By John Cameron When your legs burn, but you are not there yet, you have to keep pedaling. The thought comes at the end of yet another day of biking with Salida in the distance settled down in the valley bottom. A new style of bicycling is emerging and the Arkansas Valley is at the …
By Hal Walter “I wanted you to see what real courage is … It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” – Harper Lee Coaching an athlete on the autism spectrum to run cross-country is …
By Hal Walter
The early morning phone call caught me by surprise. It was a longtime and well-respected friend and neighbor. As I was rushing about trying to get my son Harrison to the school bus, he quickly explained he was calling on behalf of some local citizens hoping to draft me to run for county commissioner. They felt I had a good chance of winning.
By Hal Walter
Last year when my son Harrison was suspended from school for taking swings at teachers, he asked if I’d ever been suspended. I answered truthfully that I had been, once, then I told him why.
I was serving out the senior year of what I viewed then as my school sentence at Moffat County High in Craig, Colorado. I also worked at the local community newspaper, the Northwest Colorado Daily Press. As part of my duties there I wrote a school news column called “MoCo Highlights.”
As I recall, someone in the school faculty had suggested I write about the new audio-visual equipment in the library. However, when I interviewed the librarians I found an even better story – they had some great new equipment but had received no training on how to use it; thus, it was collecting dust.
by Hal Walter Last spring, when coach Jack Swartz asked my son Harrison if he’d like to be on the middle school cross-country team this season, I really had no idea where it would lead. Harrison answered “yes” by nodding his head enthusiastically. He’d had finished a few 5K runs and also had proven himself …
By Ericka Kastner
Beloved by locals as one of the quickest routes to getting in a skinny ski fix, Fooses Creek Trail affords not only quick access from Salida (about a 15-minute drive by car or hitch by thumb) but also varied terrain and numerous route options, making it a trail with something for everyone in all seasons.
The trailhead approach begins about 9.5 miles west of the intersection of U.S. Hwys. 50 and 285 in Poncha Springs. Traveling west on 50, take a left turn onto C.R. 225 and drive a snowy, usually plowed road about .7 miles to the parking for Fooses.
Youngsters along for the adventure will appreciate seeing Fooses Lake at the start of the trail (elevation 8,920 feet) and likely will be curious as to whether it’s frozen enough to skate on during the colder months. It’s actually a small reservoir and the water flowing out of it to the east to a hydroelectric plant at lower elevations tends to keep the lake soft just beneath the surface all winter.
By Nate Porter
As the seasons change and the winter solstice approaches, it’s time to turn our attention from warmer weather activities to other things. Of course, in Central Colorado we are lucky enough to enjoy a climate that allows many different activities year-round. Hiking and biking here can be great in the winter, but how about mixing it up a little with some cross-country skiing? Why cross country, also known as Nordic, skiing? Well, there are many reasons to get out and experience the environment on skinny skis.
Foremost are the physical and mental health benefits. Nordic skiing is great for the whole body. The legs and lungs get a great workout as does the upper body. Humans were designed to move over the earth in an upright, bipedal manner. Walking allows us to feel grounded and connected to the earth in the most basic way. Nordic skiing is simply the winter version of this. It’s good for working different muscles, easy on the back, and encourages breathing in a deep, rhythmic manner.