#Between Buena Vista & Salida | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

wasabislide · 6 years ago

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Chip Bag Assassins and Kiddie Pool Beer

Hey folks,

It seems like it’s been ages since I’ve seen you and also like I just saw you.

Most of you I’ve just seen in the parking lot. Talking, laughing, taking pictures of friends and their awesome cars. Some have been rushing off to dinner. Some, like me are rushing to our rooms to decompress and somehow sleep.

It also feels like it’s been ages because I haven’t been writing as much. Writing is a muscle that needs to be flexed to get stronger, just like any other muscle. It’s hard work and I’ve been avoiding hard work.

Writing is still the way that I feel most open and most articulate.

And after a couple of (Three) beers at tonight’s Beer Swap, articulate comes at a premium.

For all that Meyers Briggs says, I have to be one of the most introverted extraverts out there. I like my groups small, I like my conversation to have texture and gravitas.

So exactly the opposite of how I like my beer. Fruity, light and simple.

Beer...Yeah, where was I?

Oh yeah, Welcome to Day One of Minis in the Mountains - 2019 edition!

Tonight we find ourselves in the town of Salida, Colorado. It’s a beautiful town ringed by tall mountains at the mouth of a canyon. The Exit of the canyon, hence the Spanish name, Salida (Exit).

My journey started at home in Aurora, Colorado, so my trip was a single day, but I’ve seen Minis from East and West Coasts in my short trip around our motel.

This town will be our base of operations for this rally. I traveled south from Denver with the rest of the 5280Mini club to get set up as a volunteer.

Tomorrow will be a working vacation as I have some fun planned and I have some work to do.

But today was all fun. I got my staff shirt and enjoyed some tasty beers and settled in for the night.

All that’s left is to do some mental housecleaning so that the brainsquirrels will settle down after my day of too much food, almost too much beer and waaaaaayyy too much caffeine.

I started this morning with coffee and chatting with my wife, saying goodbye which I always drag out too long and finally getting in the car with assurances that I had packed enough stuff-yes, I have my wallet and my phone and I’m a grownup with a credit card-I can figure it out or borrow one from someone.

Heather just looks on as I talk to myself with my keys in my hand. Her look is somewhere between quiet reassurance and “Just leave, Hudson. Jeeze...”

Meeting up with the club at The Fort in Morrison, the route is discussed and reviewed as construction has closed a section of the road. Our President Rhonda calmly reassures folks that the detour will be ok and won’t impact our trip significantly.

Her look is very similar to Heather’s as I stood mumbling to myself I realize now.

The only incident on the trip was when my bag of road snacks succumbed to the high altitude of Conifer. It exploded in my passenger seat inside its grocery bag.

I couldn’t place the noise at first and immediately suspected that I was being shot at.

This is normal for me. I immediately jump from the mundane to the fantastic faster than I can shift from first to second gear.

Needless to say, there was no assassin. They don’t normally smell of nacho cheese.

Three hours later, we have arrived at Salida and we scatter throughout the town. Lunch is eaten at various locations. I picked the Patio Pancake Place. It’s famous for a quirky alliterative name, great breakfasts and strangely enough a hangout for the high school teens and old folks.

My sandwich was huge. It lasted me for lunch and dinner.

We lounged at the motel until check-in and then collected all our varieties of beer and snack foods to share at the Beer Swap.

A kiddie pool and ice allowed everyone to sample the many beers brought with plenty left to be squirreled away for later.

This brings my chapter to a close, but for others, the night is young. Folks headed to the bars and restaurants for a late dinner.

I had my club, listened to some music and now get ready for bed.

Happy trails, Miniacs. We’ll see you tomorrow after a trip to Royal Gorge and a drive-in movie in Buena Vista.

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captainofthefallen · 6 years ago

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Multiples of 10!

All right I didn’t see this until just now and am having to make an educated guess at which list it’s referring to but I’m guessing it’s the ‘ask me anything list’ so here goes

10. Zodiac sign: Virgo

20. Do you dance in the car? A little, I guess, mostly I just sing if I’m by myself but there may be occasionally some dancing involved. Also sometimes drumming on the steering wheel but only for ELO

30. Do you study better with or without music? Depends, honestly. If there’s stuff going on around me it helps to have something to block it out. If I’m pulling an all nighter it helps to have something on. There’s a classical music radio station that my mom always listened to when I was growing up that I usually will pull up in either of those situations

40. Do you have any obsessions right now? Sort of a three-way tie at the moment–the Choices mobile app, my current D&D campaign, and my Pillars of Eternity obsession is making a comeback.

