Elevation Outdoors May 2015

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CONTENTS

photo by BEN FULLERTON/CAVEMAN COLLECTIVE

May 2015

HIGHER PURPOSE: YOGASLACKERS SAM SALWEI AND RAQUEL HERNANDEZ HAVE BEEN LIVING ON THE ROAD IN THEIR PEACE LOVE CAR AND VISITING ALL 50 STATES FOR THE PAST YEAR. READ ABOUT THEIR UPCOMING FILM “THE ROAD TO WANDERLUST” ON PAGE 21.

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

9 EDITOR’S LETTER

23 The 2015 Festival Guide

Our national parks celebrate 100 years... and they need your help.

It has been a long cold winter, dear readers, but never fear. Festival season is finally here. Dig in to plan a summer full of weekends at the best music, sport, beer, art, food, yoga and whitewater happenings in Colorado and Wyoming. Plus, find out where you can meet up with the EO Road Show crew.

11 QUICK HITS Salida's big Paddlefest, running whitewater on a SUP, spring's best beers, Funny Shit in the Woods...

14 FLASHPOINT The Yampa is the only wild and free river left in the state of Colorado. The big question is how can it possibly stay that way? By Eugene Buchanan

43 Festival Gear You need to be well prepared to enjoy long days of tanning in the summer sun. This swag will help.

17 HOT SPOT Hiking, running, biking, beer, fishing, SUP—it's summer in Breck.

47 Bands to Watch Here's your chance to see that hot new band before they get too big.

18 THE TRAIL Downlaod the free ViewRanger app and hike to Gem Lake in RMNP.

49 Family Raft Trip Gear All the gear you need to make that big river trip feel like car camping.

21 STRAIGHT TALK Take "The Road to Wanderlust" with Sam Salwei and Raquel Hernandez.

50 THE ROAD Glen Canyon has become Lake Foul, but dry days may return the once sacred spot in the desert to its former glory. By Jonathan Waterman

54 ELWAYVILLE The ultimate staidum rock anthems.

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HITS Triathlon May 15-17 Grand Junction Off-Road Mountain Bike Endurance May 29-31 Tour of the Valley Aug 29

Tour de Vineyards Bicycle Tour Sept 19 Tour of the Moon Cycling Classic Oct 3

Learn more at visitgrandjunction.com or call 800-962-2547

©2015 LIFE TIME FITNESS, INC. All rights reserved. EVCO50386

THIS IS THAT ROAD LESS TRAVELED EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT. LEADVILLE TRAIL MARATHON & HEAVY HALF

Run through the historic mining district’s challenging old mining roads and trails, and hit a high of 13,185 feet at Mosquito Pass during the Leadville Trail Marathon or Heavy Half Marathon. The views will leave you breathless, if you’re not already.

JUNE 20, 2015

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CONTRIBUTORS

05.15

WHAT'S YOUR DIRTY FESTIVAL SECRET? ElevationOutdoors.com EDITORIAL E D ITO R - I N - C HIE F

DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

doug@elevationoutdoors.com MANAGING EDITOR

CAMERON MARTINDELL

cameron@elevationoutdoors.com S E N I O R E DITOR

CHRIS KASSAR

chris@elevationoutdoors.com C O N T R I B UT I N G E DITORS

AARON BIBLE, ADAM CHASE, ROB COPPOLILLO, LIAM DORAN, JAMES DZIEZYNSKI, SONYA LOONEY, JAYME MOYE, CHRIS VAN LEUVEN EDITO R - AT- L A RG E

PETER KRAY

C O N T R I B UT I N G WRIT E RS

JASON BLEVINS, CAROL BUSH, JOE LINDSEY, JORDAN MARTINDELL, HEATHER RIDGE, AVERY STONICH ART + PRODUCTION MEGAN JORDAN

A RT D I R E C TO R

megan@elevationoutdoors.com SENI O R D E S I G N E R

LAUREN WALKER

lauren@elevationoutdoors.com

ADVERTISING & BUSINESS P R E S I D E NT

BLAKE DEMASO

blake@elevationoutdoors.com AS S O C I AT E P U B L IS HE R

ELIZABETH O’CONNELL

elizabeth@elevationoutdoors.com SE N I O R AC C OU N T E X E CUT IV E

MARTHA EVANS

martha@elevationoutdoors.com B U S I N E S S MANAGE R

MELISSA GESSLER

melissa@elevationoutdoors.com C I RC U L AT I O N M ANAGE R

AVERY SHOOK

avery@elevationoutdoors.com

DIGITAL MEDIA

DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN I don’t like hot, sweaty crowds of people.

CAMERON MARTINDELL Become a writer and get invited to participate as a VIP. Transportation, entry fees, lodging... it's all covered. It's truly the dirtiest secret of them all.

HUDSON LINDENBERGER I once did not change outfits for six straight days during an extended run of Grateful Dead shows in the early ’90s.

JEDD FERRIS I can sneak three cans of beer past gate security in my underwear.

HEATHER RIDGE 1. Dedicate one Camelback purely to cocktails. 2. Bring an extra tarp—you will use it. 3.

Large silly hats or balloons make it easier to find your crowd. 4. Wet wipes.

PETER KRAY I once took a nap during a set by The Who.

O N L I N E D I R ECTOR

CRAIG SNODGRASS

craig@elevationoutdoors.com D I G ITA L MA NAGE R

CAMERON MARTINDELL

cameron@elevationoutdoors.com

E L E VAT I O N OU T D O O R S M AG A Z I N E

3000 Pearl Street, Suite #202 Boulder, Colorado 80301 (303) 449-1560 PU B L I S H E D BY SUMMIT

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©2015 Summit Publishing, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PRINTED ON RECYCLED NEWSPRINT WITH 100% POST-CONSUMER CONTENT

EUGENE BUCHANAN I once, believe it or not, cooked Lyle Lovett a cheeseburger while working backstage at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Only he didn't say, "Come to think of it, make it a ..."

JON WATERMAN Bring a pair of running/climbing shoes, backcountry skis and a rain jacket, because the festival locales frequented by EO's readership demand that we go out, get dirty, sweaty, and breathe some fresh air.

M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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EDITOR’S LETTER

0 5 .15

photo by DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

THE WAR ON LAND Most of us have a problem with authority. We don't like being told what to do.

It's part of being American—we don't like it when our freedom, especially our freedom when it comes to rambling over our wild lands, gets bogged down by law enforcement or, even worse, bureaucracy. That is a big reason why I usually try to avoid rangers in national parks.

Wait, before I make a total hypocrite of myself, I should explain that I used to work as a wilderness ranger in the Montana—but that job was more about hiking for miles with no one around and surveying how people impacted wild landscapes than it was about enforcing regulations and laws. I also worked for the Forest Service, a far more laid-back organization than the National Park Service, which is entrusted with protecting its resources over everything else (the Forest Service is more interested in trying to please every diverse user group on its land). Park Service rangers? They give out speeding tickets and say no all the time. Right?

Wrong. On a visit to Mesa Verde (for more on how to visit this park see page 12) this spring with my family, I got a better idea of just how good National Park Service rangers can be at their jobs. Much of the park was closed including the famed Cliff Palace ruin (and indeed Mesa Verde is unique as a national park because most of its backcountry is always closed to protect the archaeological resources that are still to be found there), and as we wandered down to the Spruce Tree House (the one ruin we were allowed to visit) a ranger greeted us, seemingly more excited to get to the place than we were.

Once we arrived, he already had a group enthralled, explaining details about how the ancient dwellings in the cliffs had been built (they are not adobe), as well as the spiritual significance of the ladder down to the underground room, the kiva that the ancient Puebloans equated to humanity's entrance into this world.

His enthusiasm and knowledge were a treat, truly adding to our experience of the place. And, I thought, not only is he having fun, and teaching, he's also making everyone here want to support our parks and ensure treasures like these nearly 1,000-year-old ruins remain for future generations.

That's important right now, because our public lands have never been more threatened. As we celebrate 100 years of our National Park Service this August, we are also seeing Congress pass a law allowing for the venal sell-off of our public lands to the highest bidders in industry and the super-rich. Eighteen state legislatures, including Utah, Montana, Oregon, Colorado, Wyoming and Wisconsin, are considering or have passed bills to take over federal land, with the intent of upping energy extraction and selling off that land to pay the bill of managing it (states such as Alabama are in the process of closing state parks right now because they cannot afford to take care of them). While those bills do not necessarily include national parks, the system is not safe from other threats, including a proposed tram to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

None of this would have settled well with Teddy Roosevelt, who famously said of the Grand Canyon, "Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it." It was Roosevelt, too, who championed the idea of national parks and first protected the Grand Canyon through the Antiquities Act in 1906. Currently, conservationists are working to use that same Antiquities Act to create more national monuments, including a Greater Canyonlands National Monument surrounding Canyonlands National Park in Utah, in order to keep our lands out of the hands of sale-happy legislators.

It does not have to be this way. Those of us who love our lands and our parks must speak and act to protect them. If nothing else, simply visit them and meet rangers like ours in Mesa Verde and realize that authority here may not be as bad as it seems. If we allow our public lands to be sold for private profit, it will be the biggest disaster of our generation.

M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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Photo by Jon Jonckers

QUICK HITS

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TECHNOLOGY LAZER LANE LIGHTS

Stay out late and define your lane with Seattle Sports’ tail light. Along with the standard solid, strobe or flashing tail light, riders can also turn on two red lights projecting a lane line on the ground around them in solid or flashing form. $30; seattlesportsco.com

GEAR WE LOVE THINOPTICS READERS & CASE

PADDLE DOWN! BUENA VISTA’S COLORADO KAYAK SUPPLY IS A RETAIL STORE THAT KNOWS HOW TO THROW ONE HELL OF A PARTY—AND, HEY, YOU MIGHT EVEN LEARN SOMETHING HERE. If you’re looking for a wet and wild place to spend Memorial Day, you need look no farther than scenic Buena Vista, which will transform into a giant paddling party May 22-25. Now in its 15th year, CKS PaddleFest attracts 3,500 outdoor lovers who jump at the chance to test the waters and join in a slew of activities, including equipment demos, instructional clinics, professional competitions, gear swaps, yoga classes, climbing and running events and even a mountain bike race—plus there's live music and parties that cap off each day.

Colorado Kayak Supply, the event’s host, shares the stoke of watersports with everyone, from those who have never picked up a paddle to pros with whitewater running through their veins. Talk to anyone who’s been to PaddleFest and you’ll notice how everyone gushes about how inclusive it is.

“Beginners can take their first ever paddling clinic, then they can go and watch the pros compete, and the next day take a clinic from that same pro,” says Earl Richmond, PaddleFest coordinator and CKS co-owner.

Two-time women’s world freestyle kayak champion Emily Jackson loves sharing her tricks of the trade at the event. “It’s a great opportunity for people of all skill levels to get together and celebrate photo by WHITEWATERPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

NEW SCHOOLING: THERE’S NO BETTER PLACE TO LEARN NEW TRICKS—NO MATTER IF YOU’RE A TOT OR A RAGGED RIVER VET—THAN CKS, ESPECIALLY DURING PADDLEFEST.

the river,” says the ten-time PaddleFest vet.

Ted Keyes, a Kokatat rep, agrees: “There is no other event in the Rocky Mountains where you will find so much expertise and so many people willing to share their knowledge.”

PaddleFest emphasizes participation, with options for both flatwater and whitewater thrills.

Some people might delicately dip a paddle in the calm waters of the Town Pond, while others want to charge hard through the Arkansas River in a kayak or on a standup paddleboard.

Dan Gavere, one of the nation’s leaders in the sport of whitewater SUP, will be on hand to show wannabe rapid riders how to hang ten in the waves.

There’s no need to even bring gear. Mike Harvey, co-owner of Badfish Stand Up Paddle, comes to PaddleFest with a full fleet of demo boards and says he loves encouraging even water-weary folks to get their feet wet. “It’s your chance to get exposed to it in a non-intimidating environment. You can walk away from the weekend with a reasonable amount of knowledge and skill to get out paddling yourself.”

The event also has a higher-purpose vibe, benefitting a rotating roster of charities. This year’s beneficiaries are the Boys and Girls Club of Chaffee County and the Optimist Club.

When it comes down to it, PaddleFest is a surefire way to kick off summer in style and get primed for paddling. “People come away from PaddleFest pretty stoked and ready to charge at the season and have a lot of fun,” says Keyes. ckspaddlefest.com —Avery Stonich

These ultra compact reading glasses in a protective hard plastic case (3 3/4"x2"x3/8") are perfect for backcountry trips.

They fit easily into the belt pocket of a backpack for those times when you need to check the map or do other quick close-up tasks like tie a fly on. $25; thinoptics.com

BOOKS FUNNY SHIT IN THE WOODS

In case you missed it, Brendan Leonard, EO contributor and Denver-based author of the wildly popular Semi-Rad blog about everyman’s (and woman’s) misadventures in the outdoors, released his new book on November 13.

Funny Shit in the Woods compiles 40 of the best stories from Semi-Rad. com to-date, and includes handdrawn illustrations that effectively amplify Leonard’s special brand of self-deprecating hilarity. $15; semi-rad.com —Jayme Moye

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MESA VERDE STAY WITH THE ANCIENT ONES.

EAT

Most know Mesa Verde National Park more for ancient ruins than modern amenities, but you may be surprised here. The Metate Room Restaurant is open from mid-April to the end of October and Chef Brian Puett serves an array of sophisticated, beautiful and incredibly delicious food to his patrons. Mixed with contemporary favorites, his menu is inspired by the beans, nuts, squash, corn and herbs harvested by the Ancestral Puebloans along with local wild game. Located inside the compound of Far View Lodge (see below), the dining room provides a majestic view and it's an easy walk from any of the rooms. Breakfast and dinner are available and no reservations are required. Other dining options in the park include the cafeteria style Far View Terrace Café just down the hill from Far View Lodge and the Spruce Tree Terrace Café located farther into the park. Campground guests should check out the allyou-can-eat pancake breakfast at Knife's Edge Café in the summer. Otherwise you’ll need to drive out of the park to find food.

