tyler grimes

Watershed BV: A Small-Town Hub

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In 1937, the U.S. Forest Service built a ranger station on Main Street in downtown Buena Vista. It remains the only historical downtown ranger station in Colorado. It served its purpose for the Forest Service until the 1970s when it became a Chaffee County health clinic. For the past 20 years the building has sat empty and unused despite the location next to the old State Highway building (currently the Trailhead) and near the intersection of Main Street and Colorado Avenue.

“It was like ‘70s wood paneling, pink carpet,” said Rick Bieterman, as we sat in what used to be the garage of the old ranger station. “And so we came in and ripped all that stuff out and found this brick under all that paneling. And these floors are the original plywood floors that we just sanded down, took the carpet off and just went with it.”

“Our vision is to pop that back wall out – it’s really just a plywood wall – and put a garage door back in to open it up to all we’ve got going on outside, too.” Bieterman has been remodeling the property since he and his wife, Katy Welter, bought the building through a government auction in January of last year. They plan to make the necessary functional renovations while keeping the character of what it was in the ‘30s and ‘40s. They hope to register the building as a local historic landmark. Bieterman and Welter have turned the space into a hub for community events and business incubation, which they call Watershed BV. 

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Happy Trails: The New Colorado Trail Basecamp

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By Tyler Grimes

“Mile for mile the beautiful trail in America,” boasts the Colorado Trail Foundation (CTF) of the 468-mile trail between Waterton Canyon southwest of Denver to Durango. Thousands hike the free-to-the-public trail, some day users, others straight through. “In 2015, there were 230 known CT completers, a hodgepodge of multi-year section doers and thru-travelers: hike, bike and horse,” said Bill Manning, CTF Executive Director. The CT spans five national forests through 11 ranger districts and six wilderness areas, climbing from a mile high to over 13,000 feet. “Trips range from less than an hour to more than a month,” said Manning. “Possibly the most engaged users are the thru-hikers striving to see all 486 miles in a single trip.”

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Modern-Day Trailblazers, Salida Mountain Trails

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by Tyler Grimes This year, an estimated 10,000 recreationalists will utilize the Arkansas Hills and Methodist Mountain trail systems near Salida. Singletracks.com selected Salida’s trails as the number five spot on its “Top 10 Mountain Bike Destinations in North America.” The January edition of Elevation Outdoors featured Salida for its year-round mountain biking possibilities. Given …

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Wild Connections: Mapping Potential Wilderness Areas

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By Tyler Grimes

Up the East Gulch from its confluence with the Arkansas River, a few miles east of Texas Creek in Fremont County, is Echo Canyon. Further up the gulch, Table Mountain looms to the southwest, past Bull Ridge.

Surrounding this mountain, gulch and canyon are 32,000 acres of roadless Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. The area is classified under the BLM’s Area of Critical Environment Concern (ACEC) because of its valued species: a BLM Instant Study Area protecting 17 native grasses: and its importance as a wildlife corridor for mountain lion, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, black bear, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, Gunnison prairie dog, wild turkey, peregrine falcon, Mexican spotted owl, great blue heron and bald eagle. Conservation Science Partners (CSP) recognizes 7,641 acres of Table Mountain as having “important ecologically based indicators of high biodiversity, resilience to climate change, and landscape connectivity.” The unit is deemed one of Central Colorado Wilderness Coalition’s (CCWC) top 11 areas worthy of wilderness designation. 

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Some Facts About Mountains, Water, Geology, Spirits and Early Law in Colorado

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Mountains by Jane Koerner • Colorado has 637 13ers (mountains over 13,000 feet but under 14,000). • Mounts Bierstadt, Grays and Torreys are the most popular 14ers for peak baggers. • There are seven total mountain ranges in Colorado: the San Juans, the Elk Range, the Sawatch (which include the Collegiates), the Sangre de Cristos, …

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The Headwaters Conference – Celebrating 25 Years

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The 25th Headwaters Conference, The Working Wild, began Friday, Sept. 20 at Western State Colorado University in Gunnison. The auditorium was full in anticipation of the keynote speaker, Gary Snyder. One spectator mused, “It’s the gathering of the eagles,” with community leaders from all over the Headwaters region in attendance. After a poem by Art Goodtimes and a song by Alan Wartes, Conference Director John Hausdoerffer introduced Snyder. He revealed that Snyder, a beat generation poet, inspired Jack Kerouac’s famous character from the Dharma Bums, Japhy Ryder. 

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Weathervane & Cho Ku Rei – Working the Land

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by Tyler Grimes Shifting to a locally grown, plant-based diet is the healthiest choice one can make. Right now in the U.S., 34 percent of adults are obese, as are growing number of children, including 20 percent of 6 to 11-year-olds. Three out of four of the leading causes of death are weight/diet-related illnesses: heart …

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Profile: Del Norte, Colorado

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By Tyler Grimes

Del Norte, Colorado, sits in the southwest corner of the San Luis Valley along the Rio Grande River, just east of the Rio Grande National Forest and San Juan mountains, south of Penitente Canyon and between Monte Vista and South Fork on Hwy. 160. Like many small mountain towns in Colorado, Del Norte has a rich Native American history, a mining boom the town was built on, an extensive ranching past and present, a population and economic downturn in the mid-1900s, and is now slowly growing, thanks to tourism. But it’s Del Norte’s unique individuals, families and businesses that give it a charm of its own. 

