After our illustrious show in Iowa it was time to head again to the most beautiful of the United States: Colorado. I fell in love with the Centennial State as soon as I had my first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains as we approached from Interstate 70 in the summer of 2008. The flat horizon turned jagged and menacing in the blink of an eye, and a raw sense of awe and intimidation tumbled through my veins. I had never witnessed such an impressive feat of natural, earthly creation. It is one of few things in this world that can make you feel equally significant and insignificant in the same breath.
This year we took a more northern route into Colorado. Our first stop there was Steamboat Springs, a ski town not far from the Wyoming border. We didn’t have a show booked there, but we had a few days off and wanted to see our friend Andy who has been living there for the past year or so. Andy works for the company that owns the ski mountain, as a good number of the locals there do. The company owns all the ski resorts in town, as well as the myriad shops, restaurants, bars, and attractions around the mountain. Right now Andy’s position is manager of the coffee shop at the bottom of the mountain, though he just received a promotion and will be managing one of the bars at the top of the mountain. Envious, we were excited to see what a day in his life was like.
Turns out it’s phenomenal. The first night we were there, he took us to Buffalo Pass, an area of national forest just outside Steamboat Springs proper that is a hot spot for local campers. It was a 45 minute drive up the mountain. The sight of our two vans skillfully manuevering up the mountain path was a majestic one. You are all familiar with our 2002 Chevy Express, but Andy’s ‘89 Dodge Ram Van is even more impressive. Still in great condition (he babies the thing), it has been fully customized to be the ultimate camping van. In the back he has a raised mattress, leaving just enough room on top to lie down and not smack your head on the roof if startled. There is also a small fan hanging from the roof to help you get to sleep in the summer heat. The mattress is propped up so that there is room for storage underneath - we used the space to gather firewood. Behind the driver’s seat is a storage cabinet with drawers filled with camping and van supplies. My favorite piece of equipment was the broiler basket, which we later used to grill bratwursts to perfection over the fire.
Spending our first night in the high altitude outdoors camping and hiking around the national forests was beneficial. The air is noticeably thinner at 1.5 miles above sea level. You can feel with each breath that your lungs are working harder to maintain their usual level of oxygen intake. We made sure to stay active to let our lungs get acclimated with their new surroundings. It helped in the long run. Seldom during our Colorado stay were we short of breath or feeling any ill effects from the lower supply of oxygen. Supposedly your body fully adjusts in a month or so, but we weren’t able to hang around long enough to find out. Andy’s dog Sadie led us through the forest, keeping one eye on us and one on the path in front of her, as we blasted Steely Dan’s entire discography (pre-Two Against Nature) for the pines to absorb. No one else was around to hear it - the forest was ours for the night. We imbibed on beer and brats and life was good.
The next day our plan was to go to the natural hot springs, also located just outside of Steamboat. If we were simple tourists, we would have gone in the main entrance right next to the springs and paid the $10 fee. However, with Andy’s local knowledge, we were privy enough to park one van at the main entrance and drive the other all the way back through Steamboat and around the mountain (about 30 minutes of driving) to a path created by the locals as a more andventurous and cost effective way to get to the springs. We planned our journey so that we would be able to do the hike in daylight and then have the sun setting just as we approached the springs. Unfortunately we got off to a late start, and the sun set halfway through our hour-long hike. The two-foot wide path was treacherous, and with only one flashlight between the four of us we took it slow. Sadie, however, was not phased as she again led us through the darkened forest in quiet confidence.
We arrived at the springs in the pitch black. The only light we saw was the light of the moon dancing on the ripples in the water. Andy explained to us that the springs were naturally too hot to swim in, but in the 1940s some brave Steamboaters took it upon themselves to redirect a nearby river to cool the springs down. Stone pools were made on different levels so that the ones closest to the springs themselves were the hottest, and they cooled down as you got closer to the river. Each pool was between 104-115 degrees, slightly hotter than the average jacuzzi. We basked in the warmth of the water - the night was cool, but calm. I abandoned my corrective eyewear for the time being, and the blurred outlines of the pine trees against the night sky were surreal - different shades of black permeated my vision, contrasted only by the brightness of the moon, now nearly two miles closer and ever more present.
From Steamboat we headed to Denver. We met up with our second couchsurfing host of the trip, DJ, a flight paramedic who works for Flight For Life, giving medical assistance to people in the mountains. It’s not an easy gig. He works basically three days on and five days off, but those three days are intense start to finish, sometimes 12 hours or more. He often sleeps at one of the hospitals nearby. I have the utmost respect for what he does. DJ is the kind of man we should all hope to be. And not just because of the feats of greatness he routinely performs at work. But also because on his off-days, the man knows how to have a good time. He’s always got a fully stocked bar in his apartment. One of his living room walls is covered with select posters from the hundreds of concerts he’s been to over the years. The man’s even got a candy drawer. And to top it off, he’s got a balcony with a sweet view of the city.