SLEEP

The Far View Lodge lives up to its namesake.

Located 15 miles into the park, every room here boats an incredible south-facing view looking deeper into the park and across the watershed. From the private balconies of most rooms, visitors can look south and west from Colorado right across the Four Corners into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. While

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HOME IS WHERE THE CLIFF DWELLING IS.

WiFi is included, there are no TVs in the rooms. The Morefield Campground is also located within the park, just four miles from the entrance station in a wooded canyon amidst the Gambel oaks where deer and wild turkey come and go.

PLAY

Mesa Verde is unique in the national park system in that there is no backcountry access here. This is due to the archaeological value of the area—

photo by DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

evidence suggests there is still much for researchers to discover. While visitors are welcome to drive the established roadways to tour the park at their leisure, it’s best to start your visit with the four-hour bus-based 700 Year Tour to get a comprehensive introduction to the park. From there, pick and choose what you would like to delve deeper into. Hikes range from simple strolls around roadside sites to the eight-mile Prater Ridge Trail. visitmesaverde.com and nps.gov/meve —Cameron Martindell

IN THE FLOW: STEWART SUPS ALONG THE YAMPA.

photo by RON SHAW

UPRIGHT THRILLS STAND-UP PADDLEBOARDING TAKES ON THE RAPIDS. Always looking for new ways to enjoy the outdoors, Colorado paddlesport junkies have one more way to get down the river—standing up. Already popular on lakes and seashores, it didn’t take long for stand up paddleboarding (SUP) to find its way to whitewater.

“Paddleboards have such a shallow draft that you can get right up against the red sandstone walls of a canyon,” explained Jennifer Stewart, who has been SUP-ing rivers for the last two years. “You aren’t always actively paddling so it’s often silent—just you and the water.”

There are several factors that lend to the appeal of whitewater SUP-ing.

Inflatable boards are easier to haul than rafts and they don’t require rounding up friends if you’re looking for a quick adventure that fits in the trunk of your car.

For folks who haven’t perfected their roll, or don’t like the idea of being strapped upside down underwater in a boat, whitewater SUP-ing serves up all the thrills of kayaking with a slightly lower freak-out factor.

“When you fall off, you just end up in the water,” jokes Stewart. Her advice for beginners? “Kneepads. You spend a surprising amount of your time on your knees.” —Heather Ridge WANT TO SEE SOME FANTASTIC WHITEWATER SUP PHOTOS? HEAD TO KEN HOEVE’S INSTAGRAM FEED: INSTAGRAM.COM/KENHOEVE

SIP SOME SNOWMELT ENJOY BALMY DAYS AND COOL CRAFT BEERS. The snows are receding and spring has arrived, time to stock a few brews worthy of the season. Here are three favorites to take with you whether you’re headed in search of snow stashes or single-track.

Finkle & Garf Brewing is all about enjoyment—their motto is “Play Often,” and their Rye Saison is the perfect beer to welcome in the changing of the seasons. Spicy notes from the rye pair perfectly with the subtle sweetness of this farmhouse-style ale. Sierra Nevada brews its Hop Hunter IPA with distilled hop oil, extracted from fresh hops minutes after harvest. It's the first of its kind. Crisp with a well-balanced hop aroma, this beer's perfect after a session on spring corn snow. Prost Brewing’s Weissbier includes German ingredients and Colorado spring water. That makes it the ideal brew to toast longer days and muddy alpine adventures. Hints of banana and spice pair perfectly in this ale.

So grab a few and head out.

—H.L. photo by HUDSON LINDENBERGER M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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FLASHPOINT

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THE PLIGHT OF THE YAMPA IT’S THE LAST WILD AND FREE RIVER IN COLORADO, BUT—WITH MORE INTENSE DEMANDS ON THE STATE’S WATER RESOURCES BUILDING—CAN IT STAY THAT WAY?

by EUGENE BUCHANAN A SNOWFLAKE FALLS AS “CHAMPAGNE POWDER” JUST WEST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE NEAR STEAMBOAT SPRINGS. In time, a skier schusses over it, flinging it into the air. Come spring, as the sun rises higher in the Broncos-blue sky, that snowflake joins its brethren and melts off, carried down an out-of-bounds backcountry run and into Fish Creek.

Soon, our snowflake, now a water drop, careens off Fish Creek Falls (site of that famed Coors ad), before it floats under kayakers navigating a popular class IV-V whitewater run. Then it enters the Yampa River, the last remaining free-flowing tributary to the Colorado River system. There its future, like a student fresh out of high school, is wide open.

Before its ultimate fate is sealed, it will provide habitat for endangered fish and support a thriving trout population. Then it might be diverted to help ranchers irrigate hay fields, cool pipelines at coal mines and power plants, or perhaps make it unmolested through Dinosaur National Monument and into the river’s confluence with the Green River.

There, with any luck, it will bypass the shale and oilpump operations near Desolation and Gray canyons to satisfy users in other states downstream.

Welcome to the plight of Colorado’s water, and in particular that of the Yampa, which drains a 7,660-square-mile watershed from its birthplace high in the Flat Top Wilderness Area (a place which inspired Forest Service employee Arthur Carhart to champion today’s wilderness preservation movement) to its junction with the Green River 250 miles later.

The Yampa is the last river basin in the state with unappropriated water and the last major free-flowing tributary to the Colorado. It changes from a trickle every fall to a raging torrent in the spring, cycling through every level in between.

IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Despite its natural hydrograph, not everything is hunky-dory in Yampaland. With tunnels, pumpbacks, reservoirs and more already siphoning Western Slope water to the growing Front Range, and drought-ridden states downstream clambering for their share, there’s a bounty on its snowmelt.

While the river is as unbridled as the wild horses in nearby Brown’s Park, which used to house such outlaws as Butch Cassidy and his Wild Bunch, it faces threats from other users in the sun-drenched West, from growing Front Range municipalities to oil and mining operations. All this is prompting what could be called a modern-day showdown at the Yampa Corral.

Things have gotten so out of hand, in fact, that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is rowing photo by KENT VERTREES

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RUN ON, RUNOFF: THE YAMPA HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS IMPORTANT SIMPLY FOR BEING FREE IN THE GOVERNOR’S DRAFT MANAGEMENT PLAN.

"Things have gotten so out of hand, in fact, that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is rowing furiously forward with the state’s first-ever water plan to manage Colorado’s water sustainably for the future." furiously forward with the state’s first-ever water plan to manage Colorado’s water sustainably for the future. With a draft plan released in late 2014, and the final plan to be issued in December 2015, he isn’t about to tread water with regards to protecting our state’s greatest resource. But the Yampa is squarely in the crosshairs. While the draft water plan calls for protecting the Yampa for its fish and wildlife, recreation and agriculture, there’s an elephant, or water buffalo, in the room as well.

“The unanswered question among water experts is whether the Yampa will be tapped to meet the rest of the state’s water needs,” says Kent Vertrees, a raft guide and 10-year member of the Yampa/ White/Green River Roundtable, which recommends management plans for the basin. “You have to wonder how long it will be before a trans-mountain diversion is proposed. All things are pointing that way with drought and growth and the knowledge that there’s a supply gap.”

Indeed, the Yampa has already fended off feuds for its lifeblood. In 2007, the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District proposed a $4 billion Pumpback project that would’ve brought 20 percent of the river’s high-water flow from Maybell to the Front Range, effectively de-watering the canyon’s historic highs. Two years later, Shell Oil filed for a water right to pump eight percent of peak runoff into a 1,000-acre reservoir introducing another player to

the water table. The proposed Million Green River Pumpback project would pull water out of Flaming Gorge on the Green and deliver it to Greeley and Ft. Collins on the Front Range, a senior water right that could also lead to future calls for Yampa water.

KEEPING IT WILD

Conservation group American Rivers is one of several organizations calling on Hickenlooper to protect the Yampa watershed as part of the final plan, especially with drought straining other Colorado Basin water supplies.

“Keeping the Yampa wild is incredibly important,” says Matt Rice, AR’s director of Colorado Basin programs. “It shows that we can sustain vibrant agriculture while conserving endangered fish and supporting recreation. We need to find solutions that will safeguard the Yampa for generations to come.”

As a recreational resource, the river supports canoe, SUP and kayak schools, rafting operations, fishing concessions and even a thriving tubing business exposing Triple Crown softball players to the power of a river’s serenity. For paddling, it serves up a class II-III town run through Steamboat Springs, whose C-hole was the basis for the city’s Recreational Inchannel Diversion (RICD) water right in 2003; wildlife-lined floats through the Nature Conservancy’s Carpenter Ranch as well as Duffy

FLASHPOINT

05.15

and Juniper Canyons; and the crown-jewel wilderness sections through Class IV-V Cross Mountain Canyon—a seven-mile-long incision funneling the river’s might into a chasm so fierce that ABC Sports once featured it on "The American Sportsman"—and iconic Yampa Canyon in Dinosaur National Monument before the river’s confluence with the Green. Float it and it’s easy to see why late Sierra Club president David Brower fought so hard to save the river from the Echo Park Dam in 1956, marking one of the conservation world’s marquee victories.

The river also serves agricultural interests, two major coal mines, seven towns, snowmaking for the Steamboat Ski Resort and it fulfills the state’s water obligations to downstream users as outlined in the Colorado River’s 1922 Water Compact. Its hydrograph supports such endangered species as the humpback chub (Gila cypha), bonytail (G. elegans), Colorado pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus lucius), and razorback sucker (Xyrauchen texanus), all endemic to the Yampa and reliant on its peak flows for spawning and nursery habitat.

“The Yampa is an incredible resource,” says Dinosaur National Monument superintendent Mark Foust. “As the last natural-flowing, major tributary of the entire Colorado system, it preserves an amazing array of plant and animal communities along with the natural cycles they depend upon.”

There’s additional cavalry as well. In 2010, the Bureau of Land Management found three sections of the Yampa totaling 22 miles suitable for Wild & Scenic designation, including the sections from Williams Fork to Milk Creek, Milk Creek to Duffy Tunnel and heralded Cross Mountain Canyon. But perhaps the best thing going for the Yampa is that the governor’s draft water plan recognizes the value of the river’s free-flowing character.

“There needs to be a balance struck to support Colorado’s future water needs, the needs of the basin’s water-users and the preservation of rare species that the river fosters,” says Vertrees. “Keeping water in the river can satisfy recreational users, downstream users and endangered wildlife. It can be the cushion for Colorado’s compact obligations.”

As the region’s stallions and even its former outlaws know, there’s certainly value in being wild and free.

Eugene Buchanan is the editor of PaddlingLife.net and the former publishser of Paddler.

G O OG L E M A P S C R E AT E S ST RE E T VIE W OF YAMPA CA NYON

As further testament to the timeliness of the Yampa River’s protection efforts currently underway, in January Google Maps released its Google Maps Street View (bit.ly/1DYfU4G) project on the Yampa, marking the search engine’s second river street view ever behind its inaugural project on the Grand Canyon. It details a virtual float through Dinosaur, a stretch that sees nearly 3,200 paddlers annually between 300 private and 300 commercial permits. “Hopefully that will help call attention to how important a resource it is,” says Soren Jespersen, president of Steamboat Springs-based advocacy group Friends of the Yampa. “The more people who see it, even virtually, the more people will be inclined to protect it.”

M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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Continental Divide Trail

“There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”

– Aldo Leopold

silvercitytourism.org

HOT SPOT

0 5 . 15

MAGIC HOURS: ROCKY MOUNTAIN SUNSETS, SINGLETRACK WITH THE POOCH AND CRAFT BEER? WELCOME TO THE HEART OF COLORADO, FRIENDS.

BRECKENRIDGE ROCKS EVERYONE—FROM FRONT RANGERS TO TEXANS—KNOWS THE GOODS BRECKENRIDGE HAS TO OFFER UP IN THE WINTER, BUT THE SUMMER JUST MAY BE EVEN BETTER.

By CHRIS KASSAR

Breck gets a ton of attention during the snowy season, when hordes come to ride the lifts to new acreage like Peak 6 hit the resort’s famed terrain parks and, of course, party. But summer is when the town really comes alive, with a hardcore band of locals getting out and playing on the trails, on the peaks and in the water. So follow our lead on where to go in Summit County when the snow is gone.

RIDE Diverse terrain and loads of trails which are largely accessible from town make Breckenridge an ideal spot for mountain bikers of all abilities. Warm up your legs and ease into the altitude with a ride on the Boreas Pass Road, which follows an abandoned railroad grade through aspen groves to reach the Continental Divide. This eight-mile ride tops out at 11,432 feet, so it’s a physical challenge, but it’s great for beginners and intermediates since it isn’t super technical. Looking for a burlier, all day adventure?

Experienced pedalers can crank out a 33-mile singletrack crusher on the Colorado Trail by riding from Kenosha Pass to Breckenridge. Since it’s mostly above tree line, you’ll be rewarded with incredible views, but you’ll earn them by powering through several stout climbs and maneuvering photos by LIAM DORAN

through technical problems. You’ll want to arrange a shuttle from Breckenridge to the start; try Jake’s Mountain Shuttle (jakesmountainshuttle.com). For some downhill action, buy a $30 pass at the resort.

Relax on the lift ride up and tear down the trails, which range from intermediate to highly technical, as many times as you can in a day. Breck offers a ton of spectacular riding for roadies, as well. Feel like a pro as you climb up Hoosier Pass or Swan Mountain Road, grueling ascents that have been included in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge.

HIKE/RUN Breck's peaks offer countless lung-busting trails teeming with picturesque alpine lakes, budding flowers, wild critters and big views. If you only have half a day, head up the direct (and steep) trail that climbs 1,000 feet in two miles to reach Crystal Lakes, two stunning bodies of water perched high above tree line. McCullough Gulch, an easier, but equally stunning hike that meanders through a magical pine forest dappled with waterfalls, is also a great half-day option. For a longer adventure start before dawn and scramble up nearby Quandary Peak (14,265 feet). Or scale all 4 of the ski resort’s peaks. Even though you can get a jump on the climb with a ride up the Colorado Chair to Peak 8 (12,998 feet), this traverse isn’t for the faint of heart, since you still have to summit Peak 10 (13,643 feet), Peak 9 (13,198 feet) and Peak 7 (12,677 feet).