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Climate Change in Central Colorado

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By Tyler Grimes

With any article on climate change, it’s tempting to try to grab the reader’s attention with horrifying statistics or stories of natural disasters or the severity of drought, but this is an issue where facts speak loudest:

• The global temperature has increased by 1.4 degrees Celsius over the last century. (EPA)

• 2000 to 2010 was the warmest decade on record. (EPA)

• August was the 342nd consecutive month with above average global temperatures. (climate.gov)

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An Interview with Area Native Billie Love

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Conducted by Tyler Grimes

Billie Love’s grandfather fought with, and fell behind, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s regiment and lived to tell the tale. Her father was a brick mason who worked on notable Chaffee County buildings such as the Buena Vista Correctional Facility, the Smeltertown smokestack, and Salida Middle School. When Franklin D. Roosevelt came through Salida by train, she – and most of the town – saw her father, dressed in his work attire, meet the President. For Love, it’s easier than most to see the Arkansas Valley through the lens of history.

Love works at the Chamber of Commerce in Buena Vista, where she met me to share some of her stories.

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Fine Wines of Central Colorado

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Vino Salida

By Ann Marie Swan

Heaven is a place where Salida winemaker Steve Flynn can follow his calling as an artist. He’s created Vino Salida Wine Cellars with a spiritual vibe where he can get into a focused zone, taking chances while concocting unique, tasty products. “The winery is my art studio,” Flynn said. “I get cranky when I don’t make wine.”

Flynn’s patron saints, high on the walls, watch over him as he works. San Vicente, the patron saint of winegrowers, is in the house, along with Saint Bernard, the saint for skiers and, hopefully, apres ski activities, which could include wine. Because wine is paired with food, Saint Lawrence, the saint for chefs, stands guard. Perched above are statues of Buddha and Jesus, who did, after all, turn water into wine.

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TAPS – Beer Brewing throughout the Region

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Colorado has a long history of commercial beer breweries. The Coors Brewing Company, first established in 1873 by German immigrants Adolph Coors and Jacob Schueler in Golden, is still in operation and is the largest single beer-brewing facility in the world. Other large Colorado breweries, such as the Walter’s Brewing Company and the P.H. Zang Brewing Company, have long since disappeared, leaving only historic mementos to indicate their existence. Back in the boom days of mining and railroads, it wasn’t unusual for even the smallest town to have at least one commercial brewery. At one time, Leadville boasted at least eleven breweries. Villa Grove, Bonanza, Silver Cliff, Westcliffe, Rosita, even Granite, all had small breweries back in the day, but the mining busts, plus the onset of statewide prohibition in 1915, spelled doom for these small brewing operations.

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An Overview of Distilling

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 By Tyler Grimes

For those who don’t know the distilling process, most of the local distilleries would likely be willing to give a basics 101 course. Here’s a brief overview of distilling and some of the differences between spirits, starting with single malt whiskey:

1. Malt barley is placed into a mash tun, and basically made into beer. Lenny Eckstein says whiskey starts as a “bulked-up porter.” The enzymes in the grain break down, the starch is converted to sugar, and the runoff is collected. Only a portion of the beer – “about 60 percent,” says Boathouse’s Jerry Mallett – goes on to become whiskey; what’s left over is beer and soaked barley. Many distillers keep the beer they make, but legally cannot sell it.

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SLED DOG RACING Minus the Snow … and Sleds

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By Tyler Grimes
The weekend forecast called for cold temperatures and a chance of snow – ideal conditions for sled dog racing, one would think. But for the participants of Colorado Mountain Musher’s Dryland Mush, snow could mean race cancellation.

But the snow held off and the 7th annual Dryland Mush was held at Adventure Unlimited (AU) outside Buena Vista on Nov. 10-11. All four events were held despite the cold.

The races are: Canicross; – contestants run with their leashed dogs; 1-2 dog Scooter-jor; – dog(s) pulls contestants on scooters; Bike-jor; – bikes are outfitted to connect to the pulling dogs; and the Small Team Cart; – a max of four dogs pulling contestants by cart. Each race took place on both days and the combined times determined the winners.

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Mission: Wolf – A Refuge in the Wet Mountains

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By Tyler Grimes
Kent Weber enters a gate into the fenced-in home of three wolves. He makes his way down into the aspen grove where the wolves are dispersed, playfully calling them. They perk up from their food-induced stupor brought on by the 15 pounds of meat they gorged on the previous day. The wolves are drawn to Weber’s gentle authority and come to greet him. They jump up on their hind legs, place their front paws on Weber’s chest and sniff his teeth, the signature wolf greeting. He pets them like a dog, which they accept momentarily before running off.

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Leadville Cherokee: mountain music

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By Tyler Grimes

“A funky jam band” is how the Leadville Cherokee were described at a recent show at the State Highway Theater in Buena Vista. The band of five from – of course – Leadville, can certainly be described as funky and jamming, with a dose of bluegrass, reggae and rock. They describe themselves as a “Country-Fry Jam Rock Reggae Bluegrass Band.” Whatever the genre, they know how to make people stand up and move.

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