A bit out of the way up in the NW corner of Colorado, Steamboat Springs is a lovely ski and summer vacation spot that is a real town with a real year round community. Unlike Vail and other "all condos all the time" type of towns, Steamboat seems like a place to actually live a life.
Here are some photos from the Rockies and the Steamboat area in mid August 2005. Click any images to enlarge.
There is a great visitors center and camp ground at Hahn's Lake. Here Miriam shakes hands with a dead bear. There are a couple of ghost towns nearby.
We went up in a hot air balloon on a very clear morning. Great view of the town and valley. We landed in a hay field (I found out you never know exactly where you will come down in a balloon). Then the captain (a British policeman six months of the year) calls the crew and they drive out to the landiing site, pack up the balloon and basket and load it on a truck.
The elk are at the summit of Rocky Mnt. National Park. The elevation and clear air took your breath away. Miriam stayed in the car.
The log cabins and general store are in the little ghost town of Columbine, CO (not the high school). These rustic cabins are for rent and the owner said it was awesome in the winter time up there.
