Breckenridge, Colorado Journal

June & July 2007

 
After spending two weeks in California visiting family, I flew to Denver on June 1^st, rented a car and drove two hours west to Breckenridge where I planned to spend the next couple months.  Although I’ve never been here before, at 9600 feet above sea level, Breckenridge is just about the highest town in the continental United States and training at this altitude would be a big advantage.

I arrived in town around 5:00 PM and stopped at the first real estate office I saw.  Although I had originally planned to stay in a hotel for a few nights until I could find a furnished apartment, Doug Carr had a studio apartment right on Main Street which had just been vacated and was in the process of being cleaned as we spoke.  Named the Safari Suite, due to the African motif, it was perfect for my needs and I was able to move in immediately.

On Saturday, I drove a mile north to the town’s Recreation Center which I joined.  I had heard about this facility from Mike Gross who I met in Nepal last month and who has vacationed in Breckenridge several times.  The Rec Center is fabulous and includes racquetball, a huge pool, baseball diamonds, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, two floors of weight equipment, lots of cardio equipment, and indoor running track and a climbing wall.  I signed up to work with Dave Walker, a personal trainer, twice a week.

I kept my rental car for the first week and used it to explore the area as much as possible.  I drove nine miles north to Frisco, first to climb Mt. Royal, a 450-meter, 2-hour hike and again to climb Mt. Victoria a similar size peak next to Mt. Royal.  I was unable to reach the summit of Mt. Victoria due to a huge snow slide that had blocked the trail, which I did not want to attempt alone.  I also drove out to Mt. Quandary, which is the closest 14,000-foot peak to Breckenridge, just to see where the trailhead was.  I’m sure I will get a chance to climb it sometime before I leave.

Summit County has a terrific free transportation system.  There is a town trolley, which loops around the town and a more complete bus system that links Breckenridge with other towns in the county.  I had considered the possibility of buying a bike when I turned in my car, but decided that I really did not need one.

It snowed twice during my first week in town, but only a light dusting which quickly melted.  The surrounding peaks are beautiful although my view is somewhat blocked by an old barn directly behind my apartment.  To my delight, however, a construction crew showed up to move the barn (it is a historical building and cannot be torn down – although it could easily fall down at any time) so now I have an unobstructed view of the Ten-Mile Range.

Between cardio workouts, racquetball games and twice-a-week workouts with Dave, I am spending a couple hours a day at the Rec Center.  I found a massage therapist that I visit once or twice a week and am beginning to consider the possibility of buying a vacation home somewhere in Summit County.  To that end, I’ve started meeting with some real estate agents, bankers and appraisers to learn more about the market in this area.

I was surprised to learn that Greg Mortenson, author of ‘Three Cups of Tea’ a New York Times best selling book about Greg’s promise to build a school for a remote village in northern Pakistan, which had nurtured him back to health after an 80-day attempt to climb K-2, was to speak at a fund-raising event at The Riverwalk Center on June 14^th.  Jay Hoey had leant me the book during our hike to Everest Base Camp last month so I was very excited about meeting him and learning more about his Central Asia Institute which has now built almost 70 schools, principally for girls in former Taliban strongholds.  The event raised enough money to build and endow two schools, largely through the efforts of Shannon Galpin, who formed Mountain to Mountain, specifically to raise money for community-driven projects in remote mountain areas around the world.

Saturday, June 16^th marks the end of the ‘mud season’ and the beginning of the ‘summer season’.  Almost everything doubles in price.  Big parties in all surrounding towns mark the weekend.  Breckenridge sponsors ‘Kingdom Days’ with gold panning, outhouse races and several music venues.  Frisco is site of the ‘14^th Annual Coors Colorado BBQ Challenge’ featuring 59 teams of cooks competing for almost $10,000 in prizes.  It was a very busy weekend running from one party to the next.

Dave Walker introduced me to a guy who is planning to climb Kilimanjaro with his daughter later this year and we decided to climb some local peaks together.  On Thursday, June 21^st, Rick Hague picked me up and we drove south ten miles to the Mt. Quandary trailhead.  There were a couple dozen people on the trail.  Rick and I had a similar pace and we reached the summit in 3 ˝ hours. Most of the trail is above tree line and there is quite a bit of loose rock towards the summit, which is still covered with snow.  On the way down we saw a mountain goat, which allowed us to get within about 10 feet.

I had signed up for a 5K race on Sunday which benefits the Central Asia Institute so I decided to spend a few days running a similar length course around town instead of using the cardio equipment at the recreation center.  I don’t think I have run an actual race for over ten years and was a little worried about running at this altitude.  There is also a 10-mile trail race, which ascends 2600 feet for avid trail runners, but I planned to stick with the easier course.