PADDLE Learn new skills or hone some old ones on the Blue River, which cruises directly through town and comes complete with an 1,800-foot-long kayak park boasting a host of features to put your skills to the test. Rent a kayak or take a lesson in nearby Frisco (tenmilecreekkayaks.com). Maggie

Pond, a breathtaking landmark that is part of the Village at Breckenridge, provides the ideal setting to try stand-up paddleboarding. Alpine Sports (alpinesportsrental.com) provides demos and minilessons every Sunday, SUP yoga every Tuesday and rentals all season long.

FISH With the Blue River, Montgomery Reservoir and a plethora of alpine lakes, it’s no wonder the flyfishing in Breckenridge draws crowds. The “Steps” a series of ponds north of town on the Upper Blue are a great spot for beginners while experts will love the challenge of smaller and rarely-fished waters that require some effort to reach like lower and upper Mohawk Lake, McCulloch Gulch and Blue Lakes.

Montgomery Reservoir, a picturesque lake at the base of Hoosier Pass is a wonderful spot for a family picnic coupled with some angling. To book a guided adventure, find out what flies are working and where, get insider info on the best fishing spots or buy/rent equipment, visit the knowledgeable and helpful folks at Breckenridge Outfitters (breckenridgeoutfitters. com) or Mountain Angler (mountainangler.com) EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY There’s no shortage of places to indulge in this hopping mountain village. You can’t miss with the Breckenridge Brewery (breckbrew.com), which serves up pub grub and local brews. Or try Giampetro’s Pizza & Pasta (giampietropizza. com), a tasty Italian joint in the heart of town. For a fancier affair, book at the upscale Blue River Bistro (blueriverbistro.com), where you'll enjoy delectable cuisine. And don’t miss a delicious fireside snack from Crepes a La Cart, a Main Street stand serving delicious savory and sweet concoctions. Bonus: they’re often open even after the bars close. • M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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POWERED BY

THE TRAIL

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DOWNLOAD APP viewranger.com/gpsadventure

ROUTE CODE: ELEV0037 Scan for this route’s GPS Hike!

Scan for all Elevation Outdoors’ published routes!

TAKE IT IN: SHORT HIKE, MASSIVE VIEWS.

STEP UP FOR SUMMER DOWNLOAD THE FREE VIEWRANGER APP AND FOLLOW THESE COORDINATES ON A CLASSIC TRAIL RUN OR HIKE TO ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK’S GEM LAKE.

by CHRIS KASSAR The 3.2-mile climb up to the charmed shores of Gem Lake may feel a lot longer, but it’s worth every step. Breathtaking views, tiny wildflowers bursting with color, crazy rock formations and the shallow, emerald waters of the lake itself will reward those who choose to cruise up aptly-named Lumpy Ridge.

This classic hike rocks year-round, but it’s especially great for when you want to wake up your legs and lungs in the spring, since it is often snow-free well before the rest of Rocky Mountain National Park.

GEM LAKE RIDGE TRAILHEAD

From the Lumpy Ridge Trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park, follow the Gem Lake Trail as it ascends the southeastern part of the massive granite rock outcropping known as Lumpy Ridge.

Almost two billion years of wind and water have sculpted the spectacular blocks, bumps and lumps that characterize this unique area. At this point, ponderosa pines, Douglas fir and chokecherry bushes dominate the trailside, but when you hit drier spots these thirsty trees will give way to junipers. From early spring through summer, keep an eye out for the countless colorful wildflowers, including wild rose, prickly pear cactus, chiming bells and shooting stars which populate this trail from top to bottom.

BLACK CANYON/LUMPY RIDGE TRAIL JUNCTION

After climbing a bit, you’ll reach the junction with

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the Black Canyon Trail. Veer right to carry on to Gem Lake and enjoy the aspen groves. The trail climbs steeply all the way to the lake.

TAKE IN THE VIEWS

As the trail ascends through giant boulders, balanced rocks and odd stone formations, you’ll find many points where the forest breaks to afford panoramic views of Estes Park, Mt. Meeker, Twin Sisters and looming, 14,259-foot Longs Peak. These vistas will beckon to you, so take time to catch your breath and follow a few off-trail detours to soak in the beauty of the landscape.

REVEL IN THE SHADE

Here, the trail morphs into a welcoming, cool canyon lined with steep walls and a tiny trickle of a stream. Enjoy the respite, then climb a few short, steep switchbacks to emerge from this oasis. Just as you reach the top, take note of Paul Bunyan’s Boot, a rock formation that lives up to its name. Grab a photo here and continue to climb. Tackle one more series of steep switchbacks—complete with stone steps and more spectacular views to make you forget the pain—to reach Gem Lake.

TRAIL GEAR ARC’TERYX MOTUS Ideal for crushing it during high-output, summer alpine pursuits like trail running and trekking, this sleeveless top utilizes Phasic SL, a proprietary polyester fiber that pulls moisture from the body and spreads it over the fabric so it evaporates quickly. $59 (women), $65 (men); arcteryx.com.

GEM LAKE

After approximately 1.6 miles, the grades mellow out and you reach Gem Lake (8,880 feet), a tiny but unique, body of water carved out of the base of the granite cliff walls that surround it. The lake lacks an inlet or outlet since it is not fed by a stream, but rather fills from snowmelt and rainwater.

Enjoy a picnic on the beach-like west shore of the lake or explore the vertical granite walls that flank it to the north and east. Keep an eye out for aggressive chipmunks after your lunch (as well as giant raptors soaring overhead). If you’d like more adventure, keep following the trail past Gem Lake to complete the Twin Owls Loop or to visit Bridal Veil Falls. • photo by CHRIS KASSAR

SALOMON SENSE PRO If you need one shoe to conquer it all— streets, gravel roads, dirt trails, mixed terrain—this versatile, lightweight, cushioned kick is for you. It serves up a low-profile and fast feel, but doesn’t sacrifice comfort or protection. And its grippy soles, dynamic traction and beefy upper handle rough terrain with style. $130; salomon.com

Celebrate in Estes Park, base camp for Rocky Mountain National Park.

Join us for year-long centennial events and special Estes Park programs.

Estes Park Western Days – May 29th-31st Estes Park Jazz Fest & Art Walk – June 6th-7th Estes Park Fiber Affair & Wool Market – June 13th-14th Rocky Mountain Irish Festival – June 18th-21st Estes Park Marathon & Races – June 20th-21st Estes Park Rooftop Rodeo – July 6th-12th Rocky Mountain Half Marathon – August 1st Estes Park Wine Festival – August 15th-16th VisitEstesPark.com/events

RIB CAGE

PHOTO / DAN HOLZ

CORTEZ, CO / REV 1.5 / MOUNTAIN BIKING

REV SERIES: PHIL’S WORLD Located at the base of the San Juan Mountains near Cortez, CO, Phil’s World is the place to go for high-speed, rolling and twisting singletrack. Riders are all grins after shredding the jumps and berms of the famous Rib Cage section. Osprey’s lightweight Rev Series hydration packs fit the bill perfectly for the light and fast riding style needed to complete Phil’s World with a smile.

OSPREY’S TRAIL SERIES Watch Osprey’s Trail Series videos at ospreypacks.com.

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STRAIGHT TALK

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SAM SALWEI, RAQUEL HERNANDEZ AND THEIR PEACE LOVE CAR WHEN THESE YOGASLACKERS LEARNED THAT THE CAR THEY CALLED HOME ONLY HAD A YEAR TO LIVE, THEY DECIDED TO DRIVE TO IT INTO THE GROUND AS A FAREWELL.

by DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN While many of us dream about selling everything, putting our bikes in the rack and just living in our car, Sam Salwei and Raquel Hernandez have been making that dream come true for over two years.

Loaded with gear, gas cans and wireless electronics, they live in their Peace Love Car (PLC). But last year, they got some bad news—this mobile adventure vehicle was only going to last another year.

To say goodbye, the yoga and slackline teachers decided to drive the PLC to every state in the U.S. (plus driving through Canada). Inspired by the way the couple embrace life and the saga of the car, Colorado filmmaker Ben Fullerton of The Caveman Collective created "The Road to Wanderlust" (watch the trailer here: youtu.be/HvvhdJ55Jz4), a movie that premieres at MountainFilm and will play at Wanderlust festivals throughout the summer. We caught up with Sam and Raquel in Hawaii (the one state the PLC did not reach) and asked them about what they learned from life on the road.

What exactly is the Peace Love Car? The Peace Love Car or PLC was originally a $400 salvaged-title 1988 Ford Festiva Sam acquired in 2003 with under 100,000 miles. Over the past 12 years, it has been heavily modified to become the ultimate cross-country roadtrip machine. It’s on its 10th set of wheel bearings, sixth transmission and third engine—but that's not too bad for 469,000 miles on the odometer (and countless others not recorded when the odometer was broken). It has a custom 4.5-inch rear lift kit and the whole suspension, steering system and brakes come from a 1996 Ford Aspire, which allow us to handle the added weight of all our toys. Thanks to our Yakima boxes and racks we can transport two Ellsworth mountain bikes, two Alpaca packrafts, one Hala SUP, two 12-meter ozone kites, a kite board, a mountainboard, two snowboards, a pair of skis, two tents, six backpacks, multiple cameras, climbing equipment and countless other bits and pieces. But PLC is much more than a car or a house, it’s the ultimate smile-maker. If you ever find yourself in a funk driving PLC all you have to do is look out the window. Everyone who sees the car reacts to it, most of the time with a beaming smile. There is something about the car that puts people at ease.

Why is it dying?

The PLC has a unibody, meaning the frame is integrated into the body. There is unstoppable rust weakening the pivot points in the rear end. When we photo by BEN FULLERTON/CAVEMAN COLLECTIVE

MAKING WAVES: ON THE ROAD TO WANDERLUST, SALWEI AND HERNANDEZ LEARNED WHAT IT TAKES TO DEVELOP DEEPER RELATIONSHIPS WITH EACH OTHER, THE PEOPLE THEY MET AND THE WORLD AROUND THEM.

got news of its terminal illness, Raquel came up with the idea for a road trip to end all road trips: We were not just going to let the PLC die off. We were on a mission to kill it.

What were some moments on your 50-state voyage that made you feel connected to the people you met along the way?

We got a nice surprise almost daily with the PLC. Everywhere we go people approach us with questions or to share stories. One of the best times was when we got fresh smoked salmon from a hunter filling up gas next to us in Alaska.

And on the flip side, what moments were tough?

One of the most challenging things for a trip like this is dealing with all of the event planning and organizing. We did the entire schedule on our own— two of us contacting friends and studios to plan a year of traveling and teaching. Our goal was to stay three months ahead of schedule. That meant that, once the trip started, we were living a crazy schedule sometimes teaching in seven states in one week while traveling over 1,000 miles.

What is different about the way the two of you teach yoga?

Our yoga practice and teaching is strongly influenced by our AcroYoga, slacklining and conditioning practice. It’s a blend of the traditional and nontraditional styles. We seldom practice yoga on a mat.

Our practice and teaching are mainly on a person or on the slackline. And when we do teach yoga on a mat, we make sure to replicate movements similar to our outdoor practices.

What's special about the Wanderlust Festival?

Wanderlust appeals to our desire to travel while

staying connected to our passions. It's a yoga, movement and music festival that calls upon the traditional and non-traditional styles of yoga. Every year we join the festival to meet and share our knowledge with thousands of students.

You strap your bikes to the PLC. Did you stumble upon any surprisingly good mountain biking along the way?

There are some awesome hidden trails all across this continent. A few years ago, we found a pretty useful app called Single Tracks. It helps us find mountain biking everywhere we go. Sometimes we find trails that even our local friends are unaware of. Most of the time, we simply search on the apps, check the ratings and head there.

Our country seems so polarized and angry politically. Does traveling make you understand people better? Does it reach across those divides?

Everywhere we go we find amazing people. The one thing that traveling makes you hyper-aware of is that there are good people everywhere, absolutely everywhere. We are all struggling with the same issues and we all have similar concerns. There is disconnect and disinformation between communities and that's where most of the issues develop. The world would be a better place if more people travelled. You see and experience the similarities and stop focusing on the differences. Once you leave the comforts of your home—where you feel everything is correct—you start seeing how others interact.

This allows you to make more informed choices.

Sometimes, what you used to do is truly the best way of doing something, but most of the time, you realize someone out there has a better solution. By integrating the knowledge of the larger community, we grow like we couldn't on our own. • M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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MAY CONCERT SERIES

2 9

Whitewater Ramble (Mountain Dancegrass) Euforquestra (High Energy Funk) and School of Rock 16 Funkiphino (Funk Sensation) live music in the base area 23 Wash Park Band (Rockin’ Dance) every Saturday in May 30 High5 (Mountain Jam) starting at 1:00pm

FREE

FIND WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR

ARAPAHOEBASIN.COM | 888.ARAPAHOE

Boats. Bands. Beer.

5K Adventure Run/Obstacle Course, Youth Adventure Race, and Pixie Bike races.

Royal Gorge Whitewater Festival

Cañon City, CO

Events for kayaks, rafts, sups, duckies, and river boards All events are designed for anyone from the beginner to more experienced paddlers New this year: big Air Kayak

USA Rafting R-6 National Championships

Centennial Park | June 26-27, 2015

Information and Registration available online: RoyalGorgeWhitewaterFestival.com 22

ELEVATION O U T D O O R S / M AY 2 01 5

OUR ANNUAL LOWDOWN ON THE BEST OUTDOOR THROWDOWNS

BESTFESTS

by DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

MUSIC & BLOSSOM FESTIVAL

APRIL 30-MAY 4 | CAÑON CITY

W

e know you have been waiting all winter long to get out, sit in the sun, take in some tunes and shake your hula thing. So welcome to EO’s annual festival guide. Here, we run down the best happenings across Colorado and beyond, the events you will need to circle on your calendar—everything from music to sports to beer to yoga. Plus, the EO Road Show will be stopping at many of these festivals, so be sure to stop by, grab swag and say hello.

photos clockwise from top left: JEDEDIAH LIDDELL/ARISE, BARRY BRECHEISEN/ BLUES AND BREWS, ZACH MAHONE/ GOPRO MOUNTAIN GAMES, COURTESY GOLDEN MUSIC FESTIVAL, ALI KAUKUS FOR WANDERLUST FESTIVAL, ZACH MAHONE/ GOPRO MOUNTAIN GAMES.