50. Do you fear thunder/lightning? Not at all, I love them. I was outside (in a covered area) during a hailstorm with thunder and lightning and everything and it was freaking amazing. Also there was the time that a tree near my window got struck by lightning which was pretty dang cool if a bit alarming.

60. Do you have any homework right now? If so, what is it about? NONE! I GRADUATED and I have NO HOMEWORK although now I need to get a job :/ But if this ask is from long enough ago the answer would’ve been my cosmochemistry paper on theories of lunar formation, specifically the recent concept that perhaps at one point the Earth-Moon system was a planetary body researchers have decided to call a synestia, which was essentially a lot of molten and vaporized rock in the shape of a filled-in donut. Ask me about it sometime, it’s pretty cool

70. Are both of your blood parents still in your life? Yep! Both my parents are pretty awesome and I’m lucky to have them.

80. Stalked someone on a social network? …that depends on your definition of stalking. Back in my high school days when I was a mere teenage forkwit and had a crush on the same guy for six years before I figured out he was pretty much an idiot anyway I definitely went through his photos and stuff on facebook; don’t really remember the extent of it, but as I said I was a young fool

90. Favorite soda drink? Between root beer and ginger ale. Ginger ale is my go-to airplane drink. With the root beer it really depends what kind, but root beer from Moonlight Pizza in Salida, CO is my favorite. (They’ve got pretty good cream soda too)

100. Favorite place to relax? …is it lame if I say my bedroom? Honestly though if I could teleport anywhere when I wanted to relax it would probably be by the Arkansas River, downstream a little from the Buena Vista boat ramp. That or this one spot by the pond at my summer camp we call ‘the lake’, where there’s this tree, and the roots by the water are a little bit above the ground and they make this little alcove. It’s well-hidden from the path, and the tree provides a certain amount of shelter from rain, so it’s a perfect place to be alone with your thoughts for a while.

#ask thing #letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

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marcdouglasberardo · 6 years ago

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Along the highway trail in the San Isabel Forest, between Buena Vista and Salida on the way to the show in Del Norte, I saw sights so beautiful and humbling. #colorado #delnorte #rockymountains #saguache #wildwoodconcertseries #pikenationalforest #sanisabelnationalforest (at Buena Vista, Colorado) https://www.instagram.com/p/BweYLkbAC7b/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=j8a4hjq7xrd4

#colorado #delnorte #rockymountains #saguache #wildwoodconcertseries #pikenationalforest #sanisabelnationalforest

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usacurrentnews-blog · 7 years ago

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Bustang to launch new long-haul bus service this weekend between Grand Junction, Durango

Statewide bus service continues to expand in Colorado, with the opening this weekend of a new Bustang route between Grand Junction and Durango that will provide residents of the state’s southwest corner a connection to the Front Range.

A new route connecting Gunnison to Denver, with service to Salida, Buena Vista, Fairplay and Pine Junction, will also launch this weekend. And on Friday, Bustang…

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creeksidechalets-blog · 8 years ago

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8 Best Rafting Companies in Salida and Buena Vista, CO | Creekside Chalets from Creekside Chalets and Cabins on Vimeo.

