I'm definitely a city mouse, but I do enjoy the yearly visit to middle of nowhere Colorado.
Longs Peak is such an amazing mountain. The keyhole route is the most challenging hike I've done and the lakes below it are overflowing with wildflowers.
I would like to come out here in the summer to be able to do that. Her parents have a book of loop hikes and there are a bunch of them I'd like to try.
The only safe window where it's ice-free is mid-August through the first week of September, starting around midnight to be down below the treeline by the noontime storms. Otherwise the homestretch is polished granite at a steep angle. Very dehydrating too.
How is it that the US has some of the most beautiful nature in the world and yet most of the cities look like strip mall suburban helltowns copy pasted ten thousand times? We don’t even try to live up to the surroundings lol
Let's go climbing. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning at 4am.
Sorry. If I see a picture of Longs peak (or any mt really) I'm basically compelled to try and get someone to go up stettners ledges or the casual route with me.
I've been considering moving to that area, is it hard to get set up and afford? I'm already in a pretty expensive mountain town.
All the communities around rocky Mt national park are expensive of course. Denver is also stupidly pricey but coming down recently. Probably not much more than your town. The smaller communities sometimes are hard simply because there's not much housing at a vaguely affordable level and it's word of mouth. That is people I've known who live in them are only able to find affordable apartments because they know someone who has one available etc
Sounds familiar. I've spent some time all over CO but never in the Boulder, Denver area. Definitely not interested in living in a sprawl but access to culture is nice.
My exp with Denver and similar is you gotta find the least suberby area. Once I drove through Thornton and almost died at the shitty suberby vibe.
Fort Collins is fairly cheap. For $800-1000/mo you can get a studio or 1br. You're an hour away from RMNP where this mountain is, half an hour from Poudre Canyon and some of the best car camping in the state, and within daytrip distance of the ski resorts. The county its in is a politically mixed bag but the city itself is fairly progressive. Bad public transit (albeit the buses are free), decent bike infrastructure with amazing trails for both commuting and mountain biking, a huge reservoir above the city that's great for kayaking. I'd choose it over 90% of the country and would only upgrade to a place like Denver or Seattle where there's more of a leftist presence. In Fort Collins you'd be limited to a DSA chapter and a few SRA comrades.
Foco is a college town sorta. Definitely a nice area I'd happily live in. Probably more expensive than some areas around Denver but not the most expensive.
Co springs is a chud filled military town so fuck that place at any price. Bad vibes. Though it is close to some beautiful areas so visiting is ok.
Foco is really geared towards college kids. Once you start aging past like 26 you suddenly realize how young everyone around you seems
I leave tonight. I'm trying to come back out this summer, though and I'd absolutely do that then, though.
I've been heavily compelled to quit my office job recently and become a climbing guide. The mountains are much better than computer.
That's to say I absolutely recommend climbing in CO this summer if Possible. Winter climbing is a whole nother beast anyway.
Every time I see the SAR helicopters I regret not going into flight nursing. Flying around RMNP all day would be :chefs-kiss:
Fuckin ya. I'm working on parlaying my skills into a position on a SAR team. Do some actual good instead of BS all the time.
Joining the Larimer ground crew is an eventual goal once I get my rope skills down. I'd love to hike with purpose.
Awesome. Rope skills are like my jam. Give me a rope and a few carbiners and I'll rig you whatever you need baby.
But yeah if I could put those skills to use saving lives that'd be ideal.
It's actually not too bad at this elevation, 40s during the day and mid 20s at night. They got a couple feet of snow about a month ago and it's just taking forever to melt.
Every time I walk outside in Florida I wish I was back in Colorado
