Pike, Powell, and You Exploring Colorado at the AALL Annual Meeting
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AALLSpectrum_May:1 4/17/10 4:09 PM Page 30 Pike, Powell, and You Exploring Colorado at the AALL Annual Meeting By Chris Hudson 30 AALL Spectrum ■ May 2010 AALLSpectrum_May:1 4/20/10 3:44 PM Page 31 olorado has entertained its share in the southwestern corner of the state. canyon, remember to watch out for of explorers. Once considered Established by President Theodore poison ivy—according to the National a part of the Great American Roosevelt in 1906 to “preserve the works Park Service, it can grow up to five feet C of man,” the 52,000-acre park is home high along the canyon walls. Other park Desert, Colorado’s natural resources, geological riches, and stunning natural to over 4,000 archeological sites. activities include rafting, kayaking, Ancestral Puebloans, also known as fishing, and three wonderful scenic beauty have attracted explorers, Anasazi, inhabited the area from 600 drives (South Rim Road, North Rim profiteers, and admirers for centuries. to 1300 A.D. Cliff Palace, the largest Road, and East Portal Road). Paleo-Indians inhabited the Mesa Verde dwelling at MVNP, has 150 rooms and Location: National Park Service, 102 region for thousands of years, and 75 additional open areas. Attractions Elk Creek, Gunnison, Colorado 81230. Coronado skirted the territory in his at the park include guided and self- For more information, call 970/641- search for the Seven Cites of Cibola. guided walking tours, hiking trails, 2337 or visit www.nps.gov/blca. Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike the Mesa Top Loop Road, the Far Great Sand Dunes National Park— explored the area in 1806, only three View Visitors Center, and the Chapin Sea, surf, and sand? You bet! Although years after it had been acquired in the Mesa Archeological Museum. Nearby not quite the North Shore, you can still Louisiana Purchase. Major John Wesley attractions include Hovenweep National build a sandcastle, swim in Mendano Monument, the Canyons of the Ancients Creek, and even sandboard, sled, or ski Powell (who would later navigate the National Monument, and the Anasazi North America’s tallest sand dunes at Colorado River, name the Grand Heritage Museum. the Great Sand Dunes National Park Canyon, and effectively complete the Location: Mesa Verde National Park, and Preserve (GSDNP). Located west era of western exploration) was the first P.O. Box 8, Mesa Verde, Colorado of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range, American to ascend Longs Peak in 1868. 81330. For more information, call GSDNP is a wonderful family And now, you too can explore Colorado. 970/529-4465 or visit www.nps.gov/ destination. Activities at the park include meve. hiking, camping, backpacking, horseback Getting Outside riding, and ranger-led programs. Colorado is known for the richness and Formerly a national monument, beauty of its natural environment. Plains, Congress declared the area a national mountains, rivers, mesas, and canyons park in 2004. blend together to make up Colorado’s Location: Visitor Center, 11999 unique landscape. Split by the Highway 150, Mosca, Colorado 81146. Continental Divide, Colorado’s high For more information, call 719/383- country is referred to as either Eastern or 6399 or visit www.nps.gov/grsa. Western Slope. Heavily populated along Colorado State Parks—Located the Front Range (were the eastern plains throughout the state, Colorado’s 42 state meet the Rocky Mountains), most other parks attract over 11 million visitors regions offer low populations and the each year and offer an abundance of opportunity to get away from the rush recreational opportunities. Popular parks of the city. Both the seasoned adventurer near the Denver metro area include and the casual traveler will find much Eldorado Canyon (10 miles south of to explore within driving distance of Boulder), Chatfield State Park (11 miles Denver. For those with more time, south of downtown Denver), Golden there is no difficulty “getting lost” in Gate Canyon (30 miles west of Denver), Colorado’s great outdoors. and Castlewood Canyon State Park (35 miles southwest of Denver). Parks and Peaks For more information, call 303/866- Rocky Mountain National Park— 3437 or visit http://parks.state.co.us. Located just 70 miles northwest of “Fourteeners”—Depending on how Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park you count, there are 53 or 54 Colorado (RMNP) boasts 60 peaks over 12,000 mountains that rise above 14,000 feet. feet, with the tallest, Longs Peak, rising The Denver Center for the Performing Since the 1920s many climbers have to 14,259 feet. RMNP is stunning in Arts is the pride of the Denver arts scene. attempted to systematically “bag” all of the peaks. You probably won’t have time its beauty, convenient in location, and photo credit: Colorado Tourism Office. highly accessible. The park includes to summit them all, but you could 355 miles of trails, five drive-in definitely include a visit to one