Alma Festival in the Clouds 2010

Today was the first of two days for the 2010 Alma Festival in the Clouds. Lots of vendors, including food vendors, and many musicians on hand to entertain the crowd. It's always a fun weekend event!

More information at Festival in the Clouds.

Guffey, Colorado

Recently I drove south through Hartsel (which I’ll cover in another post) to the small town of Guffey. Although I had been near the town before, on Colorado Hwy 9, I had never actually turned to visit the town.
Guffey is located in the basin, or caldera, left by a volcano which “blew its top” millennia ago. It is a beautiful area, surrounded by forest and ranches.



The town is located on Freshwater Creek, and in fact was once called Freshwater, a name retained by the Freshwater Saloon, one of three eating places. The others are Rita’s Place (a coffee shop and gallery) and the Bull Moose (formerly Peaceful Henry’s and just recently renovated and reopened). Only Rita’s was open the day I happened to be visiting, and it was a pleasant and attractive place with good coffee and pastries, and with sandwiches also on the menu.

Rita's Place:


Freshwater Saloon:


Coming home I decided to drive east a while before heading north on county road 59, which took me past 11 Mile and Spinney Reservoirs and a number of ranches with interesting names. Although most are cattle ranches, one, Jabberwocky, has goats, and a couple of others have herds of llamas. In addition there are ranchers in the area who raise bison (American buffalo).

Llamas!



Headed back west to pick up Hwy 9, I came to the Chapparal Park General Store, which has the largest selection of fishing gear and lures in the area – not surprising considering that people come from all over the world to fish the two reservoirs and the river between them. They also have campsites and lodging, and sell sandwiches and other packaged foods.

Chaparral Park General Store:


Almost back to Hartsel, I discovered the Hartsel Springs Lodge – a new enterprise with a large lodge and a number of cabins.





One of these days I'll go back and check out the Bull Moose, now that it is open!

Dining in Alma - 2 miles high!

Alma, Colorado is “the highest incorporated town in the United States” at 10,578 ft. Although small, it boasts several good places for a meal, all right on Colorado 9, which passes through the center of town.

For breakfast, lunch or a cup of great coffee, including espresso drinks, Alma’s Natural Food and Coffee House offers pastries, sandwiches and burritos, soups, ice cream, and more, including a daily menu of specials. Liquor and gift items are also available. 719-836-4847.


Buckskin Joe’s Pizza to Go is hard to miss, with its orange and purple building! A pizza and Italian restaurant, it is open Monday - Thursday from 4pm-8pm and Friday – Sunday from 2pm to 8pm. 719-836-2112.


The South Park Saloon is open from 11am – 9pm for food, and the bar stays open until 2am. There’s live music as well as a variety of burgers, Mexican dishes and more. 719-836-2762.


For dinner, Alma’s Only Bistro, also called “the AOB” has not only a menu with soups, salads, sandwiches, steaks, seafood, pasta and more but live music, including a singer-songwriter on Saturday nights and an open jam night on Sundays. Open Monday - Thursday 4pm-midnight, Friday and Saturday 4pm - 1:30am and Sundays 8am-midnight. 719-836-1609.

Eating in South Park - Part I: Fairplay

South Park has a number of places that serve good food. Today I'll just be covering Fairplay. Stay tuned for other towns!


Millonzi's, on Front Street, serves sandwiches and soups at lunch M-F. On Saturday and Sunday it's a brunch menu, although sandwiches are also available. The evening menu (7 days a week) includes steaks and great pasta dishes. They also have a full bar.


McCall's, next door to Millonzi's, is a bar that serves breakfast Monday and Tuesday, and burgers (it's especially known for these) and other sandwiches starting at 11 am each day.


The Java Moose is a coffee shop, with espresso drinks as well as straight coffee, which serves breakfast and lunch sandwiches (paninis are a specialty), soups and burritos as well as pastries. It's also a place to find some special barbecue and other sauces and gourmet items.


The Chocolate Moose may not be for meals (unless you want to dine on coffee and chocolate, of course), but has great chocolate and other treats in addition to decorative and gift items for the home and kitchen.

The South Park Bowl and O'Bregan's Pub, both on Highway 285 just west of town, have kitchens, but I've never eaten in either, so really can't say anything about them other than that. The only "fast food" outlets in town are Pizza Hut and Subway.

The Fairplay Hotel is currently being renovated, but when it is back up and running, it will also have a restaurant and bar. More on that later, when I cover lodging.

