Blogs from Breckenridge, Colorado, United States, North America

Our first four weeks of snowboarding has come to an end. It feels like it has gone by in a flash but at the same time feels like forever ago that we opened the door to our studio apartment with trepidation (surrounded by a million, noisy college students all trying to check in!) During our time in Breck we've had so many different conditions which just goes to show how quickly weather in the mountains can change. In our first week we had tons of snow but in complete contrast, week two got off to a sunny start. We were back to snowboarding on groomers and could see the lovely scenery for pretty much the first time since we'd arrived. We were doing 50km days and still making it back down the mountain mid afternoon - ... read more

Geo: 39.4817, -106.038Today, we just took it easy and relaxed. I didn't do any bicycle riding.I did pull out a WORLD MAP puzzle and started working on it. It is a unique puzzle. Countries are listed, but there are not interwtining pieces. One little bump makes the puzzles fustrating.Gary and Madison drove to Safeway to pick up stuff to make Kale soup. We enjoyed that out on the patio. Delicious.Around 12:30pm, Dad, Gary and Madison and I got in the RAV 4 and drove over to Breckenridge. Here we took the Gondala up to the top of the mountain. It was FREE. There were lots of folks up at the resort. Folks were either jumping on the trampoline or going down hill on the toboggan. Again we just watched people. Met a couple from KS, where ... read more

In the afternoon after our balloon ride June 9 we hiked McCullough Gorge trail. This turned out to be quite challenging due to a lot of snow on the trail and a lack of blazes to show the way. It was only about 3 miles round trip but took us 3 hours with a stop for lunch. We ended at beautiful White Falls which was roaring at peak flow due to snow melt with the warm temperatures (70s) we've been having. Aside from the falls the highlight was three fat marmots that we saw in a couple of rock piles along the way. Driving back to town we noticed several cars parked on the side of the road, always a good sign in wildlife areas. There stood a huge male moose with a full rack of ... read more

We are in Breckenridge, CO for the AERE (Association of Environmental and Resource Economists) conference. Arrived about 3:30 on June 7 after driving about 2 hours west from Denver. The Budget rental people had talked us into an upgrade from a compact car to a Jeep Grand Cherokee, which probably was a good thing given the grades we had to climb just to get to Breckenridge, let alone for any exploring we did in the area. Our room is at the Beaver Run Resort, a behemoth of a hotel right on the ski slopes and a ten minute walk from downtown. We have a kitchenette with full fridge, so one of the first things we did was grocery shopping at City Market. We immediately felt the effects of being at 9600 feet. Even gentle walking brought ... read more

28 September 2013 Saturday. This time every Autumn we like to take a day trip in the mountains to see the golden aspens, some leaves tinged with red or orange, and the evergreens; and in the background a white dusting of snow on the Rockies and the deep blue sky. This is also the season when the elk are bugling, adding the aural dimension to the blaze of color. Normally we would drive to Estes Park and the Rocky Mountain National Park, but this year the heavy rains produced flash floods that have eroded roadways and flooded towns all along the Front Range, including Estes Park. So we (daughter Tamara, grandson Liam, Linda and I) decided to drive west through South Park (it's a real place after which the irreverent cartoon in named), and then north ... read more