or two. campgrounds, two scenic drives, “Fourteeners” in the Front Range include horseback riding, fishing, ranger-led Black Canyon of the Gunnison Grays Peak (14,270 feet), Torreys Peak activities, visitor centers, and back National Park—Black Canyon of (14,267 feet), Mt. Evans (14,264 feet), country camping. the Gunnison National Park (BCGNP) Longs Peak (14,255 feet), Pikes Peak Location: Rocky Mountain National is located near Montrose in the (14,110 feet), and Mt. Bierstadt (14,060 Park, 1000 Highway 36, Estes Park, southwestern part of the state. Narrow feet). For the adventurous, any of these Colorado 80517. For more information, and deep, the 2,000-foot canyon walls hikes can be done in a day trip from call 970/586-1206 or visit www.nps.gov/ drop almost vertically to the Gunnison Denver. For the rest of us, both Pikes ROMO. River below. Climbing in the canyon is Peak (six miles west of Colorado Springs) Mesa Verde National Park—Mesa for experts only, but hiking, camping, and Mt. Evans (60 miles west of Denver) Verde National Park (MVNP) is located horseback riding, wildlife watching, and have roads to the top. Pikes Peak also ranger-guided activities are available for features an 8.9-mile cog railway to the all. If you make it to the bottom of the summit. A father and son canoe on Lost Lake. photo credit: Colorado Tourism Office/ © 2010 Chris Hudson Matt Inden/Weaver Multimedia Group AALL Spectrum ■ May 2010 31 AALLSpectrum_May:1 4/17/10 4:10 PM Page 32 Please plan ahead and use common Ancestral Puebloans or Anasazi lived Location: Hovenweep National sense when visiting the high country as in the area for thousands of years and Monument, McElmo Route, Cortez, altitude sickness and rapidly changing archeological evidence of their culture Colorado 81321. For more information, weather may be a concern. Information and traditions is abundant. According call 970/562-4282 or visit www.nps.gov/ on altitude and weather is available at to the Bureau of Land Management, hove. www.colorado.com, the state’s official CANM has the highest density of Colorado National Monument— travel and tourism website. For more archeological sites in the country, with The Colorado National Monument information about Colorado’s over 40 sites per square mile in some (CNM) will celebrate its 100th birthday fourteeners, visit: Colorado Mountain areas. Visitors are allowed to hike on May 24, 2011. Created by President Club, www.cmc.org; Colorado anywhere in the monument. However, Taft, the CNM rises up above the Grand Fourteeners Initiative, www.14ers.org; all visitors are asked to check in at the Valley. A truly amazing landscape, CNM and 14ers.com, www.14ers.com. Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores is conveniently located just off I-70 near before entering CANM lands. Grand Junction. Encompassing 32 National Monuments Location: Canyons of the Ancients square miles, CNM attractions include National Monument, 27501 Highway hiking, biking, camping, ranger-led Canyons of the Ancients and 184, Dolores, Colorado 81323. For programs, and the scenic Rim Rock Hovenweep National Monuments— more information, call 970/882-5600 Drive. Canyons of the Ancients National or visit the BLM’s website at www. Location: Colorado National Monument (CANM) and Hovenweep blm.gov/co/st/en/nm/canm.html. Monument, Fruita, Colorado 81521. For National Monument are located in the Hovenweep National Monument more information, call 970/858-3617 Four Corners region of the state. The straddles the Colorado/Utah border just ext. 360 or visit www.nps.gov/colm. subject of longstanding conservation west of Cortez. The monument covers Dinosaur National Monument— discussion, the CANM was created by 750 acres and protects six pre-historic Dinosaur National Monument is as presidential proclamation on June 9, Puebloan-era villages. Managed by the well-known for its white water as is it is 2000. National Park Service, Hovenweep for its fossils. Professor Earl Douglass of includes hiking trails, camping, and the Carnegie Museum first discovered ranger-guided activities. fossils here in 1909. Unfortunately, the Quarry Visitors Center, famous for its showcase of a massive rock wall where more than 1,400 dinosaur bones are embedded, closed for repairs in July 2006 due to structural instability. For now a virtual tour of the cliff face is available on the Adventure seekers whitewater raft the Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon. photo credit: Colorado Tourism Office. 32 AALL Spectrum ■ May 2010 AALLSpectrum_May:1 4/20/10 2:53 PM Page 33 monument’s website, and visitors can see Museum, 987½ Lookout Mountain fossils at the temporary visitors center. Road, Golden, Colorado 80401. For Other attractions include guided tours, more information, call 303/526-0744 petroglyphs and pictographs, hiking, or visit www.buffalobill.org. backcountry camping, and river rafting. Central City Opera—A National Both the Yampa and Green rivers run Historic Landmark, the Central City through the canyons of Dinosaur Opera was built in 1878.