FIELD TRIP: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH (PART 1)

Libby K. Hanaway
6 hours ago
10 min read

Updated: 1 hour ago

BUT FIRST, DOLLY: A few hours ago, my phone lit up with sad text messages about the passing of Dolly Parton — a genuine American legend and, most importantly, one of this world's better/best angels. Writing about Dolly back in January was a true joy because she was JOY ... and love, talent, grit, generosity, open-heartedness, and sparkle personified. If interested, you can find that post here. Meanwhile, we'll be playing lots of Dolly's music in the coming days — I hope you do, too 🎶 💫 🎶.

🌲⛰️🌲

Hello! Did you have any summertime road trip adventures? We are seasoned road-trippers, unfazed by eating stale nuts from the back-seat snack bag and strategizing all our gas-station/bathroom breaks. With road trips, it sometimes seems that the length of the journey should signal the splendor of the destination. But these days, living near the front edge of the Rocky Mountains, our quickest road trips now have the most astonishing end-points.

Before we bow to the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, just know this: Rick and I are not skiers or snowboarders, not ice-climbers or snowmobilers or snowshoers, not hang gliders or reachers of any 14er-peak. We are, however, keen appreciators and active enjoyers of this region's awesome grandeur ... a standard that gives us about 15% credibility in a state that favors the bold, the hyper-fit, and the fearless. That said, we do pack our Rocky Mountain 15% with as much reasonable-risk action as possible.

Moving here in 2021 was not our first exposure to the Rockies, but we had only dipped in and dipped out every so often: a few conferences for Rick, a college summer job for me, and visits to my sister Cheri's family, who have been Denver-area locals since the early '80s. When they each turned 13, E + C spent a week in CO with them, including camping in Estes Park — peak ruggedness for both. C's barely-teen CO visit put Colorado State in her sights ... and her college decision eventually drew us near the Rockies, too. So we have extended family, Estes Park, and CSU to thank for our current (distant and increasingly-obscured) front porch view of the Front Range.

Rick & Lib in the Boulder foothills circa 1998

(Why didn't I keep that coat 🤔?)

Since becoming Coloradans, we often drive up to the mountains for hikes, overnights, and short stays, but once every summer we make a very deliberate plan to explore the next mountain town on our list. This state is a feast, and our Colorado Summer Circuit is like one very rich, long, seasonal progressive dinner.

Breckenridge 2018 (EMPTY NEST):

This was our summer mountain trip three years before we ever imagined we'd be taking annual summer mountain trips. Breckenridge that August was so stunning and so much fun that it probably planted a (lodgepole pine tree) seed in our heads. We had just dropped C off for her first year at CSU, our best-girl Goldie had gone on to dog heaven six weeks earlier, and this newly-empty nest moment seemed to call for a deliberate pause — a buffer, an exhale, a reverie, a pity party, a prayer, a party-party. Breckenridge — the closest ski town to Denver/Fort Collins but also its own historic Main Street / Blue River / Tenmile Range universe — was a primo place to pause 🌲.

Vail 2021

It's September 2021, and we now have our very own Colorado license plates bolted to our trusty old Honda Pilot. Rocky Mountain weekends were now accessible! We kicked off our official Colorado Summer Circuit with Vail. We hiked, white-water rafted (low Arkansas River / more of a nice, relaxing, casual float), wandered the beautiful Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, early Oktober-fested in Vail Village, and came upon a magazine-spread wedding set-up in a beautiful meadow along the outskirts of town. Just as we were calculating the cost of such a magical locale, we came upon the tuxedoed father-of-the-bride sitting on a nearby bench in the late afternoon sunshine, scribbling notes — his reception toast, it turned out — on loose sheets of paper. We chatted and wished him well, leaving him to focus on the essential task at hand. Congrats, Colton and Mallory (per rustically-engraved welcome sign) — hope you are enjoying a very blissful married life!

Covid Keystone 2022

Our extended family's annual Table Rock Lake trip was off in 2022, and so nine of our Colorado contingent filled an Airbnb in Keystone for a long weekend in July; we called it Tablerado. The 5- and 2-year-olds in our group led the leisurely pace — an hour on a bridge watching the cold river rush below, following fish and ducks at the lake, reading time on the big couch, table time on the sunny back deck. At the end of our first day, it seemed one of our little guys was under the weather — maybe an ear infection? His cheeks were red, his forehead warm, and he — the happiest of campers — turned sick-sad / sad-sick. And so — of course! — we took turns snuggling him close for comfort. His family left for home early the next day — and later called with the news everyone dreaded sharing back in the day: it was COVID, already spread throughout their family foursome ... soon to spread to every other Keystone cuddle-er except Rick. Thus, Tablerado 2022 was officially renamed Covid Keystone. Beautiful! Memorable 😷! Everyone is just fine!

