Colorado for a Spell
Cute lil' guy taking a break from the heat and the altitude on Vail Mountain.
I just got back from a great stint in Colorado. After a handful of gigs, I high tailed it out there to spend some time with my folks and work with my sister a little bit who is now recording her debut album. It sounds great and I’m really proud of her… who knew that, all this time, she was writing songs and singing out at venues from Argentina to the USA? Very cool and VERY sneaky. Ooooh…
An old mining car marking the historic Mineral Belt Trail.
Apart from that, I enjoyed a ton of great hikes and bike rides with the family throughout the Vail Valley and out to Leadville where we visited the National Mining Museum and Hall of Fame. Pretty neat stuff and what a cool tour through the most significant mining town in the history of the United States. Some of those mining stories about the harrowing tales of a collapsing mine, ghosts, gun fights over claims, etc. were pretty wild. The amount of technological developments, environmental damage, and then repair is pretty astounding, too. What a history… Oh, yes… There was also the Leadville 100 (a 100 mile mountain bike race at over 10,000′ in the hot, summer, Colorado sun) which was pretty cool to watch. I’ve made up my mind that I’m going to race that event one day. Maybe next year, if I can get in!
Along the way, I hiked all over the Vail Valley and enjoyed myriad views of the Gore Range just east of the town of Vail. Absolutely beautiful, no matter what time of day!
The Gore Range off in the distance. Awesome.
On the last day of my visit, the family and I headed out past Minturn to hike around the old 10th Mountain Division original training grounds – Camp Hale. These guys are largely responsible for developing many of the Colorado ski areas as they pioneered this terrain and tactics now standard practice for backcountry winter travel in the mountains. Very cool history all throughout the Colorado trail that wound it’s way through their camp and barracks. These guys were bad ass. Period.
The Colorado Trail to Camp Hale: home of the 10th Mountain Division.
Music-wise, I ended up getting some new ideas down and a few songs underway with a little help from the local history and terrain, which is always fun. It was great to have a bed and a single place to stay, shower, relax and catch up on rest and sleep for more than a day, too. It’s amazing how much more productive one can be when one has a home. (Ahem!) In any case, it’s back to California with some exciting news coming shortly about a new, surprise release (I guess it’s not a surprise now that I’ve spilled the beans) and some fun stuff along the way. Stay tuned here, keep in touch, and let’s hang out soon at a performance near you. Just keep yer eyes peeled to my “Shows” here. Until then, I’ll keep on truckin’ along that long, dusty road.