Animals and People

At one time, South Park was a favored summer hunting ground for Ute, Arapaho, and other tribes. The Middle Fork of the South Platte River, and the streams that fed it, allowed for lush growth of grasses. Herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope ranged freely and moose lived in the surrounding mountains. These grasslands that supported vast herds of wild animals were also ideal for cattle. When I saw South Park for the first time, from a lookout at Wilkerson Pass, my thought was: “Wow! The first cattleman who saw this must have thought he had died and gone to heaven!”

Although the land available to both wild and domesticated animals is shrinking, we still have wild elk, deer, antelope and moose, and there are ranchers raising beef and even buffalo. Bears occasionally wander onto decks (especially if there are bird feeders or other food sources out), coyotes, foxes and other, smaller animals roam freely. The river has been designated as a “Gold Medal” trout stream. Local hunters and fishermen are still able to supply some of their families’ protein needs each year.

But of course, nothing stays the same. Rather than mostly miners and homesteaders (although both still exist), South Park is now home to people who work in offices and stores as well as on ranches and in the forests. Some commute to surrounding areas, and some work from home, via computer. Many are retired, having moved to the mountains to enjoy a slower paced lifestyle. Others have come for access to skiing and snowboarding, and over time, many of those have grown older, working full-time in construction or other business areas rather than viewing their carpentry (or other) skills as just a means of supporting their time on the slopes.

Snow Blowing in from the West

As often happens here on the western side of South Park, we're getting snow blowing in from the Mosquito Range. Overhead, the sky is clear. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether the snow in the air is actually falling from the sky or just being picked up by the wind and redistributed, but to the west it is obviously falling on the mountains.

South Park is, of course, known for its winds. Sometimes at night we joke that we might wake up in Kansas rather than Colorado! And the winds are often the real cause of road problems - wind driven snow drifts onto roads and highways causing slippery conditions, especially when it melts and then refreezes.

Mud Season #1 2010

Having been away from home for just over a week, I was really glad to get back to the sunshine and the peace and quiet.

HOWEVER, the warmer temperatures lately have led to a thaw, which causes mud... The roads, usually dirt or packed snow, are currently made of mud. Since it's early March, we can expect snow on and off for the next two months, unless our weather turns as abnormal as it has been in so much of the south and east this winter. So, given somewhat normal conditions, we will have "mud season" again - and maybe a third or fourth time before summer.

I love Colorado. I love South Park. What I don't love is mud!

South Park from Kenosha Pass 16 Feb 2010

Tuesday I drove out of the Park to do some shopping, and stopped at the top of Kenosha Pass to take a picture of South Park, with the Collegiate Range of Chaffee County in the far distance. I'll get another one in the summer, for contrast.

Animals and People

At one time, South Park was a favored summer hunting ground for Ute, Arapaho, and other tribes. The Middle Fork of the South Platte River, and the streams that fed it, allowed for lush growth of grasses. Herds of buffalo, elk, deer, and antelope ranged freely and moose lived in the surrounding mountains. These grasslands that supported vast herds of wild animals were also ideal for cattle. When I saw South Park for the first time, from a lookout at Wilkerson Pass, my thought was: “Wow! The first cattlemen who saw this must have thought they had died and gone to heaven!”

Although the land available to both wild and domesticated animals is shrinking, we still have elk, deer, antelope and moose, and there are ranchers raising beef and even buffalo. Bears occasionally wander onto decks (especially if there are bird feeders or other food sources out), and coyotes, foxes and other, smaller animals roam freely. The river has been designated as a “Gold Medal” trout stream. Local hunters and fishermen are still able to supply some of their families’ meat each year.

But of course, nothing stays the same. Rather than miners and homesteaders (although both still exist), South Park is home to people who work in offices and stores as well as on ranches and in the forests. Some commute to surrounding areas, and some work from home, via computer. Many are retired, having moved to the mountains to enjoy a slower paced lifestyle. Others have come for access to skiing and snowboarding, and over time, many of those have grown older, becoming full-time construction workers, rather than viewing their carpentry (or other) skills as just a means of supporting their time on the slopes.

Historic Buildings in Fairplay

To those who live in areas with buildings from the 1700s and earlier, ones built in the 1870s don't seem all that historic. But to those of us here in the Colorado mountains, the schools, courthouses, homes and churches that date back that far are evidence of the enterprise of the first mining settlements in this part of the country.

The pictures here are of the old Park County Courthouse (now the library), the Edith Teter Elementary School (still in use for some classes), and the Presbyterian Church, all in Fairplay.

The Courthouse, with the small jail nearby, was built in 1874.



The Edith Teter School, built in 1880, has been added onto and has had the interior altered somewhat. It originally had two classrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs.