Steamboat 2023

If Vail feels like you've teleported into upscale Bavaria and Keystone has a relaxed family vibe, Steamboat feels like a timeless, Wide-Open West welcome mat. We loved it! Very relaxed and easy-going, very soft and green and friendly. The surrounding mountains are velvety, and the free-flowing Yampa River runs along one side of town, with restaurants perched along its wooshing nearside bank. We hiked the forested Fish Creek Falls Trail (beautiful but whoa 😮‍💨), and the hands-down highlight was the summertime Sunset Happy Hour at the top of the gondola ride (beautiful and very 🤗). The Happy Hour sealed the deal; we were all in on Steamboat!

Steamboat 2024

Our original Colorado Summer Circuit plan called for choosing a new mountain area to explore each year, but we were already off course by 2024. Steamboat earned an encore! This time we shuttled up a twisty road for a dip in the Strawberry Park Hot Springs, an experience that was cool and also a little awkward. Rick found a more vacation-y hike this time around — the short, golden-flowered Uranium Mine Trail in the Routt National Forest — and we went to a bluegrass concert at the Strings Music Festival. The Sunset Happy Hour was our one must-do repeat — we had talked about it for a year because how often do you get to do something like that?! But a storm rolled in that afternoon and the gondola shut down. We turned on a Netflix fireplace scene and had snacks and warm drinks in our room instead. Happy Hour-adjacent! (See adjacent explanation below ⬇️)

Telluride 2025

Telluride is very, very cool, but you have to work to get there (six+ hours from Denver/Boulder, unless you have a private jet, which many people did, so maybe it's not so out-of-the-way after all). It's filled with families from Texas and Tennessee, the women wearing custom western hats and suede skirts, the Vineyard Vine-ed little kids scooting around on their bikes at the edge of town. But regular people like us fit right in, too. Telluride is where I (temporarily) lost my fear of gondolas (wrote about that in Extra Good here). It's where dogs are loved and revered, and where Victorian architecture meets saloon style for a postcard-perfect scene.

Telluride is also within driving range of my least-favorite hike ever, the 5.5-mile Ouray Perimeter Trail. If you, like me, do not enjoy heights and the feeling that you might stumble to your death every quarter-mile, you should find an alternative; if you, like Rick, do enjoy mildly perilous, sweaty, scrabbly adventure, it's probably perfect. Anyway, it was not Telluride's fault that I was shook by those four long hours high above Ouray; for sure, we'd 100% save our pennies and return to Telluride!

WHICH BRINGS US TO ...

Basalt (ASPen-Adjacent) 2026

We'll break down this Circuit stop in more detail (and a Part 2), since it's still fresh from last week and it was exceptionally beautiful and fun.

I had never heard of Basalt until we stayed at the local Marriott (points!) for a weeknight concert at the Belly-Up in Aspen last March (mentioned here). When you're priced out of Aspen and Snowmass, Basalt — 20-30 minutes away — is the next level available. Before our trip, we called Basalt Aspen-adjacent, and then adopted the term for anything that's not quite the actual, unobtainable thing but runs a close second or third.

But it turns out Summer Circuit Basalt was not adjacent in our smart-alecky sense of the word. Basalt was its very own shining place, and we loved it as much as any other gorgeous spot in the Roaring Fork Valley. And both the newer north end of town (Willits) and the historic old downtown are highly (though separately) walkable, which is A#1 for me when traveling.

NEW BASALT/WILLITS

The newer part of Basalt — which the friendly manager of the happy-vibes Hollyann boutique told me — is known by locals as Willits. Willits is kind of like a pop-up town — everything sleekly built and developed in recent years — and anchored by the Steadman Philippon Research Institute (research arm of the orthopedic mecca), a small hospital, and a large Whole Foods. Bike rental racks abound ("First 30 Minutes Free!"), and there are many restaurants and shops, all in a three-block zone. And that very same Marriott — immediately adjacent to all the action — has a Sundae ice cream shop attached to the lobby! Nice flex, Marriott! We walked less than five minutes to three dinners in a row; one was a counter-service burger place that offers a free soft-serve cone — with sprinkles and instant goodwill 🥳 — with every meal. And when we walked around the corner after burgers, my soft-serve still in hand, three Old West horses stood at the edge of the modern little town park. I did not ask anyone why; sometimes it's enough to be mysteriously charmed.