Also this week, there are 2000 bikers participating in a 450-mile ‘Ride the Rockies’ event, which starts and finishes in Frisco.  The race is conducted in stages over a six-day period.   I watched coverage of the event on the local news each evening, and went to Frisco on Saturday to see the finish.

Sunday, June 24th was the ‘Race for the Mountains’.  I heard there may have been some problems getting the necessary permits to run the 5K race on the flat valley floor, so it was changed to a trail race, up the ski hill.  According to the map, it was a 3.8-mile loop, a little more than I had prepared myself for.  Nevertheless, the 10-mile race started promptly at 9:00 AM and the ‘5K’ race started a couple minutes later.  I started out running uphill, but ran out of steam after about a half mile.  I found though that I could walk uphill just about as fast as many other people around me could jog, so I did not feel bad about not running.  The course ascended, probably about 1100 feet over 2 miles which took me about 30 minutes.  But at the aid station, we turned around and started running down.  I still had plenty of energy and quickly ran down the rocky trail.  It was the first time I had ever run this fast downhill and could easily have been injured if I had stepped on a rock or missed a turn.  I finished with a time of 46:37, which was third in my age group.

Although this was a first time event, there were quite a few sponsors, each with a booth passing out free samples.  A local band entertained the crowd and a local radio station was broadcasting live from the event.  The most popular booth was that of the local microbrewery, which was pouring free drafts as fast the taps would allow.  At 12:30 PM prizes were awarded to the winners in each category and I won a $50 gift certificate to a local restaurant in the accompanying raffle.

The weekend of June 30^th, Copper Mountain was sponsoring an event named 3-Ring Weekend, a combination of live music, circus entertainment and an adventure competition known as The Copper Chase.  I took the bus over on Saturday and spent a few hours watching the entertainment.  Copper Mountain is a stand-alone resort and is not much of a town.  I had originally planned to see KC and the Sunshine Band at 5:00 PM, but grew bored and returned to Breckenridge before they took the stage.

The next day, Rick Hague picked me up at 7:00 AM and we drove through Keystone over to an obscure trailhead at the foot of Grays Peak where we started hiking at 7:45 AM.  We planned to climb both Grays Peak (14,270’) and Torreys Peak (14,267’) today.  Rick told me not many people use this trail and we did not see another sole for the first three hours.  The trail ascends through two beautiful valleys and at one point we had to remove our boots to ford a stream.  Our guidebook provided general directions, but after reaching an abandon mine , from where we could see the summits, we lost the trail and found ourselves climbing off-trail.

When we reached the summit, there were scores of people there whom had climbed up from the north.  We rested for fifteen minutes, then dropped down into the saddle between the two peaks and then climbed back up Torreys Peak.  We were following a circular route so we continued down Torreys on a different path than we had hiked up.  We lost the trail again and found ourselves descending 40-degree skree, which was somewhat unpleasant.  At one point we were able to glissade a steep 100-meter section of snow.  After 9 ˝ hours we returned to the car and Rick was able to make it to the function he had committed to attend at 6:00 PM.

On July 3^rd, I rented a mountain bike and rode up the old railroad grade to Boreas Pass.  I cheated a bit by taking the bus up the first five miles to Bluff Condos where I rode two miles of pavement to the beginning of the dirt road where the rails have been removed.  The grade is not too steep, but it is continuous for about nine miles to Section House.  This is supposed to be one of the best places to see wildflowers, but they are not due to be in full bloom until the third week of July.  It took about an hour to bike up and I passed several hikers.  There is a small museum with railroad paraphernalia at the pass, which I found very interesting.  I coasted back down the mountain as fast as I dared, which was probably less than half the speed as some of the locals.

That afternoon, Ben Brewer had invited me to a party at his Mom’s house, which turned out to be a combination Independence Day/Birthday for Ben/Anniversary for Ben party.  There were over 100 guests and I struggled, unsuccessfully, to remain on my diet.

I had continued to run a few miles most mornings and was surprised to see three foxes in a vacant lot in downtown Breckenridge.  Rick said that there are foxes in town all the time and sometimes elk & bear wander into town too.  I was confident enough with my running to sign up for another race, this one the Firecracker 10K trail race which was held on the Fourth of July, and kicked off the town’s busy agenda of activities.