The South Park Community Church was founded in 1872 by famed Presbyterian missionary Sheldon Jackson, with 8 original members. Two years later, in 1874, he returned to supervise the building of the chapel, which is still in use by a Presbyterian congregation. It is believed, though no documentation is known, that it was built from a "kit", probably from Sears, which was shipped out to Fairplay by rail.



At a later date, I'll publish pictures of other historic buildings still in use in South Park. In addition, many historic buildings have been moved from various sites around the area to the South Park City Museum, which I'll profile some time this spring or summer.

Ice/Snow Sculptures in Breckenridge

One of the reasons people move to South Park is the proximity to the Summit County ski areas: Breckenridge, Keystone, Arapahoe Basin and Copper Mountain. So occasionally I'll post something about happenings "over the hill".

Yesterday I went to Breck to do some shopping and stopped to view the results of the 2010 Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championship - the 20th annual contest. The entries were all fascinating, and some were so intricate that it was hard to imagine how they were carved by the various teams from around the world!

Here are a few pictures of some of my favorites, and there are more, including the winners, at 2010 Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championship

The first one is called The Happy Herdsmen, and was carved by a team from China. The second is The Last Iceberg, by a team from Alaska.

"A Park for All Seasons"

Park County has adopted the slogan "A Park for All Seasons", and it fits! With snow for X-country skiing in the winter, mountains and hills to hike and climb in the summer, gold medal trout streams as well as lakes for fishing (including ice fishing), ranches for riding horses, wildlife to view, historical sites, and pleasantly cool summers, South Park is a great place year-round! There is, however, one season which can be a hassle: we call it "mud season" here in the mountains, though those elsewhere call it Spring.

As I add to this blog, I hope to cover many of the things to do and see, the businesses (including places to stay and restaurants), and people of South Park. For now, I'll be covering winter in the Park, and particularly the area around Fairplay and Alma, since those are the nearest and easiest to cover during the winter. As we move into summer, I'll be getting around to more out-of-the-way places.

If anyone has any questions you'd like to have answered, or suggestions for things to cover, please leave a comment, and I'll try my best to get to them.

"Over 300 days of sun per year"

Many Colorado websites, tourist brochures and real estate ads trumpet the claim that the area being touted gets "over 300 days of sunshine a year." And if you count partly sunny days, this is certainly true of much of the state, including South Park.

Some of our most beautiful days are in the winter, following a snowstorm, when the sun reflects off the new snow; those who want to spend time outdoors need to wear sunglasses. The sky will be a lovely blue, often with no clouds at all - jet trails are the only white in the sky.

During the summer, at least in the mountainous parts of the state, clouds generally do move in some time in the afternoon. In the high country there may be a thunderstorm, sometimes dropping sleet or even snow in addition to rain. But then the storm moves on, and the sun comes back out of hiding. It is something to be careful about, though, if you are hiking in the mountains - lightning strikes are nothing to laugh at!

Ground Blizzards and Whiteouts

South Park doesn't get as much snow as Summit County to the north, but we often get strong winds which can blow snow around and create what is called a "ground blizzard", causing whiteout conditions. Wind gusts up to 50 mph are not uncommon, although 20-30 mph gusts are more likely.

US Hwy 285, which connects Denver with Santa Fe, runs through South Park, and is often closed when these conditions exist. Blowing snow can not only make it difficult or impossible to see what is ahead; it can also cause drifting on the highway and very icy conditions. When this happens, semi-trailers, cars and other trucks can be blown over or slide into other vehicles.

Variable warning signs are changed to indicate the closure, and gates are lowered at Kenosha Pass (east) and Fairplay (west).

Geography of South Park

South Park is located southwest of Denver and northwest of Colorado Springs. It is about 1000 square miles of grasslands and hills surrounded by mountain ranges and accessed by four main mountain passes: Kenosha Pass on US 285 in the northeast, Wilkerson Pass on US 24 in the southeast, Hoosier Pass on Colorado 9 in the northwest and Trout Creek Pass on US 24/285 in the west. In addition there are passes which are mostly accessible only by 4-wheel drive vehicles, and which are generally closed in the winter: Mosquito and Weston in the west and Boreas Pass in the north.

The mountains surrounding South Park are the source for the waters of the Middle Fork of the South Platte River, which flows south through SP, then east through Twelve Mile Canyon, then north and east to Denver and finally north to Nebraska where it joins the North Platte to form the Platte River.

My South Park

South Park is a beautiful place, with lots of wonderful people, including a larger-than-average share of interesting characters. As I explore it for myself, I hope to share what I learn with the world!