ART

WATER

ccblossomfestival.com High school bands compete in the 77th edition of this community fête.

DON’T MISS: The Cluster Duck.

INSIDER INFO: Download the festival app.

SHAKIN’ AT THE BASIN

MAY 2-30 | ARAPAHOE BASIN

arapahoebasin.com This concert series runs the month of May, merging music with corn snow.

DON’T MISS: Summit County’s High Five.

INSIDER INFO: Buy a $199 spring ski pass.

CHEYENNE CAÑON PIÑON NUT BROWN ALE RELEASE

MAY 7 | COLORADO SPRINGS

bristolbrewing.com Come celebrate the release of Bristol’s

MUSIC

FILM

BREWS

Community Ale, which benefits the Friends of Cheyenne Cañon.

summer will be a splash.

DON’T MISS: The SUP yoga demos.

INSIDER INFO: The top competitors win a new Boardworks race SUP.

OURAY FORK FEST

MAY 8-9 | OURAY

weehawkenarts.org Last year, a dedicated group of locals decided to resurrect the Ouray Culinary Festival. The result? A hot new happening to fill your plate.

DON’T MISS: The $25 per person restaurant crawl.

INSIDER INFO: Book at Box Canyon Lodge or Hotel Ouray for a festival bro deal.

BREWER’S DINNER COLLABORATION MAY 14 | COLORADO SPRINGS

bristolbrewing.com Tasty things go down when Bristol partners with Paradox Beer Co. and Blue Star Group.

GRAND VALLEY BEER FESTIVAL MAY 15 | GRANDJUNCTION

PADDLE THE ROCKIES SUP CLASSIC AND PADDLE FESTIVAL MAY-SEPTEMBER | LONGMONT

paddletherockies.com If you live to paddle (or even just dabble) these blowouts throughout the

YOGA

FOOD

supportingcmu.org Come taste suds to support student athletes at Colorado Mesa University.

DON’T MISS: Kannah Creek’s new brews.

INSIDER INFO: It’s cash only.

SPORT

EO ROAD SHOW

M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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C I S U M , R E FREE CONCERT WITH THE RE E B , VIVALIS G PADDLIN TS LYONSOUTDOORGAMES.COM

VOTE NOW FOR YOUR FAVORITE

ADVENTURE COLLEGE! We’ve pitted the top regional adventure schools against each other bracket style.

It’s up to you how far your alma mater or local favorite makes it.

TOP

Adventure COLLEGE

VOTING BEGINS MAY 11!

ELEVATIONOUTDOORS.COM ROUND OF 32 | MAY 11-18

OUTDOOR SCHOOL BRACKET

SWEET 16 | MAY 19-25 ELITE 8 | MAY 26-JUNE 1 FINAL FOUR | JUNE 2-8 CHAMPIONSHIP | JUNE 9-15

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EAGLE OUTSIDE FESTIVAL AND FIREBIRD 40 RACE MAY 15-17 | EAGLE

eagleoutsidefestival.com Want a festival with some true Colorado-local cred? This hoedown celebrates a community that has gone all-in when it comes to embracing bike and outdoor-sport culture. It all kicks off around the Firebird series of races, including the inaugural 40-mile romp.

DON’T MISS: Up your game at world MTB champ Alison Dunlap’s clinics.

INSIDER INFO: Don’t miss the Bonfire Brewing Chromoly Chef Competition.

THE GOLDEN GAMES

MAY 15-17 | GOLDEN

thegoldengames.com Kick off Front Range summer with races and events in kayaking (freestyle, slalom and downriver), stand-up paddleboarding, rafting and in the waters of Clear Creek and Soda Lakes.

DON’T MISS: The Sunset Paddle Classic.

INSIDER INFO: EO is sponsoring the Screaming ¼ Mile Race on May 16.

Bonnie Paine and Daniel Rodriquez of Elephant Revival.

INSIDER INFO: Buy parking ahead of time.

DON’T MISS:

CAMP OUT FOR THE CAUSE

MAY 21-24 | RANCHO DEL RIO

campoutforthecause.org This is the future hippies imagined— music, yoga, camping and one big, dancing community feeling the love.

DON’T MISS: Elephant Revival, Gregory Alan Isakov, Grant Farm and Fruition.

INSIDER INFO: “The Cause” means that 100-percent of profits go to American Rivers, Eagle Valley Land Trust and All Hands Volunteers.

MEADOWGRASS MUSIC FESTIVAL MAY 22-24 | LA FORET

meadowgrass.org This laid-back happening offers up an eclectic mix of music and funk.

DON’T MISS: Shook Twins.

INSIDER INFO: Festival proceeds help preserve La Foret open space.

MIKE THE HEADLESS CHICKEN MAY 15-17 | FRUITA

miketheheadlesschicken.org Celebrate the story of Mike with races, music and running around like a...

DON’T MISS: The disc golf tournament.

INSIDER INFO: The new Trail B. Find it.

UPSLOPE GET DOWN

MAY 16 | BOULDER

upslopebrewing.com/getdown Drink up and party down with bands and brews in the parking lot.

DON’T MISS: The Thai IPA. INSIDER INFO: Buy a spot in the VIP tent.

ELEVATION’S 3RD ANNIVERSARY MAY 16 | PONCHA SPRINGS

elevationbeerco.com Things will get steamy in Pagosa at this brewery’s anniversary party.

DON’T MISS: Bluegrass tunes from Trout Steak Revival.

INSIDER INFO: Hit the rooftop hot springs pool at the Overlook pre-game.

GRAND JUNCTION OFF-ROAD DOWNTOWN ART AND MUSIC

MAY 28-31 | GRAND JUNCTION

downtowngj.org This festival takes over the streets of downtown GJ and should be on far more many festy folk’s radar.

DON’T MISS: Shakey Graves, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, James McMurtry.

INSIDER INFO: All shows are free!

YAMPA RIVER FESTIVAL

MAY 29-3O | STEAMBOAT SPRINGS

friendsoftheyampa.com This festival does more than get you out playing and competing on Colorado’s last free river (see page 14)—it raises money to help protect it.

DON’T MISS: The Crazy River Dog Contest in C-hole.

INSIDER INFO: The event kicks off with a gear swap.

OFFICIAL SPONSOR OF

BIG MOMENTS Take the road less traveled.

Explore Garden of the Gods, then visit the summit of Pikes Peak.

These are the moments we live for.

Find them in Colorado Springs.

What will your Big Moment be?

FIND YOUR BIG MOMENTS AT:

VisitCOS.com

#BigMo m e

ntsCOS

BEANSTALK

MAY 29-31 | STATE BRIDGE

HEAD FOR THE HILLS’ PICKIN’ ON THE POUDRE MAY 16 | BELLVUE

mishawaka.ticketforce.com Head for the Hills’ bash is the perfect way to kick off hardcore festy season.

beanstalkfestival.com A festival with a hip lineup like this at State Bridge on the Colorado River is like an overnight camp for grown ups.

DON’T MISS: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead and Kyle Hollingsworth Band featuring Michael Kang.

M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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ADVANCE TICKETS: $27/ 1-day or $47/ 2-Day SAVE $5 OFF OF DAY OF SHOW PRICE FOR A LIMITED TIME! Sale price good thru 5/8/15

GET TICKETS ONLINE:

GRANDBLUES.ORG More info on lodging & more available on website

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ELEVATION O U T D O O R S / M AY 2 01 5

INSIDER INFO:

No cell service here, kids.

MOUNTAIN AIR MUSIC SERIES JUNE 4–25 | OURAY

ANIMAS RIVER DAYS

MAY 28–31 | DURANGO

animasriverdays.org The good people of Durango enjoy their river this weekend—and you can join with races, films, dogs and more.

DON’T MISS: The kayak rodeo in the country’s first whitewater park.

INSIDER INFO: A big prize has been promised in the rubber ducky race.

LYONS OUTDOOR GAMES

MAY 30 | LYONS

lyonsoutdoorgames.com The floods of 2013 did not keep Lyons down for long. This multi-sport and music extravaganza has become one of the best gatherings in Colorado. Outof-towners come in for the big music fests; this one pumps up the locals, and draws global athletes.

DON’T MISS: Burning Can Beer Fest.

INSIDER INFO: Champion swiller and runner? Sign up for the Beer Relay.

ouraycolorado.com Ouray’s Fellin Park hosts this monthlong series of outdoor shows.

DON’T MISS: Eats from local food vendors on hand at the park.

INSIDER INFO: Head to O’Brien’s Pub & Grill for the post-concert concerts.

GOPRO MOUNTAIN GAMES JUNE 4-7 | VAIL

mountaingames.com/summer The Mountain Games just continue to grow. It starts with the competition— everything from the downriver SUP race to the same cycling hill climb up Vail Pass that racers hit on the USA Pro Challenge to leaping dogs—which pulls in both pros and casual athletes.

But art, films (“Valley Uprising” will be here) and concerts from bands including G. Love and Special Sauce and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe make it a cultural happening.

DON’T MISS: New events this season include a tandem SUP Cross, a twoperson raft race, the Ultimate River Challenge and disc golf.

INSIDER INFO: Visit the EO tent for swag.

PAGOSA FOLK ‘N BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

JUNE 5-7 | PAGOSA SPRINGS

folkwest.com If you want good music far from the scene of the Front Range, you will find it right here in the San Juans.

DON’T MISS: The rootsy lineup includes Noam Pikelny and Stuart Duncan, Solas, Red Molly, Songs of the Fall and Finnders and Youngberg.

INSIDER INFO: Slip out for Mexican and margs at Kip’s Grill.

SUMMERFEST ON THE RIO JUNE 5-7 | ALAMOSA

summerfestontherio.org Held on the Rio Grande, this little festival that rocks has taken over Alamosa’s Cole Park since 2001.

DON’T MISS: Country darling Kinsey Sadler headlines the show.

INSIDER INFO: The Poker Run benefits ASU Art and Music Scholarships.

DOLORES RIVER FESTIVAL JUNE 6 | DOLORES

doloresriverfestival.com This celebration helps out the river that unites the town of Cortez.

MUSIC, BEER AND FOOD

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

DON’T MISS: Greater Dolores Action raises funds for conservation here.

INSIDER INFO: Hit the singletrack at nearby Phil’s World for a little escape.

MEEKERPALOOZA

JUNE 6-7 | MEEKER

meekerpalooza.com The third annual palooza in this little hideaway strums up music and art.

DON’T MISS: Great American Taxi and Hog MacGundy highlight the tunes.

INSIDER INFO: Find the beer garden.

GUNNISON RIVER FESTIVAL JUNE 11-14 | GUNNISON

gunnisonriverfestival.com Give thanks for the goodness of the Gunnison at this annual throwdown.

DON’T MISS: The hooligan comp chaos.

INSIDER INFO: Jonathan Waterman will be talking about the Colorado River on June 11 (read his EO story, page 50).

CRESTED BUTTE’S GREAT OUTDOORS

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Fo r m o r e i n f o & t i c k e t s v i s i t

w w w. A r i s e Fe s t i v a l . c o m

HANUMAN

JUNE 11-14 | BOULDER hanumanfestival.com

Boulder takes pride in its yoga vibe, so it’s no surprise that this homegrown happening keeps growing.

DON’T MISS: Classes with talented local teachers Richard Freeman, Amy Ippoliti and Raj and Mia Seymour.

INSIDER INFO: Steph Schwartz’s kirtan on Sunday morning is open to the public.

MOUNTAIN RAILS LIVE

JUNE 13-SEPTEMBER 12 | ALAMOSA

coloradotrain.com The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad carries passengers to concerts in the Fir Summit Amphitheater.

DON’T MISS: The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

INSIDER INFO: If you like beer, put Rails and Ales on the calendar on June 20.

GOLDEN MUSIC FESTIVAL JUNE 12-14 | GOLDEN

goldenmusicfestival.org Front Rangers don’t have to range too far to find an authentic little festival.

DON’T MISS: Bands play the amphitheater in Clear Creek History Park.

INSIDER INFO: Check the food truck schedule at Mountain Toad Brewery.

SNOWMASS MAMMOTH FESTIVAL JUNE 12-14 | SNOWMASS

snowmassmammothfest.com Take cutting-edge bands. Add a chili cook off and beer tasting. Sprinkle in the camping and sublime singletrack and hiking surrounding Snowmass.

The result is one hot festival just as summer gets rolling.

DON’T MISS: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Tedeschi Trucks Band.

INSIDER INFO: Don’t miss Saturday’s beer tasting with over 25 breweries.

PALISADE BLUEGRASS AND ROOTS FESTIVAL JUNE 12-14 | PALISADE

palisademusic.com It’s all about atmosphere at this festival. There’s just as much excitement around Palisade—with local distillers and wineries in attendance and secret singletrack out the gate—as there is on stage.

DON’T MISS: Jackie Green, Hayes Carll and Elephant Revival.

INSIDER INFO: Think you are tough? Learn to play rugby here with folks from the local Grand Junction Team.

LOHI

DENVER | JUNE 13

lohimusicfestival.com Denver’s LoHi neighborhood transforms into one big block party.

DON’T MISS: The Infamous Stringdusters, Kung Fu and Hot Buttered Rum. INSIDER INFO: Hit the after party at Cervantes for more Hot Buttered Rum.

TELLURIDE BLUEGRASS

JUNE 18-21 | TELLURIDE

bluegrass.com/telluride As we went to print there were still single-day tickets available for Thursday and Sunday at the big mama of all festivals. We suggest you go.