Looking for the best rafting companies in Salida and Buena Vista? This video gives a quick overview of the top eight rafting companies in the area. It’s designed for visitors to the area who want to take a whitewater rafting trip but are having a difficult time deciding between rafting outfitters. The area is home to the Arkansas River and many of the whitewater rafting companies offer similar river excursions. Four of the most popular sections on the river are Browns Canyon, Bighorn Sheep Canyon, the Royal Gorge, and The Numbers. Brown and Bighorn Sheep Canyons are ideal for all types of rafters. They're exciting but not technically challenging. The Royal Gorge and The Numbers sections of the river are best suited for experienced rafters who are in good physical shape. While you'd be hard-pressed to find a whitewater rafting company in Salida or Buena Vista that isn't awesome, each one has something that makes it unique. At the Adventure Company, they only hire guides with four or more years of professional guiding experience. American Adventure Expeditions' customers continually rave about their fun and knowledgeable guides. Independent Whitewater boasts an on-site food truck, which is great before or after a trip, and they also offer two more rapids in Browns Canyon than other outfitters. Noah's Ark Whitewater Rafting offers packages that allow you to enjoy half a day on the river and half a day playing in their aerial adventure park. Performance Tours has been a staple of the Arkansas River Valley since 1986 and they offer trips down the Blue River, too. At Rocky Mountain Outdoor Center, you can fully customize a full-day rafting trip so that it includes exactly what you want.Families with young children who are 3 and up should check out River Runners' family float trips. Wilderness Aware Rafting offers a dinner float trip. For more information on rafting companies in the area, check out our full article at creeksidechalets.com/top-8-raf.... If you need lodging for your Salida, Colorado vacation, learn more about our one- to three-bedroom cabins at creeksidechalets.com/cabins/ or give us a call at (719) 539-6953.

Visit Us At: Creekside Chalets 16724 West US Hwy 50 Salida, Colorado 81201 (719) 539-6953

#bestraftingcompaniesinsalida #bestraftingcompaniesinbuenavista #salidarafting #buenavistarafting #rafting #salida #buenavista

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lawrencedienerthings · 5 years ago

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Trains could return to Colorado’s Tennessee Pass, rumble through Leadville under pair of proposals

#newyork👩‍💻 🍞 🌃 🎫 📈

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It’s been 24 years since trains rumbled through the tunnel atop Tennessee Pass.

That could change as interest in the dormant Tennessee Pass Line between Cañon City and Dotsero grows. A fledgling railway project in Utah’s Uinta Basin and a billionaire New York City developer with thousands of acres of wheat and an existing rail operation in southeastern Colorado are circling the tracks, hoping to revive the state’s 208-mile transmountain railway.

If either get their wish, trains carrying freight, crude oil and, possibly, passengers, could be rolling through the Royal Gorge, Salida, Browns Canyon, Buena Vista, Leadville, Minturn, Avon, Eagle and Gypsum.

The Surface Transportation Board that safeguards the nation’s rail network has spent the last three months working with the Tennessee Pass Line owner Union Pacific as the longtime rail operator negotiates with suitors for the stretch of railroad it idled in 1996. While few of the players are talking, the filings with the transportation board are telling.

It began in February, when Colorado Pacific Railroad filed an application with the Surface Transportation Board, asking it to force Union Pacific to sell the Tennessee Pass Line for $8.8 million. Union Pacific last year declined Colorado Pacific’s offer of $10 million.

Colorado Pacific Railroad is owned by KCVN, which is owned by New York City high-rise developer Sheldon Solow and his son, Stefan Soloviev, who reclaimed the original spelling of his family’s name. Soloviev runs Crossroads Agriculture, a variety of agricultural businesses on KVCN’s vast acreage in Kansas and Colorado.

The company estimated in its Feb. 14 application with the transportation board that it would need $278 million to rehabilitate more than 208 miles of track between the Royal Gorge and Dostero.

KCVN’s attorney in that filing noted that when Crossroads wants to move Colorado grain west to flour mills in Utah or Southern California, it needs to ship it east 250 miles to reach a Union Pacific westbound rail line in Hutchinson, Kansas, and then it rolls 250 miles back into Colorado, “having traveled 500 miles without any net westward progress,” reads the filing.

Rafters float the Arkansas River through Browns Canyon National Monument, where two companies are hoping to revive the Tennessee Pass Line railroad that has been dormant since 1996. (Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun)

KCVN has forced the sale of a rail line before. The Surface Transportation Board approved KCVN’s application to force V and S Railway to sell southeast Colorado’s Towner Line in 2017.

Colorado Pacific Railroad in 2016 announced a $6 million plan to buy and rehabilitate the 122-mile Towner Line, which stretches through Otero, Kiowa, Crowley and Pueblo counties in southeast Colorado. The company’s application noted that KCVN owns 69,000 acres of Colorado wheat farmland worth about $50 million near the Towner Line and the company has “wealthy principals” who could afford additional costs related to the acquisition of the railway. The Surface Transportation Board in 2017 approved Colorado Pacific’s call for a forced sale by V and S Railway, which acquired the troubled rail line from the Colorado Department of Transportation in 2005 and officially abandoned the line in 2011.

