First Fridays and Goldfish Racing!

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Bronwyn

I think of Carbondale as the town that celebrates everything! It is almost halfway between Glenwood Springs and Aspen and has a very cool vibe. They celebrate Dandelion Days, Potato Days, the full moon (full moon bike rides) and the first Friday of every month! Not to mention arguably the best festival of the Roaring Fork Valley summer – Mountain Fair which just was held at the end of July. I went to first Friday especially this month to see the inaugural demonstration of Goldfish Racing. This is going to be an 18 week tournament evidently every Wednesday night at the Black Nugget. I was astonished to learn that it is quite a big thing in San Diego…. There will be two of the racing alleys set up – there was only one in the demo – then competitors encourage their fish along from the start to the finish lines using a long straw to blow air bubbles behind the fish 🙂 Super funny to watch.first friday carbondalegoldfish racing 1goldfish racinggoldfish racing 2

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Waterfall at Marble

Posted on July 21, 2013 by Bronwyn

The town of Marble has a quarry that produces beautiful white marble. It is tucked back in the mountains after you drive past Redstone. We went for a hike to this stunning waterfall. I am not sure where all the water is coming from – there must be a lake even higher up as all the snow melted a while back. We are so lucky to have all this in our backyard 🙂

waterfall above marble July 2013

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Glenwood Adventure Caverns

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Bronwyn

A great thing to do with kids is to go to the Adventure Caverns in Glenwood Springs at the other end of the Roaring Fork Valley from Aspen. There are amazing caverns at the top of a hill accessible via a gondola and also lots of fun rides like the Alpine Coaster and a giant swing that swings out over the Colorado River. The girls we took went on this roller coaster time after time! It is the highest roller coaster in North America at 7160 feet!

glenwood caverns coaster July 2013

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Lost Man Trail

Posted on July 14, 2013 by Bronwyn

This is one of my favourite trails in the high country above Aspen. Driving up to Independence Pass from Aspen you first come to the lower trail head where it is a good idea to leave a car. Then continuing on past the ghost town of Independence you will come to the upper trail head. I like best to hike from the upper to the lower but lots of people like to go the other way too. The trail goes up to some beautiful lakes and waterfalls then down through a lovely valley to pine forests. This time I was very happy to see my favourite wildflower which I am told are called Long Plumed Avens. The last time I saw these was three years ago. I have only ever seen them in two places before and only in the first two weeks of July – some years they don’t seem to even grow. I have not seen them on Lost Man before so I was absolutely overjoyed at this new discovery!

lost man 1 july 2013lost man lake 1 july 2013lost man wildflowers july 2013long plumed avens july 2013long plumed avens 1 july 2013lost man lake july 2013

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Classical and Contemporary music!

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Bronwyn

The Aspen Music Festival is in full swing and Aspen is alive with the sound of music students playing in the restaurants and pedestrian malls. The Music Tent is an amazing structure in a park setting where many stunning performances are held during the Festival. Below is a photo of a performance. We were also fortunate enough to see the full dress rehearsal of the opera Candide at the Wheeler Opera house. Then as part of the Basalt free music series we saw Starwood play with Brian Savage on flute in the photo and Bobby Mason singing!

music tent July 2013starwood band

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Free summer music in Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Bronwyn

One of the great things about summer in the valley is all the awesome free music! We went to see the Dunwells last Thursday at Snowmass – part of the free Snowmass series, then to the BlueGrass afternoon at the Sundeck on Aspen Mountain on Sunday and tomorrow I am really looking forward to seeing Starwood play as part of the kickoff to the Basalt summer music series! What an amazing view from the Sundeck of Mount Hayden, Highlands and Pyramid Peak.

sunday bluegrass ajax

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Perham Creek

Posted on June 20, 2013 by Bronwyn

Again I am amazed that this hike is right across from one of my favourite hikes and I never knew it was there before! It is so exciting to know that there are still so many places for me to discover in this valley 🙂 The Wilderness Workshop had this on their hike series so I signed up and went with them – so glad I did. The Crystal River runs along the road we took to get there and it is really full right now – beautiful! We think we hiked as far as South Thompson Creek before we turned around. I am going to check using Google Earth.

perham creek trailMt Sopris from Perham Creek trailMeadow along Perham Creek trail

South Thompson Creek

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Mesa Verde

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Bronwyn

We went to Mesa Verde to see the cliff dwellings and learn about the incredible culture that existed for so long in this place. The drive there was really beautiful through Ridgeway and over the Dallas Divide past Telluride over Lizard Head pass to Cortez. This road is if possible even more spectacular in spring than it is in winter with the snowy mountain peaks contrasting with the green grass. In Mesa Verde for 2 full days we learned so much about the lives of the Ancient Pueblans who lived in this area and how they moved from the mesa dwellings from the first 500 years down to the cliff dwellings for the next 200 years. Thanks to the nightly ranger talks we also learned about the ancient trade routes and animals in the park. Driving back through Durango and Silverton we were lucky to see the steam train pulling out and are now planning a train ride! Ouray is so much prettier than I had thought it would be and then we were treated to spectacular waterfalls for the next few miles….. awesome! So amazing that this is within a days drive from Aspen and Basalt.

lizard head pass   mesa verde step housemesa verde mesa dwellingsmesa verde long housemesa verde cliff palacebetween durango and silvertonbear creek areafalls at bear creek

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Rafting the Roaring Fork

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Bronwyn

Wow – no rafting in May this year. But we made it on June 1st! We put in at Carbondale and took out at Glenwood Springs at the Two Rivers park just after the confluence of the Roaring Fork and the Colorado Rivers. The confluence is so interesting as the water from the Roaring Fork was clear and cold which contrasted to the warmer more muddy waters of the Colorado. We were really lucky to have a perfect bluebird day. As we floated by the golfers on the way everyone waved. Mount Sopris still has snow and looks stunning from the river. On the way we also saw a few blue herons, some geese with their goslings and a very impressive eagle.

2013 rafting roaring fork 2013 rafting roaring fork 1 2013 rafting roaring fork 3 Copy of 2013 rafting rf eagle

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Lake Powell for Memorial Day weekend

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Bronwyn

It is so beautiful in the desert! And warm! It takes about 6 hours to get from Basalt (6.5 from Aspen) to Bullfrog Marina at Lake Powell. We headed down on Thursday and got there just as the full moon was rising over the lake. The kids tubed, we all went sightseeing down canyons in the ski boat, some of us hiked, some of us skiied, we sat around the campfire, sang, played guitar and generally had a great time…. Monday came all too soon!full moon lake powelllake powell may 2013

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