DON’T MISS: Anything. This year’s lineup includes Ry Cooder, Sharon White & Ricky Skaggs, John Butler Trio, Janelle Monáe, Kacey Musgraves, Trampled By Turtles, Yonder Mtn String Band, Greensky Bluegrass and Rhonda Vincent.

INSIDER INFO: Nightgrass shows in town (tickets sold separately).

LA SPORTIVA SUMMER SOLSTICE TRAIL RUN

JUNE 20 | BEAVER CREEK

vailrec.com These rugged trail races benefit the Vail Valley Charitable Fund.

DON’T MISS: Pig out on Moe’s BBQ and enjoy tunes in Creekside Park.

INSIDER INFO: Prizes will be awarded to the top three finishers in each category for 10k and 5k runners.

SONIC BLOOM

JUNE 18-21 | RYE

sonicbloomfestival.com The summer solstice will bring light to this whirlwind of electronic music, live painters, art installations and yoga friendly one-ness. At a new location at Humming Bird Ranch, Sonic Bloom brings enlightenment to Earth.

DON’T MISS: Shpongle, Emancipator, The Trancident, Talib Kweli, Desert Dwellers, The Sonic Bloom Orchestra.

INSIDER INFO: Stop dancing for just a bit to take a class with a plethora of excellent Colorado yogis who will be teaching here.

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ELEVATION O U T D O O R S / M AY 2 01 5

Like us on Facebook to te keep up to da on event info!

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2015 Come play in Durango’s new whitewater park!

• LIVE MUSIC AND BEER GARDEN • COMPETE FOR CASH PRIZES: Slalom, SUP, Slalom, BoaterX, Last Paddler Standing, Smelter Smackdown Raft Race, and Freestyle Kayak • RIVER PARADE VIEWING PARTY • AFTER DARK FREESTYLE KAYAK FINALS • ARD LATE-NIGHT AFTER PARTY

Camping Kids Zone Vendors

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FIBARK

ESTES PARK MARATHON

fibark.com Why not spend the longest days of the year (and Father’s Day) at America’s oldest whitewater festival. FIBArk is one massive party with a ton of paddling thrown in. Competition here ranges from the classic whitewater rodeo to downriver SUP to the Raft Guide Olympics. And land events include mountain bike races.

DON’T MISS: The Karaoke Competition.

Because you want to hear paddlers belt out “Don’t Stop Believing,” right?

INSIDER INFO: The first-ever REP River Run Off combines scores from paddling events and running events.

visitestespark.com The heights of Estes and a backdrop of Rocky Mountain National Park make for one breath-taking run. Races include the marathon, half marathon, 10k, 5k and a marathon relay.

DON’T MISS: The marathon weekend kicks off on Saturday with the Kid’s Fun Run & Family Festival.

INSIDER INFO: Check the website for training runs before the big day.

JUNE 18-21 | SALIDA

LEADVILLE TRAIL MARATHON AND HEAVY HALF JUNE 20 | LEADVILLE

leadvilleraceseries.com You don’t have to suffer through 100 miles to take a stab at Leadville. Try this marathon or half marathon.

DON’T MISS: Racing to new heights—13,185 feet at the top of Mosquito Pass, to be exact.

INSIDER INFO: Don’t be surprised if there’s snow on the course.

JUNE 20–21 | ESTES PARK

Festival in the home of mountain biking—now that sounds like the kind of week to bring fat tire freaks to their chain stays.

DON’T MISS: The Chainless World Championship. Because carnage.

INSIDER INFO: Get to the film fest on the first day—these eight-minute shorts feature local riders.

COLORADO BREWER’S FESTIVAL

JUNE 26-28 | FORT COLLINS

ALAMOSA PRCA ROUND-UP RODEO JUNE 23-28 | ALAMOSA

alamosaroundup.com You don’t have to be in the rodeo to feel like a cowboy. This PRCA event certainly brings in some of the best in the bucking business, but it’s also a week-long celebration.

DON’T MISS: Mark Chestnut on June 28.

INSIDER INFO: Car breaking down? It’s not too late to enter the Demolition Derby.

downtownfortcollins.com You like beer? These are your people, my friend.

DON’T MISS: It’s not all swilling. Enjoy the live music, too.

INSIDER INFO: The festival is free, but you will need to buy a tasting package to sample the suds. Save $5 if you purchase it ahead of time for $25.

JUNE 25-28 | CRESTED BUTTE

cbbikeweek.com The World’s Oldest Mountain Bike

JAZZ ASPEN SNOWMASS

JUNE 26-JULY 6 | SNOWMASS

jazzaspensnowmass.org Jazz? Yes. But there are also a lot of big-name acts mixed in to this bigtime musical showcase.

DON’T MISS: Maceo Parker INSIDER INFO: For true jazz, hit the Jas Cafe at the Little Nell during the festival and beyond.

GRAND COUNTY BLUES SOCIETY BLUES FROM THE TOP

COPPER’S GONE TO THE DOGS

JUNE 27-28 | WINTER PARK

JUNE 26–27 | COPPER MOUNTAIN

CRESTED BUTTE BIKE WEEK

Stay home with your cat.

DON’T MISS: Be sure to meet the avalanche rescue dogs.

INSIDER INFO: Humans are allowed in the 5k run, too.

villageatcopper.com For a day and a half, dogs, families of dogs, competitive dogs, leisurely dogs and dog owners will do their doggy thing all over Copper. Don’t like dogs?

grandblues.org This feel-good event helps support Blue Star Connection, a non profit that raises funds and collects musical instruments to give to children fighting cancer or other difficulties.

DON’T MISS: Joe Louis Walker, Deanna

Discover the

Magic This Summer

Colorado Brewers’ Festival JUNE 26-28 I CIVIC CENTER PARK

Over 80 Colorado craft beers, live music and on site tasting education at our 26th annual event

Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest

AUGUST 14-16 I DOWNTOWN

A FREE community arts & music festival with 8 stages of continuous entertainment, Colorado bands, 250+ vendors, kids entertainment, and more!

Plus don’t miss our daily events, concerts, and happenings!

Visit DowntownFortCollins.com today

M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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Bogart, Chris Cain, Ronnie Baker Brooks Big Band.

INSIDER INFO: Check out the youth stage.

1ST ANNUAL DENVER FLEA SUMMER EDITION

JUNE 27–28 | SURPRISE LOCATION

PIKES PEAK HILL CLIMB / RACE TO THE CLOUDS JUNE 28 | PIKES PEAK / COLORADO SPRINGS

ppihc.com Drivers flock to the 14er from all over the planet to burn rubber to the top.

DON’T MISS: Devil’s Playground offers a good view of the action.

INSIDER INFO: If you really want to be in the heat of things, you can volunteer.

ROYAL GORGE WHITEWATER FESTIVAL JUNE 26-27 | CANON CITY

royalgorgewhitewaterfestival.com The seventh edition of this growing water-based bacchanal in praise of the Arkansas River gives you a lot of opportunities to get competing in the water and on land and draws a diverse lineup of musical artists.

DON’T MISS: Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band, Mile High 101 INSIDER INFO: See the U.S. Rafting Association’s National Championship.

denverflea.com The Denver Flea is capitalism at its finest: endless stalls of stuff for sale with an aim “to support locally-based companies and folks who build upon Denver’s individual character no matter where they call home.”

DON’T MISS: The Flea celebrates “maker culture,” so find something beyond what you could buy at Target here.

INSIDER INFO: Got some stuff to sell? Rent a stall.

SHOWDOWN TOWN CONCERT SERIES

JULY 2-AUGUST 13 | EAGLE

eagleoutside.com This weekly series serves up music in the park brought to you by Vail Valley Foundation, title sponsor Moe’s BBQ and partnerships with The Town of Eagle and Bonfire Brewing.

DON’T MISS: Rumor has it that the after party will be at Bonfire Brewing.

INSIDER INFO: It’s free! (Not the beer.)

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MAY 10 JUNE 14 JULY 12 AUGUST 16 SEPTEMBER 20

WANDERLUST

SALIDA ART WALK

JUNE 26–28 | SALIDA

salidaartwalk.org Salida Art Walk reaffirms the vibrant art scene that’s growing here in the heart of Colorado. In its 23rd year, Art Walk, boasts up to 100 venues showcasing art from 100 different Colorado artists.

DON’T MISS: Concerts by 20 local musicians on three different stages, dance numbers and theater like Shakespeare in the Park.

INSIDER INFO: Keep an eye out for the Salida Circus and the infamous Mud People who’ll be roaming the streets.

CLEAR CREEK RAPIDGRASS BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

JUNE 26-28 | IDAHO SPRINGS

clearcreekrapidgrass.com Just off I-70 this festival is sure to draw some serious crowds.

DON’T MISS: The lineup is absolutely stacked: Sam Bush, The Travelin’ McCourys, Jeff Austin Band INSIDER INFO: The workshops are just as good as the lineup.

JULY 2-5 | ASPEN-SNOWMASS

wanderlust.com Far more than a yoga festival, this enlightened throwdown is a community gathering that features art, music (MC Yogi, DJ Drez, Moby!), group hikes, hugs, SUP, lectures... oh, and the yoga is pretty incredible, too.

World-famous teachers here include Eoin Finn, Gurmukh, Max Strom, YogaSlackers, and many more.

DON’T MISS: “The Road to Wanderlust,” the film chronicles the 45,000-mile, epic two yogis made when they learned that the car they live in is dying.

INSIDER INFO: Chill in the tea rooms.

RIDGWAY CONCERT SERIES

JULY 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 | RIDGWAY

ridgwayconcertseries.com Want to just relax this summer instead of dealing with all those festy freaks?

Catch the free concerts in Ridgway’s Town Park on Thursdays.

DON’T MISS: Sol Driven Train, Humming House, The Blackberry Bushes, Roxy Roca, and The Steep Canyon Rangers.

INSIDER INFO: There’s local beer on tap, as well as margs, wine and food.

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ONE WORLD

JULY 3-4 | CRESTED BUTTE

crestedbuttemusicfestival.org If you are going to call a festival “One World,” it makes sense for it to be free.

DON’T MISS: Four bands will play: Eufórquestra, The Leftover Cuties, The Family Crest and The Suffers.

INSIDER INFO: Need something for the kids to do this summer? The Music Festival’s Kids’ Camp runs June 29July 2 and features instruction from Denver’s Swallow Hill Music School.

here—this mellow fest attracts roots aficionados who care more about the music than the party-crowd mentality.

DON’T MISS: Joe Mullins and The Radio Ramblers, Lou Reid and Carolina, Chris Jones and the Night Drivers, Darol Anger and the Furies, The Hillbenders, Eddie and Martha Adcock with Tom Gray.

INSIDER INFO: This festival does a damn bit of good, too. Last year it raised $42,000 for the Custer County Medical Center’s EMS as well as $8000 for the C.A.R.T Main Street Initiative Project for the Towns of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff.

RIDE

JULY 11-12 | TELLURIDE

ridefestival.com In it’s fourth year, this happening could become a big deal in a town known for big festivals with this year’s addition of two nights of Widespread Panic to the lineup.

DON’T MISS: Gov’t Mule, Jonny Lang, Trigger Hippy, North Mississippi Allstars, The Temperance Movement.

INSIDER INFO: Bring your bike to get back and forth from Town Park camping.

LA SPORTIVA VAIL HILL CLIMB JULY 5 | VAIL

FESTIVAL IN THE CLOUDS JULY 18-19 | ALMA

almafoundation.com This little festival in Colorado’s highest incorporated municipality serves up continuous live music as well as things like gems and minerals.

DON’T MISS: Backyard Berserker dubbed as “The downtown Alma sound.”

INSIDER INFO: There are quite a few campgrounds in the area.

TARGHEE FEST

vailrec.com Run up the 7.5-mile climb from Vail Village to Vail Mountain’s summit, racking up 2,500 vertical feet along the way.

DON’T MISS: Coffee from Northside Coffee & Kitchen.

INSIDER INFO: Bring an old pair of shoes for the Soles for Souls raffle.

HIGH MOUNTAIN HAY FEVER JULY 9-12 | WESTCLIFFE

highmountainhayfever.org No pop bands posing as “bluegrass”

COPPER MOUNTAIN MUSIC FEST JULY 11 | COPPER MOUNTAIN

coppercolorado.com This brand new festival is sure to get some booties shakin’. Why? you ask.

Well, it’s officially presented by none other than Elevation Outdoors and sponsored by Copper Mountain and KSMT 102 the Mountain.

DON’T MISS: The lineup includes Balsam Range, Reckless Kelly, The Honey Cutters, Larry Keel INSIDER INFO: Check this summer at ElevationOutdoors.com for more.

JULY 17-19 | GRAND TARGHEE RESORT, WY

grandtarghee.com All the great festivals are not just in Colorado. Up in Wyoming and Idaho, this big has been a big deal for a decade. It’s worth the drive.

DON’T MISS: Brandi Carlile, Taj Mahal Trio, Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers, Gov’t Mule, Mavis Staples, Patty Griffin, Trigger Hippy.

INSIDER INFO: Grand Teton Brewing serves up the suds.

STEAMBOAT MOVEMENT FEST JULY 23-26 | STEAMBOAT

steamboatmovementfest.com This new happening will bring The Boat’s yoga, outdoor and music communities come together as one.

DON’T MISS: Take a class with uplifting Colorado yogis including Gina Caputo, Valerie D’Ambrosio and Outlaw Yoga’s Justin Kaliskewski.

INSIDER INFO: Look for lodging deals online at SteamboatSummer.com.

September 24-27 2015 PAONIA COLORADO

Music - Arts - Crafts - Wine - Food - Tours Farmers’ Market Kids Activities www.mountainharvestfestival.org Photos: Jim

11th

Annual

Targhee Fest July 17-19, 2015 Gov’t Mule, Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers, Taj Mahal Trio, James McMurtry, Patty Griffin, Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers, Mavis Staples, Brandi Carlile, and more to come.

