out | |
| | My name is Michelle Turley and I'm 28 years old. I live in Severance with my hubbie, Brandon. We have 2 dogs and a cat. We enjoy camping, four-wheeling, and just being in the mountains. I like to cook, clean (go figure), flea market, and play poker. I have so much to say about poker... | |
|
|
; "Image")
; "Image")
