🏊🏼 Memories of Glenwood Hot Springs History
Exploring the top stories we're reading about Colorado this week
Every Monday, we’ll explore the news, stories, and topics that are making headlines around the state of Colorado that relate to the outdoor industries, interesting people and off-the-grid places we explore, from downtown Denver to the most distant peaks of the Rockies.
Here are this week’s top headlines we’ve been reading:
🚀 Retired Astronaut Rescued From La Plata Peak
🏊🏼 Glenwood Springs Pool Blends Timeless History of Geology & Water
🔥 Colorado Hot Springs Hot For Millennials
🚚 BLM Moving To Grand Junction
⛏ Finding Gold In A Usual Place
🏛 Save The Colfax Museum
🚗 Exploring The Motels Of Colfax Ave.
🚨 New Research On Avoiding, Treating Altitude Sickness
🐑 Let Wildlife Be Wild
📸 Picture Of The Week
⛰ Former Astronaut Survives La Plata Fall | Via: The Denver Channel
Retired NASA astronaut Jeffrey Ashby was severely injured Monday after falling 500 feet near the summit of Colorado’s La Plata Peak, according to the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office.
Nearby hikers heard Ashby screaming for help and contacted authorities. Search and rescue teams scoured the area for several hours before noticing a light flashing below the 14,360-foot summit. Unable to reach Ashby because of steep, technical terrain, Flight for Life was called in to assist with identifying his exact location.
After Ashby was located on a snowfield, a second helicopter dropped in a search and rescue team member near the summit. That person hiked down the steep terrain to reach and stabilize Ashby at approximately 3 a.m. Tuesday.
Ashby credits his survival with the efforts of the Chaffee County Search and Rescue Team, who were able to mount what they considered to be a complex mission to evacuate and lift Ashby from his remote position. On the Chaffee County SAR Facebook page, they reiterated that hikers should be more cautious and call in incidents or if someone needs help. It’s an important lesson as more and more hikers are trying to bag peaks in the warmer months.
La Plata is the fifth-highest of the so-called “fourteeners” in Colorado.
🏊🏼 Remembering Glenwood Hot Springs Special Place in Colorado History | Via: The Aspen Times
This past week, Glenwood Hot Springs announced the long-awaited opening of two one new additions to their famed pool.
Now, families and children can enjoy a splash down the “Shoshone Shoots,” a whitewater river tube adventure that sends thrill seekers down a network of twists and turns simulating a river rafting adventure.
The “Sopris Splash Zone,” a state-of-the-art children’s splash pad also briefly opened, but as of July 18, 2019, it has been temporarily closed for maintenance. Also slated for opening this summer is the Grand Fountain, which will be a kid’s splash area during the day and an entertaining light show by night. You can keep tab of the opening schedule here.
As the Glenwood looks to their new offerings to take them into future decades of enjoyment, The Aspen Times’ Tim Willoughby spent time remembering the past and how Glenwood became an integral part of Colorado’s water recreation. He notes just how much the Glenwood symbolizes place, geography, and geology — and it’s origins were wrapped around a different era when travel was by train. In the late 1890s the Glenwood was a known commodity, but was slightly topped by the architectural marvel that was the San Francisco Sutro Baths, a cliffside glass-topped marine play land that actually leveraged ocean water pumped into its dual 500-foot long pools. But, the Glenwood had something that the Sutro Baths did not — warmth.
🔥 Colorado Springs Hot City For Millennials | Via: KRDO
Joining a list of cities including Dallas, Seattle, Portland, Charlotte, and San Diego — Colorado Springs has been named a top ten national city for millennials.
In its third annual study, SmartAsset looked at immigration and emigration data from 173 cities to find out which destinations are most popular for millennials -- people aged 20 to 34 -- in 2019.
Colorado Springs ranked seventh in cities, coming behind Charlotte, North Carolina in sixth and narrowly beating out San Diego, California in eighth. Dallas, Texas claimed the number one spot.
Colorado Springs saw a net increase of 3,368 millennials in 2017. Of the total 16,279 millennials who moved to the city in 2017, 10,481 of them were from out of state.
🚚 BLM Moving To Grand Junction | Via: Colorado Public Radio
The Bureau of Land Management was born on July 16, 1946. That same date will soon carry another significance for the agency that manages the country’s public lands.
It’s also the day they confirmed that the BLM will move out of Washington, D.C. A letter that outlines the move was sent to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the chair of the Subcommittee on Interior and Environment.
Sen. Cory Gardner broke the news Monday with a video on Twitter, but the announcement was short on details. In the move, 27 positions will relocate to Grand Junction, 222 employees will move to BLM state offices.
“Shifting critical leadership positions and supporting staff to western states — where an overwhelming majority of federal lands are located — is not only a better management system, it is beneficial to the interest of the American public in these communities, cities, counties, and states,” said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt in a statement.
