BLOGGERS NOTES – In recognizing two hundred and ten years since Zebulon Pike came into the San Luis Valley, on a mission to supposedly find the southern boundaries of the Louisiana Purchase, I have the advantage of a picture of history before and after 1806 -1807. His adventures here were…
As winter heads toward spring – days are longer, nights not so cold, and the sun feels warmer as it crawls northward into our daily skies… It seems to be another season of sorts. It is! Hot Springs Soaking Season providing sunset watching, mountain viewing, and star gazing. From Alamosa,…
Great Sand Dunes National Park is open all year! I repeat, all year! From a distance the Dunes look two dimensional, almost fake and out of place, against the backdrop of snowcapped mountains in the winter. January, deep Winter, as good as a time as any to take my adventurous…
Rare though it is, snow can come hard and fast in the San Luis Valley! Such a day it was, when yes, a snowstorm was pounding the mountain passes and the valley floor. Often the valley is in a ‘donut hole’ of dry air while the surrounding mountain ranges are…
SAN LUIS VALLEY – by Bob Unterreiner – Cape Girardeau MO This past October our family headed out West to see some of our National Parks. Our first stop along the way was the Great Sand Dunes National Park in the San Luis Valley. I had heard of this park…
Running in shorts on Thanksgiving Day yielded soon to Old Man Winter over the course of the last weekend in November. From virtually no snowpack, to several feet deep is often the way the ‘Old Boy’ makes himself known. I was on my way ‘down river’ (the Rio Grande) from…
Amazing how many places and physical features in the West are named after John Fremont and Kit Carson. Cities, towns, streets, rivers, peaks, counties, schools, National Forests, even a ghost town, and probably other things I have missed! Recently, Outside Magazine had an article that adventures in nature, considered ‘outdoor…
The town of Crestone is the ‘Outer Limits’ of the San Luis Valley in a good way. Resting on the perimeter in the north part of the valley, 38 miles north of Alamosa, and 12 miles east of Highway 17, the town is easily accessible. During festivals and special events,…
Hear ye, hear ye, one and all, it is still Fall, as evidenced by the color still available on several trails in the San Luis Valley and along rivers, streams, and hillsides. September’s full dress of colors, and our festivals celebrating such, are over, but it does not mean the…
The mountain bike trails in Penitente Canyon are intense, beautiful, unforgiving, joyous and full of pleasures and perils for riders who are intermediate level to off the scale crazy, skilled and phenomenal. High praises to all riders who take these trails on for serious fun and adventure. Oh, and for…