28th

Rabiolo

Annual

Grand Targhee Bluegrass Festival August 7-9, 2015 Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass, Donna The Buffalo, Lake Street Dive, Elephant Revival, Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, Mr. Sun, Willie Sugarcapps, Two Bit Franks, Jerry Douglas Presents: The Earls of Leicester, Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn, and Hot Rize.

Golden, CO GoldenMusicFestival.org M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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THE GOLDEN

GAMES DEMOS | CLINICS | COMPETITION MAY 15 3PM-9:30PM • Sunset Paddle Classic Festival of the Golden Games • Soda Lakes at Bear Creek Lake Park • Demos, Clinics, SUP Race, SUP Yoga, Music, BBQ MAY 16 6PM-10PM • Official Golden Games Party • Mountain Toad Brew Pub • 900 Washington Ave, Golden, CO, 80401 • Awards, Giveaways, Music, Food Trucks May 16-17 10AM-7PM • Golden Games Whitewater Center • 1201 10th St, Golden, CO, 80401 • Demos, Clinics, Paddle with the Pros, Kayak Races SUP Races, Rafting Races, Fly Fishing, Slack Lining

36

ELEVATION O U T D O O R S / M AY 2 01 5

REGISTER NOW!

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OYSTER RIDGE MUSIC FESTIVAL

JULY 24–26 | KEMMERER, WY

oysterridgemusicfestival.com “Oyster Grass” is simply the biggest musical happening in the nation’s least populated state. Oh, and it is free! The stage hosts local talent as well as national acts and it was all the brainchild of a USFS employee who liked to pick some mean guitar.

DON’T MISS: Guthrie Brown and the Family Tree, Moors and McCumber.

INSIDER INFO: The festival is also home to the Wyoming state finger style guitar championship and the Wyoming state flat pick guitar championship. And anyone (even non-residents) can enter.

BEAT THE HEAT

JULY 31-AUGUST 1 | ALAMOSA

slvbeattheheat.com This BBQ, brews, and chili challenge is sure to fill your belly with goodness.

DON’T MISS: Cookers will compete in chicken, pork, ribs and brisket, along with dessert and Anything But categories, all judged by certified Kansas City BBQ Society judges.

INSIDER INFO: Got a recipe of your own? join the competition.

Discover Your Inner Mountain Goat

CRESTED BUTTE ARTS FESTIVAL

COLORADO BURGER SUMMIT

JULY 25 | COPPER MOUNTAIN

coloradoburgersummit.com Who has Colorado’s best burger? That question will be answered here.

DON’T MISS: Music from Eufórquestra.

INSIDER INFO: Attendees are the judges.

JULY 31-AUGUST 2 | CRESTED BUTTE

crestedbutteartsfestival.com In it’s 43rd year this expansive arts festival may just give you something to ponder beyond all that singletrack.

DON’T MISS: Music from Bruce Hayes and the Gypsy Jazz Social Club.

INSIDER INFO: Want to bring something home? Head to the art auction.

ROCKYGRASS

JULY 25-27 | LYONS

bluegrass.com/rockygrass If you love bluegrass and can only make one festival this summer make it this one held at the classic grounds of Planet Bluegrass in Lyons.

DON’T MISS: The Infamous Stringdusters, Earls of Leicester, Sam Bush, I’m With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz & Aoife O’Donovan), Del McCoury.

INSIDER INFO: Register for the instrument contests and show off your stuff.

KEYSTONE’S BLUEGRASS AND BEER AUGUST 1–2 | KEYSTONE

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keystonefestivals.com You have to love a fest built around “frothy flavors and hillbilly luxuries.”

DON’T MISS: Over 30 breweries and 14 bluegrass bands.

INSIDER INFO: Bring your bike for some laps on Keystone’s rocking donwhill.

TELLURIDE JAZZ FESTIVAL

JULY 31 - AUGUST 2 | TELLURIDE

KEYSTONE’S BLUE RIBBON BACON TOUR JULY 27–28 | KEYSTONE

keystonefestivals.com Yep, bacon—as in thousands of pounds of bacon and bacon-inspired cuisine.

DON’T MISS: Colorado’s largest bacon Bloody Mary bar!

INSIDER INFO: There’s music, too.

ENDURO WORLD SERIES

telluridejazz.org Telluride Jazz brings in acts with as much credence as Telluride Bluegrass but far less of the hoopla.

DON’T MISS: This line up has some serious cred: Ernie Watts, Maceo Parker, The M&Ms, Bill Frissel Trio, The Soul Rebels, Eufórquestra, and more.

INSIDER INFO: The Telluride Student All-Star Jazz Ensemble, made up of students from age 13 through 18, plays throughout town and opens the festival on the Town Park Main Stage.

JULY 31-AUGUST 2 | CRESTED BUTTE / MT. CRESTED BUTTE

enduroworldseries.com The world’s best racers take the Butte.

DON’T MISS: 21,000 feet of descent.

INSIDER INFO: Bring your bike, too.

SESH FEST

AUGUST 2 | DENVER

seshfest.com Beer has become religion in Colorado—enjoy dozens of breweries paying homage to the session-style

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LE T T HE FUN BEGIN.

JUNE 18 -21

for the Nation’s Oldest & Boldest Whitewater Festival

FREE Live Music & Performances

WWW.F I B A R K . C OM

beer at this summer’s Sesh Fest.

DON’T MISS: There’s also art, food, lawn games, and music.

INSIDER INFO: Session beers are lower in alcohol than most craft brews.

ROAR IN THE CITY

AUGUST 2 | COLORADO SPRINGS

roarinthecity.com This all-ages “Really Outrageous Adventure Race” takes place in town and it serves as a fund-raiser for our friends at Upadowna, whose mission is to provide outdoor adventures for all through empowering events.

DON’T MISS: This year’s theme is “Prehistoric Party.” We suggest you get all Neanderthal.

INSIDER INFO: Stop by the EO tent to say hi and tell us how you did in the race.

GRAND TARGHEE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

AUGUST 7-9 | GRAND TARGHEE RESORT, WY

grandtarghee.com Here’s another reason to head up to Wyoming and Idaho this summer.

DON’T MISS: It’s an eclectic lineup here, including Keller Williams Grateful Grass, The Infinite Stringdusters,

Donna the Buffalo, Lake Street Drive, Greensky Bluegrass, Elephant Revival, Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas and The Earls of Leicester.

INSIDER INFO: You can sit down at the Branding Iron Grill for a meal.

CRESTONE MUSIC FESTIVAL AUGUST 7-9 | CRESTONE

crest-fest.org The vibe here certainly mirrors that of Crestone itself, where folks of all sort of backgrounds and spiritual callings all find common ground.

DON’T MISS: Lunar Fire, Robben Ford and The Young Dubliners will be the headliners.

INSIDER INFO: The weekend is quite family friendly thanks to Salida Circus, We Are The Drum Workshop, hula-hoops and beach balls and EuroBungy jump machine.

AVERY BREWING’S 22ND ANNIVERSARY PARTY

into the cellar to pull out rare and vintage beers to share.”

INSIDER INFO: Unlike the old location, there’s food on site here.

ARISE

AUGUST 7-9 | LOVELAND

arisefestival.com Arise typifies a new breed of festival—more than just bluegrass and hula hoops, it combines music with movement, performance, art, community and everything from yoga sessions to a creative and fun children’s village.

DON’T MISS: There are plenty of bigname bands here to dance to like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Polish Ambassador and Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. But yoga is still at the heart of this happening. Take a class with Boulder favorites Jeanie Manchester or Gina Caputo.

INSIDER INFO: Sharesten will find your vibe with her Yin and Tibetan Bowls.

AUGUST 8 | BOULDER

averybrewing.com Avery just moved into a brand new brewery location in Gunbarrel. It’s time to celebrate.

DON’T MISS: Avery promises to dig “deep

NEWWEST FEST

AUGUST 14-16 | FORT COLLINS

This free, three-day party features Colorado musicians topped off with Big Head Todd and the Monsters, as well as Pat Benatar and War. DON’T MISS: An eclectic mix of local bands include The Holler!, Danielle At the Sandwich and Post Paradise.

INSIDER INFO: Be sure to stop by the EO tent and say hi.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN FOLKS FESTIVAL AUGUST 15-17 | LYONS

bluegrass.com/folks Here’s another chance to hear some of the best acoustic (and electric) artists in the world and support the festivalinclined town of Lyons. The smallest of Planet Bluegrass’ big three festivals is our personal favorite thanks to its laid-back vibe and eclectic music lineup. Bring the family.

DON’T MISS: Sufjan Stevens, Gillian Welch, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Shawn Colvin, Jason Isbel, The Waifs.

INSIDER INFO: Bring your bike and take a break with a spin on Hall Ranch.

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Twenty One Years Of Free Live Music

RIDE MORE. DRIVE LESS.

BLACKJACK

E A G L E , C O LO R A D O

Skip the long drive and exit at Eagle, Colorado where over 100 miles of scenic singletrack await.

RESTAURANTS • BREWERIES • MOVIES • BOWLING SPA •SHOP • YOGA • RAFT • GOLF

FRIDAY 7/24

High Noon: Open Ceremonies 12-1 Robin Kessinger & Robert Shafer 1-3 Billy Shaddox 3-5 The Brummy Brothers 5-7 Farewell Milwaukee 7-9 The Whisky Gentry 9-11 Guthrie Brown & The Family Tree

SATURDAY 7/25

10-12 Bandscramble 12-1 Robin Kessinger & Robert Shafer 1-3 The Brummy Brothers 3-5 Dead Winter Carpenters 5-7 Jared & The Mill 7-9 Mustered Courage 9-11 Red Wanting Blue

SUNDAY 7/26

Find your adventure halfway between Denver and Grand Junction, just off I-70 at Exit 147

ALWAYS A WINNING HAND

9-12 State Competitions 12-1 Robin Kessinger & Robert Shafer 1-3 Shook Twins 3-5 Kort McCumber

oysterridgemusicfestival.com

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ESTES PARK WINE FESTIVAL AUGUST 15–16 | ESTES PARK

visitestespark.com Come sample Colorado wine in the heart of downtown Estes Park.

DON’T MISS: Enjoy tastings from over 15 Colorado wineries, fresh food, local Colorado vendors and live music.

INSIDER INFO: Check out our Gem Lake hike and GPS coordinates on page 18.

MUMFORD AND SONS’ GENTLEMEN OF THE ROAD STOPOVER AUGUST 21-22 | SALIDA

gentlemenoftheroad.com We have always counted Salida as one of our very favorite Colorado towns.

Apparently, British folk stars Mumford and Sons do, too. Their small-town tour will be here in all it’s glory.

DON’T MISS: The Flaming Lips, Dawes, Jenny Lewis, Tune-Yards, and more.

INSIDER INFO: Stop by Absolute Bikes for beta on local rides on your downtime.

Hozier, Jimmy Cliff, No Doubt, Lenny Kravitz, INSIDER INFO: Bring your bike and hit the Government Trail between sets.

DON’T MISS:

WEST ELK BICYCLE CLASSIC

SEPTEMBER 6 | GUNNISON TO CRESTED BUTTE

westelkbicycleclassic.com The perfect way to close out the summer? Spin the scenic 134-mile, 9,300-feet-of-climbing route from Gunnison to Crested Butte along Blue Mesa, Black Canyon and Kebler Pass.

DON’T MISS: Ride with local bike god and champ racer Dave Wiens.

INSIDER INFO: There’s 29 miles of dirt, so choose the right tires

LONGS PEAK SCOTTISH IRISH HIGHLANDS FESTIVAL

SEPTEMBER 10–13 | ESTES PARK

NEDFEST

AUGUST 28-30 | NEDERLAND

nedfest.org If it’s in Ned, it needs to be weird, or at least alternatively expressive. Ned Fest delivers with music, art, crafts, microbrews and assorted oddness.

DON’T MISS: Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon, Hard Working Americans, Gipsy Moon and March Forth!

INSIDER INFO: Stop by our friends at Salto and Tin Shed Sports for a bite or a rental bike and beta.

FOUR CORNERS FOLK FESTIVAL SEPTEMBER 4-6 | PAGOSA SPRINGS

folkwest.com Meet the sister festival to FolkWest’s Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass Festival.

Enjoy the same core vibe and listen to rootsy performers under a 1,200-plusperson tent or kick back in the surrounding meadow.

DON’T MISS: Bands are still TBA but last year featured Elephant Revival.

INSIDER INFO: Beyond its festivals, FolkWest runs bluegrass camps for adults and kids, June 2–4 in Pagosa.

JAZZ ASPEN SNOWMASS LABOR DAY FESTIVAL

SEPTEMBER 4-6 | SNOWMASS

jazzaspensnowmass.org Yeah, well forget about the jazz, this festival pulls in big-gun talent.

visitestespark.com Want to revel in your Scottish and/or Irish heritage? Head to Estes this fall for the biggest blowout of Celtic fun this side of the Atlantic.

DON’T MISS: The downtown parade, bagpipes, drummers, dancers in tartan, dogs of the British Isles, strongman competitions, jousting.

INSIDER INFO: Wear your kilt, lad!

TELLURIDE BLUES AND BREWS

SEPTEMBER 18-20 | TELLURIDE

tellurideblues.com Save the best for last. Telluride’s other big festival is the one we wait for all summer long. Hey and who doesn’t like autumn nights, a cold craft beer and some music to make you want to cry into it… or dance.

DON’T MISS: The lineup has yet to be announced but stay tuned for it is sure to be full of big names.

INSIDER INFO: The Grand Tasting features 56 craft brewers competing to be the crowd favorite.

MOUNTAIN HARVEST

SEPTEMBER 24-27 | PAONIA

mountainharvestfestival.org When the weather cools, this festival heats up the North Fork Valley.

DON’T MISS: Check the website for the lineup to be announced.

INSIDER INFO: This non profit supports the local artists and charitable causes.