When Union Pacific and Southern Pacific merged in 1998, Union Pacific gave up on attempts to utilize the Tennessee Pass line and continued to rely solely on routing its coal-train traffic through the Moffat Tunnel, while promising to revive traffic on Tennessee Pass should Moffat Tunnel become clogged with trains. The Surface Transportation Board, in its approval of the merger, said if Union Pacific ever decides to sell the Tennessee Pass route, it should sell to an entity that will use it in the transportation system.

“We will be vigilant as to this issue,” the STB wrote.

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Union Pacific on March 9 urged the Surface Transportation Board to reject KCVN’s request for a forced sale, saying that it has been negotiating a sale of the Tennessee Pass Line with another party since last fall. That filing, until it was redacted, included the name of the other party, which was caught by an intrepid reporter for the trains.com news wire who identified the suitor as Rio Grande Pacific Corp., which operates short lines in six states.

Rio Grande Pacific is the planned operator of a $1.5 billion proposal for a new railroad connecting crude oil from Utah’s Uinta Basin with the national railway network. If the Uinta Basin Railway is built and Rio Grande Pacific acquires Tennessee Pass, three to 10 trains hauling crude oil could travel south through Utah to Grand Junction to Minturn, over Tennessee Pass and through the Upper Arkansas River Valley en route to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The federal government is conducting an Environmental Impact Statement studying the impacts of the roughly 85-mile Uinta Basin Railway project.

“Specifically, RGPC had expressed interest in purchasing from Union Pacific the portion of the Line from Parkdale to Gypsum, Colorado, and implementing both passenger and freight service. We told KCVN we intended to see those discussions through before exploring other options,” reads the unredacted document filed by Union Pacific that briefly appeared on the Surface Transportation Board’s website on March 9, according to trains.com.

Pavement over the tracks in Leadville indicates how long it’s been — since 1996 — that trains rumbled on the Tennessee Pass Line. (Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun)

In 1998, Mark Greksa’s Royal Gorge Express acquired 11.75 miles of Union Pacific track between Cañon City and Parkdale for his tourist trains. He shares use of the track with freight hauler Rock & Rail Railroad. The 1998 deal left Union Pacific with permanent “overhead trackage rights” to the rails through the gorge, “so as to preserve the integrity of the Tennessee Pass through route.”

Rock & Rail on March 9 also urged the transportation board to reject KCVN’s application for a forced sale. Rock & Rail argued the Tennessee Pass Line consists of “numerous” owners and Union Pacific doesn’t qualify as the single owner of the entire stretch of railroad under the board’s rules for forced sales of feeder lines.

Greksa has been watching the flurry of filings and interest on Tennessee Pass. He’s also been busy opening his Royal Gorge tourist train in a pandemic, so he hasn’t weighed in.

Read more outdoors stories from The Colorado Sun.

“We’ve heard all the rumblings. Here’s the thing: they have to come to us for permission to run through the gorge and we are not going to give it to them,” Greksa said in an interview. “There has been talk about Tennessee Pass forever. But no one has ever talked to us. But it doesn’t matter. They are going to have trouble getting through the gorge without our permission.”

The Surface Transportation Board on March 13 sided with Union Pacific and rejected Colorado Pacfic’s request to force the sale of the Tennessee Pass Line. (Federal law allows the Surface Transportation Board to approve forced sales as a way to keep trains rolling on rail lines slated for abandonment when parties cannot agree on a deal to sell.)

But the board’s dismissal of the deal “without prejudice” means KCVN and Colorado Pacific could refile the application.

The talk of rail traffic in the Upper Arkansas River Valley has locals on edge. The valley’s Stage & Rail plan calls for a hiking and biking path along a former narrow-gauge railroad grade in the valley and rail service on the existing tracks could impact those plans.