⛏Mining for Gold in Roaring Fork Valley | Via: Post Independent
Used bookstores are having something of a renaissance. While the last decade saw scores of used bookshops close up for good, many are now mounting a comeback.
In the Centennial State, and in Glenwood in particular, many used shops have closed up for good. But, others have doubled down on their sense of community, by providing local events and programming, and increasing their online presence in addition to doing what they do best locally.
The Book Grove, tucked away on the corner of Blake Avenue and Eighth Street in downtown Glenwood Springs, has served as a gathering spot for book lovers, treasure hunters and tourists for 15 years. Owner Sheri Scruby opened the Book Grove in 2004 after taking interest in a school reading program.
Searching for used books is definitely like treasure hunting,” Scruby said. “The valley is abundant when it comes to books, but it’s definitely challenging. It’s that German word [Fingerspitzengefühl] — I just have a sixth sense for finding those rare books and those signed books.”
She said she can look at a pile of used books and just know what’s worth it and what’s not.
“That just comes with experience,” she said. “I have a really good memory, so I know if I’ve seen a book or not. That’s just intuition. We all have intuition, but it’s important to listen to it and develop it, and I feel that’s what I’ve done during my time searching for used books.”
Aside from providing the community with used books, Scruby takes pride in the Book Grove serving as a gathering place for the community. One wouldn’t think of a book store being a gathering place for people to visit and catch up, but that’s part of the Book Grove’s atmosphere.
🏛 Save The Colfax Museum | Via: KUNC
Just a half-mile longer than a marathon distance, Denver’s Colfax Avenue (Highway 40) cuts a 26.5 mile cut through the city and is considered the nation’s largest stretch of commercial highway.
You could say Jonny Barber is it’s official historian and caretaker who has established the Colfax Museum two years ago.
Jonny Barber started ColfaxAvenue.com in 2004, and began collecting Colfax stories and artifacts off the street from closing businesses — a street sign here, an awning there — until he had enough to open a museum in November 2017. The museum first got its' start at Ed Moore Florist, all thanks to owner Lydia Mary. From there the museum moved West to find home inside the Pasternack's Art Hub in the 40 West Arts District in Lakewood, Colorado.
But, now Barber needs our help in donating to keep the website up, and finding a new location The current one is located in a flood plain and that’s bad news for the 150-year-old artifacts that he’s collected for the museum.
Barber said he's still figuring out a new location, but it might be in a different format than the last two incarnations. There are talks about a possible "Hard Rock Cafe"-style collaboration, which would house the collection within another business. Something Barber wouldn't have to staff. Manning the museum — while also working as a musician and writing a book about Colfax — has been difficult.
"When you're the guy that's cleaning the bathroom and taking out the trash and the chairman of the board and everything in between — to say that I underestimated my job — yeah, that would be a sizeable understatement," Barber said. "But the learning curve has been incredible. The amount of people that I've met — I feel more connected to the town than I ever have since I've lived here."
🚗 Motel, Hello | Via: Colfax Avenue
Part of Barber’s mission has been curating a list of the motels that made Colfax Avenue what it was.
If you’re as enamored by the history of travel and motels as we are, you’ll definitely want to take look at Barber’s research he has on his website, Colfax Avenue which is working to save all the details of motels that lined the “wickedest” street in America.
As part of U.S. Highway 40, Colfax Avenue was initially the main highway through the Denver metro area on the way to the Rocky Mountains. After traveling 500 miles of prairie, weary travelers were greeted by a veritable oasis on the eastern plains of Aurora, Colorado. Motels on Colfax were clean, well-maintained, family friendly and did a booming business in the 1940's and 50's, all up until I-70 was built and took the tourist traffic. Here is a complete list of all the motels I could find, past or present, on the Longest Commercial Street in the U.S.A. Let's go for a drive!
😳 Avoiding Altitude Sickness | Via: Outside
The Wilderness Medical Society has just published a 2019 update on its guidelines for the prevention and treatment of acute altitude illness. There are, of course, about a billion websites that offer advice and theories of varying reliability about how to stay healthy in the mountains. The WMS guidelines, assembled by a team of ten experts from across the country and published in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine, offer a no-nonsense look at what we actually know, what we think we know, and how strong the evidence is for each statement.
Outside reviewed the research, from avoiding it to treating it.
🐏 Um, Let The Wildlife Be | Via: Colorado Public Radio
It goes without saying, but the Colorado Parks & Wildlife has put a call out to tell what seems to be well-intentioned folks trying to rescue wild animals, including young deer, by putting them in vehicles and in one instance, having them in a house.
"They don’t realize that that’s their natural defense is to lay there and be pretty camouflaged. The mom, the doe, will leave them for up to 12 hours easily," CPW officer Cody Wigner said.
He encouraged people to call CPW if they are concerned about fawns or other young wildlife, not to move it.
📸 Picture of the Week
Eastbound I-70, Bret Gardner captures clouds, skies, and cars. From Our Colorado Through Your Photos Facebook Group