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PRESENTED BY

EAGLE COUNTY - COLORADO

970 - 479-2280 | www.vailrec.com

May 16 June 20

LA SPORTIVA BONEYARD BOOGIE 11K LA SPORTIVA BEAVER CREEK SUMMER SOLSTICE: 5K & 10K PLUS KIDS FUN RUN

July 5 July 19 Aug. 2 Aug. 23 SEPT. 13

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LA SPORTIVA 5K & 11K @ 10,000 FEET LA SPORTIVA EVERGOLD 5K & 11K

Dates subject to change

*Vail HillClimb to be a featured event in the 2015 La Sportiva Mountain Cup

WILD GH THE THROUMOUNTAINS!

The VRD is an equal opportunity service provider and operates under special permission from the White River National Forest and Bureau of Land Management.

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FESTIVALGEAR

F

estivals are long, hot, multi-day outdoor events, so you need to come prepared for all conditions. Here are our suggestions for the best gear to up your game this season.

HYDRO FLASK TRUE PINT Nothing says, “I’m a pro at this show” better than your own personal pint glass. This stainless steel masterpiece features vacuum insulation to keep that cold one chilled. You won’t have to worry about waste either, and this high-tech cup will withstand a good deal of abuse. $22; hydroflask.com BIG AGNES ROCKY PEAK 4 MTNGLO We know it can be tough to find your shelter in all the sprawl of tent city late at night after you have indulged in a full day of those festival activities. But what if your cozy dome were all lit up? Not only is the Rocky Peak one outstanding, easy-to-set-up, threeseason, four-person tent, it also comes fitted with strings of led lights running along the poles. They are not enough to read a book by, but they will serve as a beacon or give you just enough light to hang out in your postshow afterglow. $350; bigagnes.com SMITH OPTICS CLARK These eco-friendly shades allow you to look cool while feeling (at least somewhat) enviroconscious. Made from 53-percent bio-based material, but looking sharp enough for VIP

seats for Sturgil Simpson, these babies will be your best friends on a long day out in the glare. Nose pads keep them from slipping when you dance and polarized lenses put you in that special space. $100; smithoptics.com ICEMULE PRO 20L Who is the most popular dude at the festival?

How about that guy with the cooler on his back—literally (and we are using that word correctly here, Father John Misty). This fivepound pack hauls 18 cans and ice with an insulation system that keeps everything cool for 24 hours. $100; icemulecooler.com TRAVEL CHAIR LARRY CHAIR It folds up nice and easy into an attaché-sized carrying case. It’s sturdy. It’s comfy. It’s low enough for most festival regulations. It will serve double duty as a kayak seat. The

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It’s always hard to leave paradise. Packing up camp on a sunny morning in Coyote Gulch, Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, UT- Andrew Burr

The Big Agnes Sleep System • Our original sleep system design has UPD been providing comfort in the backcountry ATE D since 2001 • Slide your pad into an integrated sleeve on the bottom of the bag for insulation • The top two-thirds of the bag is insulated in the traditional style to keep you warm

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Outfitting Dirtbags Everywhere...

Tents • Sleeping Bags • Pads • Apparel

Festival Season Al a m os a , C ol or a d o

Mountain Rails Live All summer long www.coloradotrain.com Summerfest on the Rio June 5-7 www.summrfestontherio.org Alamosa PRCA Round-up Rodeo June 23-28 www.honeycuttrodeo.info Beat the Heat BBQ, Brews & Chili Challenge July 31-August 1 www.slvbeatheheat.com Logger Days, Pioneer Days, CrestFest, Ski Hi Stampede, and more in the San Luis Valley. Check the events calendar at www.alamosa.org.

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1-800-BLU-SKYS | www.alamosa.org

FARM TO FEET FLOYD FEST These oh-so-special socks will not be available until Floyd Fest kicks off in Virginia this summer (you can buy them there at Farm to Feet’s booth or wait until they hit stores in July), but we could not resist calling out a sock made just for a festival. Plus, Farm to Feet manufacturers completely in the U.S.A. $20; farmtofeet.com —D.S.

company recommends it for “hot soccer moms.”

What’s not to like about your new favorite seat? $65; travelchair.com TOAD AND CO. HARDSCAPE A shirt that can survive the slings and arrows of dancing in the sun and spills of various liquids is mandatory festy wear. But you don’t want to look too hippy-dippy or too technically square, right? Meet your new top for a week: The organic cotton Hardscape feels as good as it looks. $64; toadandco.com SAXX VIBE ANCHOR BOXER At first you laugh. Ha, ha, Saxx have an anatomically correct, custom pouch for your package. Then you try a pair on. Why did no man ever think of this before?

Then your significant other asks you to please change your underwear at some point. You buy another pair— because there’s no reason for everything to be shaking when you are dancing. $32; saxxunderwear.com

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LOOK FOR US AT THESE UPCOMING EVENTS Golden Games MAY 15-17 Lyons Outdoor Games MAY 30 GoPro Mountain Games JUNE 4-7 FIBArk JUNE 18-21

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BANDSTOWATCH

by JEDD FERRIS

F

esting is all about finding your next favorite band. Look beyond the headliners and check out our favorite up-and-coming acts on the Colorado scene this summer.

TROUT STEAK REVIVAL Trout Steak is doing all the right things to potentially earn its place as Colorado’s next big bluegrass band.

The group won last year’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival band contest, an honor that followed a 2012 thirdplace finish at RockyGrass. The quintet’s sound is rooted in tradition, but features plenty of high country edge to create a loose, dance-friendly vibe. The group’s recently released debut studio album Brighter Every Day was produced by The Infamous Stringdusters’ Chris Pandolfi.

APPEARING AT: Pagosa Folk ‘N Bluegrass, Palisade Bluegrass and Roots Festival, Telluride Bluegrass

JEFF AUSTIN BAND Last year it was big news when Austin left his longtime gig in Colorado’s own Yonder Mountain String Band.

He’s now focusing on a solo band with the same instrument configuration, featuring string aces Danny Barnes on banjo, Ross Martin on guitar and Eric Thorin on bass, but Austin’s new solo album branches beyond his usual expansive bluegrass. On The Simple Truth Austin showcases his talents as a songwriter, delivering a set of concise

roots rock that incorporates an electric edge with help from an expanded cast that includes drummer Cody Dickinson of the North Mississippi Allstars.

APPEARING AT: Clear Creek Rapidgrass MOON TAXI Nashville isn’t all twang. For proof beyond high-profile transplants like Jack White and the Black Keys check out this dynamic crew that’s become one of Music City’s most popular independent rock acts. Moon Taxi finds the sweet spot between the worlds of jam and indie rock, touring with Umphrey’s McGee and playing solos that spiral into anthemic peaks but also writing pop-driven tunes with catchy hooks. The band shredded the psychedelic-tinged fist-pumper “Running Wild” from its latest album, 2013’s Mountain Cities Beaches, on the Late Show with David Letterman, and the potential for greater things is on the horizon. The group is working on a new album with Grammywinning producer Jacquire King, whose resume includes helping Norah Jones and Kings of Leon.

APPEARING AT: Ride Festival

RHIANNON GIDDENS Fresh off her work on Lost On The River: The New Basement Tapes­—a T. Bone Burnett-curated collaboration that found Giddens, Elvis Costello, Jim James, Marcus Mumford, and Taylor Goldsmith putting new music to leftover Bob Dylan lyrics—the songstress and founder of the Carolina Chocolate Drops is branching out with her first solo project. On the recently released album Tomorrow is My Turn Giddens once again teams up with Burnett and, much like her traditional torch-bearing work with the Chocolate Drops, puts her own spin on songs

and styles from the past. With strong acoustic players behind her, including members of the Punch Brothers, Giddens uses the album to unearth a range of old rootsy gems, including Nina Simone’s “Black is the Color” and the Odetta-arrange work song “Water Boy.” There’s also a poignant original, the folk ballad “Angel City” that Giddens wrote for her New Basement Tapes collaborators. She’s touring the new material with members of the Chocolate Drops behind her.

APPEARING AT: Telluride Bluegrass

ROADKILL GHOST CHOIR If you’re into alt-folk or indie rock, Roadkill Ghost Choir can sound like five of your favorite bands. The band’s debut EP, 2012’s Quiet Light captured the haunting mood of Fleet Foxes, but on last year’s full-length In Tongues the Florida quintet branched into the expansive realms of My Morning Jacket and The War on Drugs. Main singer/songwriter Andrew Shepard delivers with a weary drawl that provides a comforting anchor in a sound that slides on the spectrum between compelling folk meditations and full-on atmospheric rock blitzes.

APPEARING AT: Snowmass Mammoth Fest NICKI BLUHM & THE GRAMBLERS Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers plays melodic folk-rock that’s full of vintage charm. Front and center are Bluhm’s vocals, full of honeyed soul and the ability to soar when the jam calls for it. Based in San Francisco, Bluhm first emerged around the Bay Area music scene performing with her husband Tim of regionally beloved psychedelic rockers the Mother Hips. Over the past three years, the Gramblers have toured rigorously across the country.

The cohesive payoff of hard gigging can be heard on the group’s new album Loved Wild Lost, which was produced

by Brian Deck (Iron & Wine, Modest Mouse, Josh Ritter) and features some colorful of arrangements from San Fran’s Magik*Magik Orchestra.

APPEARING AT: Rocky Mountain Folks Festival • M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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GEAR

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YOUR SUMMER SPORTS OUTFITTER

7

RIVER BOUND

foot touring kayak is perfect for flatwater play on a long river trip. The Bay+ folds down into a case that’s easy to strap onto your raft and it’s relatively quick and painless to assemble. $1,495; orukayak.com

By DOUG SCHNITZSPAHN

5. ASTRAL AQUANAUT

THE FAMILY RAFT TRIP IS LIKE CAR CAMPING IN THE BACKCOUNTRY. THIS GEAR IS SURE TO UP THE ENJOYMENT FACTOR ON THE RIVER.

1. KOKATAT MSFIT TOUR PFD

Despite the name, this sturdy, ergonomically crafted PFD works just fine for any member of the family. It’s built with abrasion-resistant Cordura and a range of extras, including an electronics pocket and knife garage. $150; kokatat.com 2. COLEMAN FRYECOMMANDER 3-IN-1 STOVE

Life in a river camp revolves around the stove. With a builtin stand and two 12,000-BTU burners, this baby may fire up better than your home range. $250; coleman.com 3. GREENLIGHT PLANET SUN KING PRO

Not only does this solar powered lamp provide enough light for a game of cards and reading in the tent, it will also power up phones and other electronic devices while you are lounging in camp. $50; greenlightplanet.com 4. ORU KAYAK BAY+

While we don’t recommend it for rapids, the 25-pound, 12-

PROVIDING EXCELLENT BIKE SERVICE TO THE FRONT RANGE SINCE 1996.

This stylish water shoe serves double duty in the boat and on exploratory hikes on shore. Credit Astral’s special G.15 high-friction, non-marking rubber sole, which will hold on slippery rocks as well as dirt. $120; astraldesigns.com 6. PELICAN PROGEAR 80QT ELITE COOLER

This massive cooler on wheels keeps ice frozen for over a week, holds enough food and drink for a frat party and even includes a built-in bottle opener. $550; pelcian.com 7. MOUNTAINSMITH ARAPAHO 20 SL

Built with kids (and vertically challenged adults) in mind, this mummy bag performs just as well as any technical adult bag, thanks to synthetic insulation rated to 20 degrees. $125; mountainsmith.com

GREENMOUNTAINSPORTS.COM 303-987-8758 12364 WEST ALAMEDA PKWY LAKEWOOD, CO 80228 HOURS: M-F 10-6 | SAT 10-5 SUN 9-3

8. MOUNTAIN HARDWEAR OPTIC 6

With enough space for the whole family (plus dog), sufficient headroom to stand up inside, and the ability to vent it out on those hot summer nights, this tent has become our favorite for big trips. $399; mountainhardwear.com • M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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THE SONG OF GLEN CANYON ONCE ONE OF THE MOST SUBLIME BEAUTIES IN THE SOUTHWEST, GLEN CANYON HAS BECOME LAKE FOUL— CHOKED WITH TRASH, SPEEDBOATS, GRAFFITI AND WEEDS. BUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE EXCESSES OF THE VERY DAM THAT CREATED THIS MESS MAY IRONICALLY RETURN LAKE POWELL TO ITS FORMER GLORY.

By JONATHAN WATERMAN

In September, hoping to beat the summer crowds while enjoying the sanctity of Glen Canyon, deep inside a vertical passageway beneath a clear, blue sky, we heard what sounded like approaching thunder. As it grew closer, the storm revved up into an echoing, earsplitting NASCAR race. Ever since Glen Canyon Dam finished flooding the most beautiful stretch of the Colorado River in 1980, most paddlers have avoided Lake Powell—after all, up to two million motor boaters throng this reservoir each year. But here I was on Lake Powell again, feeling the injustice of motorized access being prioritized photos by Jonathan Waterman

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over the enjoyment and protection of nature.

On cue, six cigarette boats roared into view, consuming as much fuel (.86 mpg) as a half dozen 747s. They were playing “poker,” making pit stops to draw from a deck of cards while racing across the 140-mile-long reservoir. I briefly considered that they, too, felt moved by the towering red sandstone, alternately blackened by tapestries of dark, ancient varnish. Yet the racers were moving too fast to appreciate anything but the cold Buds, the poker game, and steering around errant “canoeists”—as motorheads name all boaters who lack engines.

We waved our kayak paddles to avoid collision, then aimed carefully into their giant wakes to avoid capsizing. As they disappeared from view, they continued hoisting their drinks while passing graffiti-defaced Anasazi petroglyphs and ruins, heaps of litter, and copses of invasive Russian knapweed and tamarisk.

That night, we paddled around the flooded chamber called the Music Temple. The best sandy beaches were hogged by houseboats (averaging .5 mpg), accompanied by the obnoxious whine of jet skis (averaging 3 mpg), circling their mother ships like worker bees surrounding the hive. While amplifier-boosted music, revelry and bright lights all have their place, if you are camping amid the starry tranquility of the canyonlands near a raucous houseboat while pining to sing a song of wilderness freedom, you could be forgiven for feeling out

ECHOES: SOME OF THE FORMER GLORY OF GLEN CANYON RISES UP AS THE WATER LEVEL FALLS.

of place. Even worse, the lake water surrounding marinas and popular tie-downs is often fecal contaminated.