Rafters float the Arkansas River into Browns Canyon National Monument below the idled train tracks of the Tennessee Pass Line on July 4, 2020. (Jason Blevins, The Colorado Sun)

“I think a bigger concern with this project would be the impact to local communities, access and experience in Brown’s Canyon National Monument, and wildlife impacts along the river corridor, which is already impacted by Highway 50 and 24 through much of the valley,” said Julie Mach, the conservation director for Colorado Mountain Club who is helping with the Stage & Rail trail plans. “There has always been interest in a true ‘rails-to-trails’ route along the existing rail line, but UP has never been responsive to those discussions. An ideal situation would be for the state to purchase the line in order to facilitate a rails-to-trails project.”

A 2017 report by CDOT that studied abandoned rail lines and possible line acquisitions in the state identified the Tennessee Pass Line as significant for its potential to carry both passengers and freight. It also noted the Tennessee Pass route as the only existing transmountain alternative to the Moffat Tunnel, which often runs near capacity.

“The Tennessee Pass Line may be able to be used as an alternate route as transmountain rail demand grows due to increased development on the Western Slope or if the Moffat Tunnel were damaged or closed for any reason,” reads CDOT’s 2017 report. “Such an event would have a significant impact on Colorado, particularly on the Western Slope, since the railroads would be forced to move freight through Wyoming.”

CDOT is studying passenger rail service on 173 miles of the Front Range between Fort Collins and Pueblo. The agency is gathering public input for its Front Range passenger rail plan via a series of online meetings throughout July. CDOT’s preferred alternative for passenger service between Fort Collins and Denver no longer includes Union Pacific’s idled Fort Collins Branch, which was identified as an option in 2000 rail studies but disregarded in the 2011 North I-25 Environmental Impact Statement studying passenger rail service north of metro Denver.

So does the renewed interest in potentially shipping crude and grain over Tennessee Pass in any way alter CDOT’s plans or perspective on the state’s dormant but critical trans-mountain railroad?

“CDOT is monitoring the status of these lines but has no specific plans at this time for development or acquisition along the corridors,” CDOT spokesman Tim Hoover said.

Entrepreneur Christof Stork spent most of 2016 trying to foster support for passenger rail service over Tennessee Pass. While stirring the interest of residents eager to relieve traffic on Interstate 70 and a housing shortage in the Eagle River Valley by connecting it with the Upper Arkansas River Valley, Stork didn’t get too far with local leaders.

Stork estimates the cost of repairing the line for serious passenger service between Gypsum and Leadville would cost $50 million to $100 million. He’s not talking about seasonal tourist trains.

“I don’t want to think small. I’m talking about a commuter rail system. Something like the airport train in Denver,” Stork said.

He sees a train along the Eagle River connecting upvalley resorts with downvalley communities could shift housing patterns by creating dense housing near train stations for workers who are struggling to find affordable housing in the valley between Vail and Gypsum.

But he figures the only way to convince Union Pacific to either sell or partner with a passenger rail service is for the state of Colorado to start pushing. The state owns the Moffat Tunnel and the Moffat Tunnel Improvement District’s long term lease with Union Pacific to use the tunnel — the only other transmountain railroad in Colorado besides Tennessee Pass — expires in 2025.

“That gives Colorado leverage to get UP to play ball and be friendly with the Tennessee Pass line,” Stork said.

“Maybe it does. Who knows?” he added. “I do know this, though: Things are only going to get worse in 20 years. If we don’t plan now we might lose this option. In 20 years, people may be saying ‘What were they thinking? Why didn’t they plan for this when they had the chance?’”

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lawrencedienerthings · 5 years ago

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Rafting season is ready to launch, but coronavirus worries are running high in Colorado

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With warming temperatures in Colorado’s mountains and spring runoff in full swing, the whitewater boating season should be off to a roaring start.

COVID-19 IN COLORADO

The latest from the coronavirus outbreak in Colorado:

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But Colorado’s stringent COVID-19 travel and recreation restrictions are forcing commercial rafting companies to create social distance on unruly rivers and face the potential for smaller crowds.

“The snowpack’s in good shape,” John Kreski, rafting coordinator for Colorado Parks and Wildlife’ Arkansas River Headwaters Area, said earlier this month. “But the phones aren’t ringing. This is very frustrating.”