The race started at 8:30 AM at Carter Park with 267 participants.  The trail narrowed quickly as it ascended hills to the east of town, which had the effect of slowing the pace, which was fine with me as we climbed.  I probably walked 50% of the first three miles, reaching the 5K-point in 34 minutes.  The second half was all down hill and I completed the course in 58:28, finishing fourth in my age group and 104^th overall.

I went home to shower and change, then returned to Main Street in time to see the beginning of the Firecracker 50-mile bike race (800 participants), which preceded the town’s Independence Day Parade, for which about 10,000 spectators had gathered.  The parade went on for 1˝ hours and I think almost everyone who lives here on a permanent basis was in it, in one form or another.  At noon I headed up to The Quandary Grill where I had been invited to a barbecue sponsored by a local real estate company.  When I returned to my apartment in afternoon, the town activities, including children having water fights with fire hoses on Main Street, were still in full swing.

On July 11^th, Mom, Dad, Lauraine and 2-year old Ayden arrived for a one-week visit.  Carolyn and her friend Barbara, who had been an au pair when her kids were young and now lives in Denver came a couple days later.  I had rented a three-bedroom townhouse at Mountain Thunder Lodge where they stayed.

Thursday morning I took Lauraine and Ayden to the Recreation Center.  Ayden had a wonderful time at the Bearly Big program, which enables parents to use the facilities while someone else watches the children.  Afterwards we took Dad to the grocery store where we stocked up on food for the week.  The townhouse has a complete kitchen and we had planned about half the meals at restaurants and the other half at home.  There was a free concert in the afternoon, which Mom and Lauraine attended and then Mom and I went to a presentation on the history of railroads in Summit County, which was given at Town Hall by the Historical Society.  For dinner this evening we went to a local Mexican restaurant, Mi Casa.

Carolyn wanted to go white-water rafting on Saturday so everyone except Ayden and I left early in the morning and drove south to Fairplay where they had arranged a half-day rafting trip.  Mom & Dad also went, although Dad was less than enthusiastic.  Ayden and I had a great time hiking around town together.  Saturday night we had dinner at The Hearthstone Restaurant where some of us had the granola encrusted elk.

Sunday started with a hike up Mt. Victoria in Frisco.  I carried Ayden and hiked with Barbara while Carolyn & Lauraine competed for the slowest hiker award.  We got to the false summit of Victoria before we decided to turn around and head back to The Butterhorn Bakery where we had arranged to meet Mom & Dad.  Mom had found a little museum on Main Street where Ayden enjoyed petting the stuffed bear & elk and watching the model train set.  From Frisco, we drove over to Keystone for the Keystone Blues & Arts Festival.  We ate lunch while listening to music and then were able to see most of the art exhibits before it started to rain.

Sunday night, Mom, Lauraine and I attended a George Winston concert at The Riverwalk Center while Dad made dinner for Carolyn, Barbara and four of Ayden’s relatives who had driven over from Denver to see him.  Carolyn talked Barbara into staying an additional night so she did not have to drive back until Monday morning.

I had hoped that we would rent bikes and ride up Boreas Pass on Monday, but Carolyn and Lauraine were still sore from our hike up Mt. Victoria.  We went to the Recreation Center in the morning where we took Ayden  swimming in the heated pool.  In the afternoon we drove up Boreas Pass but found that the museum was closed by the time we arrived.  We were able to see the outdoor exhibits before heading back.  In the evening we went to The Steak and Rib Restaurant, but were served so much food, we took most of it home.

Tuesday was our last full day and we went up to the Peak Eight Fun Park.  Carolyn, Lauraine and Mom took the chairlift ride up the mountain while Ayden and I watched other people enjoying some of the rides, which are available.  Lauraine decided to ride up to take the slide down the hill and seemed to enjoy it from the expression on her face as she shot by.   We spent the final night at home eating a dinner Dad prepared to use up the food, which we had accumulated.

My family left on Wednesday morning and were home by 6 PM.  I was able to do some laundry at the townhouse before checking out at noon.

I spent two more weeks in Breckenridge.  I tried to get to the Recreation Center every day, and attempted to stick to my diet as much as possible.  I spent a day with Ben Brewer looking at some of the beautiful homes that are for sale here in town.  I can easily see living here during the summer, but will have to visit in the winter to see if it is a place I would want to be year around.  There were the usual art shows every weekend, which I enjoy and am now even getting to know some of the vendors.

I was unable to get onto a group climb up Mt. Rainier, which is disappointing because I will have some new equipment that I had hoped to break in before leaving for Tibet, but I still need to go to Seattle to buy climbing boots and a down suit so I will do that before returning to Novato on August 4^th.

| Back | Map | Home |