It's no surprise that these wake-strewn waters have become paddlers' lost paradise. As a more apt profile of the typical boater here, Deseret News obituaries often feature the epitaph: "He loved His Lake.” And given the elevated prices at the marina gas pumps for expensive, fuel-consumptive, boats, this reservoir is not a place that the average American citizen can afford to visit.

T

he lake’s namesake, Major John Wesley Powell, famously mapped the last unknown corner of the West by rowing several hundred feet beneath our hulls when he explored the Colorado River in 1869.

Amid this otherworldly Glen Canyon, he described the “ensemble of wonderful features—carved walls, royal arches, glens, alcove gulches, mounds and monuments."

Amid the startling, 500-foot long, 200-foot high chamber he named the Music Temple, his brother Walter belted out a song famous to all 19th Century Americans. His slow, deep baritone entranced the party: For the white folks say Old Shady's free, Walter sang: So don't you see that the Jubilee is coming, coming. Hail, mighty day!

Each second of Walter’s voice resonated for another 11 seconds in the incredible chamber. The Major, who lost his right arm to a bullet at Shiloh, was moved to tears.

He had hoped to heal his deranged brother Walter, also traumatized by the Civil War, by inviting him on this historic journey.

It proved no accident that the visionary older brother would be appointed Director of the U.S. Geological Survey.

Repeatedly funded by Congress to study the arid west and its irrigation potential, the Major advocated small dams (with 500 times less storage than today’s evaporative Lake Powell), to be built by local citizenry rather than the federal government. John Wesley Powell tried to staunch southwestern expansion in favor of sustainable growth based upon limited water, but as a reward, politicians backed by realtors and agricultural investors forced him out of public office.

The rest is history: Enormous dams stalled rivers and provided storage for agriculture throughout the west. On the Colorado River system alone, more than a hundred dams were built. Flooding Glen Canyon—a place then unknown by conservationists—saved a dam from being built upstream in Dinosaur National Monument. Completed in 1963, the Glen Canyon Dam stood 710-feet high (more than eight times higher and vastly more expensive than anything Powell had ever recommended) and took 17 years to cover Glen Canyon with 500 feet of water, creating 1,900 miles of shoreline.

The architect of this lake, Floyd Dominy, used his political clout as the Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner to distort both the legend and counsel of John Wesley Powell. In his office, Dominy hung a prized photograph of himself motor boating across the lake he called “the Jewel of the muddy Colorado River.” In these activities, he described finding “Peace. And a oneness with the world and God.” He nearly succeeded in building two more dams in the Grand Canyon, because he believed that the big hole, like Glen Canyon, was better off as a reservoir since recreational lake tourism outstripped the usefulness of mere National Parks.

T

oday, in times of drought heightened by impending climate change, the wisdom of these enormous storage reservoirs is being questioned. Although 36 million people are sustained by the Colorado River, 79 percent of the

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water actually goes to agriculture, most of which supplies the dairy industry. Fortunately, Dominy’s Bureau has become a quiescent “water boy,” delivering the precious fluid and electricity from its dams—rather than building more dams. A recent Commissioner of the Bureau, Dr. Dan Beard (author of Deadbeat Dams), recently began calling to disband the agency and take down Glen Canyon Dam. Here’s why: Dams sterilize rivers by blocking nutrientrich silt to native plants and animals downstream. Then the rivers are refrigerated by delivering clear, deep and cold reservoir water to the same plants and animals that have spent millions of years adapting to warm, silty rivers.

Dams flip off the light switch of evolution.

Then there’s climate change. The Bureau’s analysis of over 100 climate models for 2070–90 show up to 45 percent less stream runoff throughout the Colorado River Basin. In its backward, politically motivated actions, the Bureau of Reclamation created these massive reservoirs during the wettest period of the fossil record. According to tree ring timelines (a science ignored by Dominy and his ilk), the previous millennium experienced droughts much more severe than the first 14 years of the twenty-first century. So scientists agree that the southwest is due for another Mega Drought.

This past winter while New Englanders dug out of snowstorms, many Westerners spent an inordinate part of January through March riding road bikes in shirtsleeves. Lack of precipitation and high temperatures is no temporary fluke. Here in the southwest, 11 of the past 14 years have experienced "severe" to "extreme" to "exceptional" droughts and warmer weather.

So what does changing climate have to do with Lake Powell paddlers? To begin with, Major John Wesley Powell would have gone rolling to his grave if he knew that this Glen Canyon desecration would be named after him. But sometime in the next few decades—as drought continues to raise the bathtub rings on reservoirs throughout the southwest—this dam will come down because there won’t be enough water left to spin its hydro turbines, let alone irrigate Big Ag. We can only hope that the dam will be decommissioned (like Commissioner Dominy, fired for his

LAKE FOUL: DEEDDA MCLEAN NAVIGATES THE MUCK ON THE TRASH-LADEN SAN JUAN ARM OF LAKE POWELL.

"In its backward, politically motivated actions, the Bureau of Reclamation created these massive reservoirs during the wettest period of the fossil record.”

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excesses by the Nixon administration) sooner, rather than later, through lucid ecological policy rather than forced pragmatics.

O

n this coming dam-free jubilee, paddlers and patriots alike will have a chance to revisit the Music Temple. Although bleached pale by mineralrich river water, the lofty chamber will retain the acoustics popularized by Powell. The Major, like all river runners and soldiers who fought to end slavery, would support both the modern movement to free rivers and complete the civil rights business started by the Civil War. It’s well known that the “Old Shady” ballad belted out by his brother in the Music Temple 146 years ago paid tribute to freeing the slaves, along with heralding better times for all Americans. Freeing this river and protecting one of our greatest natural treasures would truly honor the legacy of the war hero, explorer and public servant, John Wesley Powell.

As no small consolation, when the dam comes down (and not if), the speedboats will race no more, most of the invasive weeds will wither, the litter will be removed and hundreds of drowned Anasazi ruins will reemerge like long-lost Atlantis. Granted, it’ll take a decade of rain to rinse the bleached bathtub rings away and bring back the red hued walls above the river.

But mark my words, the song of “canoeists” will reverberate once again in the Music Temple: So don't you see that the Jubilee is coming, coming. Hail, mighty day!

—Jonathan Waterman is the author of 12 books including The Colorado River: Flowing through Conflict and Running Dry: A Journey From Source to Sea Down the Colorado River.

DOMINY’S LEGACY: THE 710-FOOT-HIGH GLEN CANYON DAM PLUGS UP THE COLORADO.

June 14 - South Park Trail Marathon & Half Fairplay, CO humanpotentialrunning.com June 20 - Bailey Hundo 100-mile and 50-mile Endurance Mountain Bike Race Bailey, CO | bailey100.com June 27 - Bailey Day Street Festival June 27th - Grand Opening and Tournament at the Two-mile High Disc Golf Course | Fairplay, CO

photo by Jonathan Waterman

SOUTH PARK, COLORADO

SUMMER EVENTS

SOUTHPARKHERITAGE.ORG | 719.836.4273

July 4 - Parade, BBQ, Fireworks, and free concert featuring Richie Law and Fireworks Fairplay, CO | 719.836.2622 July 11 - The Sheep Mountain 50-Mile Endurance Run Fairplay, CO humanpotentialrunning.com July 18-19 - Festival in the Clouds | Alma, CO | almafoundation.com July 18 - Race in the Clouds - Mountain Nike Race at above 10,000 feet plus free kids fun race | Alma Area, CO | almafoundation.com July 25 - Children’s Pack Dog Race | Alma, CO | almafoundation.com July 25-26 - The 67th Burro Days – Burro, Llama and outhouse races, parade, rides, art, food. World Championship Pack Burro Race | Fairplay | burrodays.com August 8-9 - Silverheels 100 Mile Endurance Run. Race starts and finishes in Fairplay, CO | humanpotentialrunning.com August 15 - Fairplay to Alma Ed Snell Memorial 10K Run/Walk Race almafoundation.com August 20 - U.S.A. Pro Challenge Cycling Race. Route US 285 into Western Park County Fairplay Area to CO 9 over Hoosier Pass Alma Area, CO

M AY 2 015 / E L E VAT I O N O U T D O O R S . C O M

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TEAR THE ROOF OFF THE TOP 10 COLORADO STADIUM ROCK ANTHEMS OF ALL TIME

by PETER KRAY

sing a single line). “Country Roads” is still one of the city of Denver’s stone-cold last set killers though, because it lets you reminisce about any dirt road anywhere—even Toots and the Maytals turned it into an anthem about Jamaica, so free your mind…

IT’S FESTIVAL SEASON AGAIN! YEP, TIME TO GET YOUR GROOVE, YOUR JAM AND YOUR TAN ON. And as much as the summer concert series is about discovering new bands and getting down to new sounds—especially those chart-topping superstars of the future who you can someday say you first saw way back when—I want to dedicate this column to my own special list of hands-in-the-air, Bic-burning, mountain-high sing-alongs.

What I am talking about here are the best Red Rocks/Pepsi Center/Sports Authority Field stadium rock anthems of all time: the songs that fuel every Elwayville summer, happy hour and personal Hallof-Fame makeout session.

My inspiration? A recent ski trip to Sweden where the locals go “ALL IN,” on the afterski scene (Scandinavians won’t say, “après.” It’s some antiFrench thing). Rather than wait for the discos to open, they start rocking as soon as the lifts stop, dropping in to the nearest pub to start dancing hard in their ski boots to some of the world’s greatest cover bands. In honor of them, and in honor of all the schmaltz rock masterpieces the Swedes—and you—like to shake a tailfeather to, here are my 10 top Colorado stadium rock songs of all time.

"HAMMER DOWN" Magnolia Electric Co. With his haunting melodies and straightforward, heartfelt delivery, the late great Jason Molina is quickly starting to feel like the Gram Parsons of his generation, influencing artists as diverse as Strand of Oaks and The Avett Brothers. The Avett’s—who will be at Red Rocks July 10, 11 and 12 (with John Prine!)—have been known to deliver a particularly emotional rendering of Molina’s “Hammer Down,” a kind of celestial truck driving hymn that includes the reverential verse, “The stars are just the neon lights shining through the dance floor of heaven on a Saturday night.” And then there's the late night chorus: “Hammer down, heaven bound.”

"BITTERSWEET" Big Head Todd & The Monsters Yeah, this song (and band) is mostly a Colorado thing. But the guitar intro sounds like summer itself, the timing of the bass and drums is perfect, and the whole thing pulls you into the start of a Friday night better than anything you could smoke or drink. If you’re lucky, and you catch Big Head and The Monsters at Red Rocks on June 6 (with Lucinda Williams!) or NewWest on August 15 this summer, you’ll be stoked to be dancing to this song.

"YOU SHOOK ME ALL NIGHT LONG" AC/DC You’re guaranteed to hear this high-decibel-gothe-distance anthem piped over the sound system at nearly every baseball game you attend this summer, so you might as well hear it played live by some cover band. My favorite cover version is

by Helles Belles, the all-female Aca-Deca tourde-force I last saw blowing up Salida’s FIBArk Whitewater Festival, itself an annual gift to the joys of summertime.

"COUNTRY ROADS" John Denver John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” is Colorado’s “second” state song. You earn bona fide orange-andblue points if you name the “first” (OK, it’s “Where the Columbines Grow,” but I’m pretty sure you can’t

"KNOCKIN’ ON HEAVEN’S DOOR" Bob Dylan Being that this is a Bob Dylan song, just about the worst band in the world can butcher it from start to finish and still make it one of live music’s finest all-time sing-a-longs. Get it in the hands of a talented

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"SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO" The Clash The Clash is my all-time favorite band. The fact that I got to see them at Red Rocks—twice!—is an opportunity I will always cherish. But as catchy-ashell as this song is, it’s included on this list mainly because I once saw Tom Petty (who with “Free Falling,” “American Girl,” “Here Comes My Girl,” etc., could compile his own list of top stadium anthems), pull this out for an encore: “So come on and let me know!...”

band, however, and play it right about the same time as a multi-colored mountain sunset hits its own high note, and you’ll feel like you’re swing-shuffling right into Elysium when the guitar solo kicks in.

"GO YOUR OWN WAY" Fleetwood Mac The slow guitar buildup, the rapidly intensifying drums, the immediate hook chorus that you can’t help but bellow out in rhythm with your dancing— this is pop magic, man. Of course it’s only fitting that Fleetwood Mac, up there among Stadium Pop royalty with the likes of ABBA, U2 and Bon Jovi, who have so many coliseum crushing hits in their playlist, (and who just played Denver this past April) included this on "Rumors," one of the top pop masterpieces of all time.

"DON’T STOP BELIEVING" Journey Don’t hate. Yes, the sound is pure Jersey (by way of San Francisco). But it still always rocks. And it’s better than listening to a bunch of Englewood or Broomfield bros get down to “Born to Run.” Bottom line: Everybody looks good dancing to this song.

"TAKE IT TO THE LIMIT" The Eagles I recently heard a Jersey-to-Boulder transplant complaining about The Eagles on Facebook. I had to remind him The Eagles are why he—or his parents—and all his East Coast brethren moved West in the first place: To feel this sound. It’s just music, man. And one of every Colorado dreamer’s most favorite songs. <East Coast Ed’s Note: I still agree with El Duderino. “Man, I hate the f-ing Eagles.”> "BURN ONE DOWN" Ben Harper Yes, if you are outdoors at a concert in Colorado this summer then you probably just did—or are just about to—burn one down. Is it time to add a third single to the official list of state songs? No matter, Mr. Harper will be at Red Rocks on September 15.

Be sure to designate a driver. And I am looking forward to seeing you at the shows!

Elevation Outdoors editor-at-large Peter Kray is the author of The God of Skiing. The book has been called “the greatest ski novel ever written.” Buy it here: bit.ly/godofskiing llustration by Kevin Howdeshell/kevincredible.com

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