HIKING

Rick is our AllTrails guy; he loves using that handy app to find our next great hike, and he spotted a winner in Snowmass, Aspen's neighboring/sister ski resort. The six-mile Rim North Trail begins in the Snowmass Recreation Center parking lot, then skirts some spiffy homes in the Horse Ranch neighborhood (from a real estate website: With an average sold price of $6.2 million over the last three years, Horse Ranch attracts families seeking relative value compared to high-end ski-in/ski-out neighborhoods. It's your local value deal 🏡!), and then finally narrows into a dusty dirt trail, where we sweatily switched-back 1,171 feet in elevation. Bright yellow rabbitbrush edged the trail, and grasshoppers click-clicked as we passed by. Even scrubby-dry and riverless, it was one of our grandest hikes. It was also very peaceful and hushed up high, even when, as Rick noted, "You [could] hear the sound of private planes whispering on the wind."

A little Snowmass aside: our Basalt trip started on Saturday, the day before this hike. We arrived in the afternoon and went up to Snowmass for its annual Cidermass Invitational. While we were walking around, C called and mentioned she went to In-N-Out and got a burger and a shake for lunch. Not five minutes later, we saw this sign outside a restaurant as we strolled by:

I sent her the pic so she could feel nice and budget-minded 💸 😇 💸.

ASPEN

Aspen is off the hook. It was not designed for mortals like most of us. BUT ... its uber-luxe aura does not mean you still can't have a (budget-friendly) great time. You can, especially if you do not need to shop or eat a real meal.

A REGULAR PERSON'S GUIDE TO ASPEN

❌ Probably Not for Us:

DIOR Aspen
Gucci Aspen
Prada Aspen
Balenciaga Aspen
Louis Vuitton Aspen
Moncler Aspen
Kemo Sabe [A NOTE ABOUT KEMO SABE: In case this store doesn't ring a bell, it's a western outfitter featuring beautiful, bubbly employee-models who will sweep a glass of Prosecco into your hand to help entice the purchase of a $1500+ custom cowboy hat. (This NYT article will give you a fuller sense of Kemo Sabe.) Suffice to say, the shop feels like Aspen in a nutshell. We walked in, poked around, walked out, and later bought a Stetson from a gen-u-ine cowboy named Bill at Bullock's in Glenwood Springs for a fraction of the price. No Prosecco but a very fine hat 🤠!]

✅ YES, for All of Us!

Explore Books — like shopping in your grandmother's comfy, creaky old two-story house with window seats, a bright second-floor coffee shop, and excellent staff and patron recommendations
Paradise Bakery & Gelateria — tiny, centrally located, always a long line. The gelato looked so good, but I can only vouch for the chocolate chip cookie 🍪🏆🍪.
Happy Hour at most places, usually with menu pricing somewhat within reach. (Only a deal by Aspen standards, but still.) We headed toward the White House Tavern, but every outdoor seat was taken and they didn't have a happy hour anyway; then we spotted a flower-boxed second-story balcony across the street and headed up to Las Montañas. Very sweet server and fantastico free warm chips & salsa!
Silver Queen Gondola — the round-trip ride is not free, but lunch was a normal-priced salad on the Sundeck up at the top, timed for one of Aspen's free Bluegrass Sundays. Knock-out views! Toe-tapping tunes! So great! NOTE: The Silver Queen is a very steep, long gondola ride, and it didn't take long for my old gondola fear to rear back up. No one else around me (including Rick) seemed the slightest bit on edge, so take that as you will.
Aspen Art Museum — we lucked out with a perfect outdoor day, but had we faced a summer storm, this museum would have been at the top of our list. Totally free! (Wish we had taken time for this rooftop exhibit, but it's in place til March 2027. There's still time!)

AND SPEAKING OF TIME ... FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR VALUABLE TIME, We'LL CONTINUE THIS ROCKY MOUNTAIN TRAVELOGUE IN A FEW DAYS.

COME ON BACK!

EXTRA GOOD

ALSO LINKED THROUGH THE EXTRA GOOD PAGE HERE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2026

1._GOOD WORDS: (Though also maybe Good Products and Companies 🧐?) I ran into the bright-and-beautiful Willits store I mentioned above — Hollyann — 12 minutes before closing. I first spotted this store back in March and had even less time to wander around, so I was happy to have a second chance, even for 12 minutes. I spent about 8 of the 12 minutes chatting with the manager, leaving me 4 minutes to find a little souvenir. It jumped right out at me from a table so colorful it looked like a giant fruit tray. How could I not??