Now THIS is Colorado!

This is the greeting you see when you enter Chaffee County, Colorado, our Rockies vacation destination for more than 30 years. And, judging by the view of the Collegiate Peaks you see here, I think it's quite apt. The photo was taken on highway 24, not far from Buena Vista (pronounced, or rather mangled, into "bee-oo-nee" by the locals—but a "beautiful view" it remains!)

If you want to see the sign clearly, and know I'm not just making up the slogan, click the image. I left it larger than I usually do, so that the writing should be readable.

The Collegiates (cleverly named Harvard, Princeton, etc.) are just some of the 14-er's (14,000' + elevation) in the county, which has more of these beautiful behemoths than any other Colorado county (I counted 12 on our highway map). Henry and Sally have climbed one of the 12, Mt. Shavano, but the best I've done is Mt. Taylor, at close to 13,600'. It's on the center right in the picture below, taken from the ski area, next to the distinctively-shaped Mt. Aetna (13,746') with the squared-off top and the big talus slide.

I've also climbed Mt. Clover, at the right here, seeming to be at the end of the street in "downtown" Garfield, where we stay. It's just a hair under 13,000'. That's high enough for me. Isn't it pretty, though, with its winter coat? It was summer, of course, when we did our climbing.

Another Garfield landmark is the Chalet, a former schoolhouse, shown here on the left. It was rented out this time during our stay so we were in a little cabin next door. If you're planning a central Colorado vacation, these properties owned by my in-laws are great places to use as bases of operations!

Monarch Mountain ski area, only 3 miles up the road and on the near side of Monarch Pass (at 11,312' , in the winter this is an important consideration), is a small area but reasonably priced with great snow. (If you want a bigger place, and the road over the pass is ok, Crested Butte is 2 hours away.)

Here's a shot of the Monarch area from its lodge:

We love coming up here in the summer, too, and hope to do so later this year. There's not only the aforementioned mountain-climbing opportunities, but some fun boating possibilities, too. I'll tell you about the river running through this area in my next post.

For now, though, if you need another lovely image to explain why I'm so fond of this part of the world, here's one I stole from Henry. He was up early one morning and caught the sunrise on the ridge behind our cabin just before the half moon set behind it...