But by Wednesday afternoon, the trend was “changing rapidly,” said Kevin Meadows, owner of River Runners Browns Canyon in Buena Vista. Though Chaffee County has not yet heard whether its request for a variance from Gov. Jared Polis’ “Safer at Home” order has been granted and outfitters can begin floating down the Arkansas before the order lifts on June 1, rafters have begun booking trips.

“Our calls are increasing exponentially on a daily basis,” Meadows said. “Two weeks ago we had no bookings. But now we are booking 20% of our historical volume. So we have a ways to go to get where we want to be. But these are optimistic signs.”

MORE: Counties fear being left behind as Colorado begins granting variances to its coronavirus safer-at-home order

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Colorado’s highest flows, as of mid-May, are in the northern part of the state, with the Poudre and North Platte at 100% to 120% of normal, according to Aldis Strautins, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.

Patrick Robinson and Bekah Munnikhuysen float their yellow raft in the Browns Canyon section of the Arkansas River near Salida. (Hugh Carey, Special to The Colorado Sun)

The upper Colorado, Gunnison, Green and lower Colorado rivers are all flowing at between 70% to 80% of normal, while the Arkansas River, from Buena Vista to the Royal Gorge, is flowing at 80% of normal.

But because of an unusually warm and dry April, flows are trending downward in the central and southern mountains.

The South Platte River and Clear Creek are running at 64% to 70% of normal, while the Rio Grande and San Juan River are just 45% of normal.

Northern Colorado rivers, such as the Poudre, will have enough snowmelt to extend flows for boating into late summer. Elsewhere in the state, the best floating will occur from May into early July. “Get down into that 70 to 75% and you’re looking at a reduced season,” Strautins said. “There’s just not enough snow to extend it.”

Hoping to maximize the early season flows, outfitters are anxiously waiting to see how many visitors will show, according to Bob Hamel, executive director of the Arkansas River Outfitters Association, a trade group.

Boaters float the Browns Canyon section of the Arkansas River, Tuesday, May 19, 2020, near Salida. (Hugh Carey, Special to The Colorado Sun)

“Who’s going to travel? Who’s got money? Will we even be traveling or flying to destinations?” he asked.

Still, Hamel is hopeful that the state’s waterways can be opened for commercial use by early June, bringing some much-needed economic activity to the state.

Colorado’s rafting industry is the No. 2 contributor to the state’s recreation economy, behind skiing. Centered on the Colorado, Rio Grande, Arkansas and North and South Platte rivers, it contributed nearly $188 million to the state’s economy, according to a report of the Colorado Outfitters Association. Visitors spent an average of $135 on a river adventure, including food, lodging, gas and souvenirs.

These numbers don’t include hundreds of homegrown rafters and kayakers who recreate on Colorado’s rivers or the large numbers of boaters from out of state that bring their own gear to the hallmark waterways.

How COVID-19 will impact the industry this summer isn’t clear yet, though major changes are underway.

“Every river floating company will have to adapt their own safety procedures to the kind of trips that they offer,” Hamal said. “A half-day trip down the Taylor River can’t be handled the same as a multi-day trip down the Gunnison Gorge. Some rafts are bigger. Some are smaller. The rafting industry can’t do a one-size-fits-all.”

A river surfer puts in on the Gunnison River near Gunnison, taking advantage of what’s shaping up to be a short season in some areas as Colorado’s snowpack is melting faster than usual. (Dean Krakel, Special to Fresh Water News)

One set of COVID-19 rafting guidelines developed by Mark Schumacher, owner of Three Rivers Resort in Almont, includes daily screening of employees, no-touch guest check-in, and hand sanitizer in all office and retail areas.

In addition, directional signs will guide visitors to wherever they need to go, with group size monitored by employees. The number of people on a raft will be reduced to maintain proper social distancing, with spaced seating and open windows on vans and shuttles, disinfection of equipment after each use, and instructions to clients to bring their own water bottles and food.

Andy Neinas, a river running veteran with Echo Canyon Outfitters’ in Cañon City, said the rafting industry is well-equipped to handle the COVID-19 restrictions.

“All of us are juggling things to make it all work,” he said. “We’re going to be doing it differently, but nobody does it better than Colorado.”

Freelance photographer and writer Dean Krakel reported this story for Fresh Water News, where it was published on May 20, 2020. Fresh Water News is an independent, nonpartisan news initiative of Water Education Colorado.

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