We hit it off with DJ immediately. We’ve gotten very lucky with couchsurfing hosts. All of them have been very chill. I attribute it to the code of the beard. Beards seem to indicate a higher chance of the person being a nice, down-to-earth guy. They seem to be eager to have fun, accommodating, and undaunted by life’s twists and turns. And these are the kinds of people you want to be hanging out with when you’re on the road. Sitting on DJ’s balcony, not more than 30 minutes after our arrival, the sky suddenly opened up - it went from a bright, cloudless sunny day to quite possibly the biggest thunderstorm I had ever seen in a matter of moments. Lightning ripped through the skyline, as thunder followed almost instantaneously. We were very close to the action. Rain poured down as if being released from a 20-mile wide bucket. I heard my first live tornado siren. It was the most exciting welcome we could’ve asked for.
Over the next few days in Denver, we went to visit Red Rocks four times. Red Rocks is the most beloved venue in the Denver area, located in between to large rock formations that form a natural amphitheater. The venue holds nearly 10,000 and there is not a bad seat in the house. We didn’t actually see a show there, though twice we were there during concerts. Once to see if we could go in and walk around (we couldn’t) and once tailgating before a Dr. John performance with DJ before we had to head to our own gig. While tailgating we also met a girl who was visiting from Canada and went to Red Rocks to see Kings of Leon. Unfortunately, she was there a day early by accident. Since we weren’t there to go into the show, and neither was she, we ended up hanging out for a while, and invited her to our show in nearby Golden later on that evening. She came along and we had a grand old time - grand enough to invite her to the Rockies-Cubs game we had an extra ticket for the next day. We were drawn to Red Rocks because of its aura - we wanted to feel its vibe as much as possible. Because, you know, someday Bad Apples will be on that stage.
We had a day to kill, so we went to the Coors Brewery in Golden after a hike at Red Rocks. Due to our late planning, we arrived just after the last tour of the day had left. We were told we could take the “short tour,” which consisted of walking down a hallway to the bar and getting your allotted three free beers. Worked out well, since that’s the only reason we wanted to take the tour in the first place.
Near the brewery in Golden was a point called Lookout Mountain, which as you can imagine, has a splendid view. We drove up and found a great spot to watch the sunset. Apparently we weren’t the only ones who were thinking to do this, as within minutes we met and befriended 10 other passersby, and before long a party erupted on the side of the mountain. Some folks came upon the scene and immediately bolted, but most joined right in. Only in Colorado. By now Dave’s road beard was neatly massive, and locals kept asking him if he was someone they knew. I couldn’t blame them, he looked like a bona fide mountain man. And on this day, he was.
It was off to Telluride once we left Denver. A gorgeous ski town in a valley 10,000 feet above sea level, Telluride boasts some of the most amazing views in a state full of them. Though because of its beauty and seclusion, it is difficult to find anything cheap to do. It is, however, free to ride the gondola, which runs from downtown Telluride to one of the ski mountains and then to the Mountain Village, a section of town a little higher up and on the other side of the ski mountain. The locals use the gondola for their commute to work. We took it to the first stop and decided to make our own hiking trail back down to Mountain Village. During the hike we went a little off the beaten path and found a rather large fort, complete with bedding and a couple seats. Looked like a cozy place to go when there is snow on the ground - it would certainly be hidden under the blanket of white.
After Telluride we had to backtrack to the eastern part of the Rockies. Our next stop was Nederland, a very quaint town. We were playing at a pub downtown and needed to use the phone. None of us had service, so I asked the bartender if I could use theirs. “Only for local calls.” Ours weren’t. He said we may be able to get cell phone service inside the inn down the street. Sure enough, just outside the inn, underneath a telephone pole, we found service. Funny how some places just haven’t gotten up to speed on that kind of thing yet.
The show there was the best we played in Colorado. The crowd was abundant and excitable. We fed off their energy and played one of the most aggressive sets of the tour. One of the bartenders got up and played sax with us. Turns out he was sax player and lead singer in a local band, and when he learned that we didn’t have a place to stay for the night, offered up his house for us. We played pool and partied till the sun came up.
Our final Colorado stop was Breckenridge, another beautiful ski town (Colorado has plenty of them, if you couldn’t tell). We played another great show, and were accompanied by another local sax player named Naked Pete, who ripped it up on a bunch of tunes. Not sure why they called him Naked, though. Once the show was over, we made our rounds of “Do you know where we can find some free camping around here?” which always leads to someone offering up a place to stay. This time it was Naked Pete who layed out the offer. And it was a good one. His wife’s boss owns a mansion in Breck, and he puts up a sign up sheet for his employees to stay there while he’s gone. And whenever Pete has work in Breck, he gets to stay there. We got lucky. This place was the nicest home I have ever stepped foot in. Apparently the architect designed it for himself, then decided later on to sell it instead. Everything inside was custom designed for the house. The kitchen was beautiful. There were as many bathrooms as bedrooms (we all slept in a bed for the first time the entire tour). We spent a good amount of time in the jacuzzi before retiring to play foozeball in matching “Jedi robes,” as Pete referred to them. In the morning we were able to see the Breckenridge ski slopes from the back porch. It was a most incredible experience, and the most rockstar thing that has ever happened to us. Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.
-Albis
