Day 3: Frisco and Glenwood

I awoke the next morning at 6 am, feeling groggy, because I feel asleep around 7 the previous evening. I watched Gladiator while I packed my bag. The house was slowly coming awake and we decided to go into town to get some food. Butterhorn Bakery was our choice in Frisco's little thoroughfare of log-built storefronts. If you ever go, make sure you get the "Eggy Bread".

After returning back to Ben's place in Frisco, we found two people snow biking down a small hill across from the house. We joined them, though weren't nearly as adventurous. Then, we headed out for Glenwood and Aspen.

We'd been told at REI that the drive through Glenwood Canyon is among the most beautiful in Colorado. We'd also heard there had been a rockslide through the canyon the previous week, cutting off traffic in both directions for a while, resulting in a 150 detour.

When we reached the Canyon, we found that the first statement was true, and the second was true, though already cleared, except for some extensive road damage. Realizing that Sara's proposed hike was in this canyon, we decided it was worth it. Hanging Lake is a natural formation of a lake on the side of a mountain due to some strange limestone formation. Half way up the mountain, the snow hadn't melted yet and a chute of ice had been created running halfway down the mountain. Which lead to fun results.

Afterwards, we joined Sara's friends, Chappy and Liz in Glenwood for brews before they put us up for the night.

Day 2: Onward to the Breck

We woke up early, myself earlier than most, and prepared for our trip to Breckenridge aiming to be there as the slopes opened. Everyone but myself seemed to nursing hangovers largely blamed on absinthe the previous evening. Lethargy was definitely present as we began our trip west and Colyn proved his inability with directions, but as we approached the mountain range to our west, the excitement certainly increased. Well, except for Sara.

The mountain had gotten half a foot a few days earlier in the week, so the snow was good, but well run by the time we arrived. It was exciting to be on a mountain again, but overall found Breckenridge to be a fun, but not terribly challenging mountain.

Ed, Colyn and I really began getting into the mountain later in the day, running some fast runs. Until a ski instructor decided to pull us over, in order to tell us just how long he'd been skiing. He may have also mentioned how little we'd apparently skied, but that wasn't much more than a secondary concern, based on the time devoted in his speech. Ed has it on video somewhere.

We headed to Breckenridge Brewery for apres ski beer and nachos, before heading to Frisco to crash thanks once again to the generosity of Ben & Joel.

Day 1: Arrival in Denver

Edward and I landed in Denver on a bright and sunny Saturday noon. Already, weather was looking more congenial than the 6 am sleet we left in Chicago. Sara and Colyn hadn't left from their current habitation in Denver proper and we had half an hour of trying to figure out the correct departure lane for traffic before they arrived. In consequence, the timing was perfect.

We headed back to our stop for the night, a renovated church courtesy of Sara's Fayetteville Ultimate friends, Ben and Joel. Their place featured three stories of stained glass windows, loft ceilings and a bedroom in the belfry.

We went out for drinks and hit up one of Ben's favorite watering holes, The Horseshoe Lounge, got some delicious truffle fries and shot some pool, played some darts. A live band was starting up, GT and the Sidewinders and we decided to stay for the show.

They describe themselves as rocka-honka-americana-roots heartbreakers, but whatever they were, it was a good time.

They were so entertaining, we took some video of their show. 

Later we ran home, with Sara in a shopping cart, to catch a few Zzz's before heading to Breckenridge the next day.

Colorado Trip

After a depressing long Chicago winter, I got out of the city last week and got to experience snow that you can actually do something with, like snow ball fights, skiing and general fun.

For those of you unfamiliar with Chicago snow, it only serves the purpose of making it harder to walk, trickling down your shirt, getting dirty and drab and come early spring, falling on you from very tall buildings.

My trip took me to Colorado, airfare courtesy of my old roommate and Buick compatriot, Edward, along with Colyn (another exroommate and fellow Buickteer) and his girl, Sarah (aka the girl who knows everybody everywhere through Arkansas Ultimate).

The following posts will detail some of our travels in roughly chronological order.

Falling

A year ago today, a coworker and I were getting breakfast on the 30th floor of our building when a woman flew by the building next to ours, the Civic Opera House. It would seem she jumped from the 40th floor and landed on the canopy, two stories above the ground. The entire room rushed to the window and the first word out of anyone's mouth was "I hope that wasn't an April Fool's prank."

People spent the rest of the day watching the crews clean up after her and bemoaning the briefness of life. Life is especially short when one decides to jump out of a window, a decision that is rarely reversible.

I try not to be one to claim to know what is best for other people individually, though I spend plenty of time declaring what may or may not be best for me. A year ago, a woman jumped out of a window and I watched her fall. Perhaps she was sad, or cornered, or frightened. But she identified relief in a way few of us would. And if it was relief from pain she found, I will not fault her that.

I would have kept a parachute on standby.