Who's in Denver?

“I'm taking more & more business trips to Denver / CO Springs, am thinking it would be cool to come in early or stay over a weekend for some backpacking. Keep looking for trips, haven't seen any. SURELY we have some TT'rs in Colorado?”

“I'll be there in July.”

“i recently found out that the AVMA/AAVP is in Denver July 2003...(Cow Patty....do you go to AVMA?)....and well, since i have round trip travel paid....i just might have to take my out west backpackin trip after the meetings.....
so.....all ye collerado backpackers...........where are the secret spots/ trails? I would like NOT to spend more than a day in a car driving from denver....any shuttles/buses/cowboys with horses/wagon trains that will get someone to a trailhead? heh~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i got 2 weeks to merge with the colorado rocky mountain high.......”

“Colorado rules. I wish I were snowboarding in Winter Park right now. Is there snow yet?”

“I was through there last weekend and they got dumped on in the mountains. Early skiing!”

“Wolf Creek is 100% open. About 50" midmountain.”

“Alright, I'll be on my way in about two hours.”

“yeeee haw!”

“I'm in Denver this coming Thursday - Saturday... Are there any TTers out that way?

How far away is Rocky Mtn National Park from the city center? I don't have much time, but I'd like to do some light hiking when in town if possible--basically, I have some time on Thursday night and more time on Friday night and Saturday morning.... :-)”

“I'm in Denver - the suburbs anyhow.

RMNP is about 1.5 - 2.0 hours from the Downtown area. It's not a bad drive at all. The aspen's might start turning by this weekend, but probably not too much.

YOu could get in a decent hike - not solitude, but it'd give you a taste fo the park by going to Bear Lake and hike to Nymph Lake then Dream Lake and if time permits, to Emerald Lake - from Emerald your just below the Divide and pretty much right in the middle of the Park.

Very popular area.

Another nice 'tourist' thing is Alberta Falls, more crowded than the other lakes, but still good taste of the area.

email me if you want more, or would care to meet up for a beer Friday night. I'm sposed to meet TMac downtown Friday evening after work.”

“Hmm. 2 hours is probably a bit farther than I would want to go in a company car.... I probably should stay closer to the city instead....

Any must see stuff in Denver itself? Museums? Artwork? Venues? (i.e. "city hiking"?)

I've only ever been to the airport. Where are you guys meeting on Friday?”

“We're meeting downtown at a little Irish Pub - Scruffy Murphy's

On Larimer St. at 20th.

There's a couple of cool museums in the downtown area. You could do Eldorado Canyon State Park - 6 bucks gets you in for the day and it's only about a 20 mile ride from downtown. A few short hiking trails there - its in teh foothills.

email me and I'll get you my cell phone number.

I'm about to be out of internet contact until tomorrow am though, so leave your number in an email if you want.”

“I was in Denver a week ago. From downtown the Museum of Natural History is about three miles. It has some pretty cool stuffed animal exhibits. The Denver Mint is near the downtown area along with the Art Museum.

The downtown area is typical of any big city. Lots of homeless and panhandlers around. Kind of shady neighborhoods around there.”

“Hey, pinkbubelz. Roam's already mentioned it, but meet us downtown on Friday. Hopefully, armymedic and I will be boasting of our climb on Mount of the Holy Cross. :) I don't spend much time in the real city (even though my address is Denver). Bacpac nailed part of the downtown, sadly. Some places you just don't want to walk.”

“Downtown is way not shady compared to Memphis, Atlanta, Charlotte, New York, Miami.....

Stay on the 16th St walking mall and your safe as safe could be in any big crowd of people. Its cleaner than most cities I've been in. Lots of shopping and restaurants. If you get a couple blocks north of the downtown mall, then you'll see more panhandler types, but that is where the shelters are.

I used to work downtown and I felt safer in downtown Denver than I did in any of the cities I mentioned above.”

“Charlotte must have been pretty bad at one time. I work downtown (one block from trade and tryon) and have never felt uneasy. Cross I77 and no thank you.”

“LOL....

I work in DETROIT and visit urban high schools as part of my job. My sister lives in Brooklyn and works in Manhattan... so urban is not too foreign to me...

Usually, if you stay near the big tourist attractions and don't wander around at night by yourself, you're pretty safe.

I'll try to email you Roam, and may try to meet up with you guys at the pub on Friday.

It turns out my flight out is earlier on Saturday than I thought--so, I probably won't get much of a chance to do much on Saturday Morning, but I'll have some time on Friday to check out Denver.”

“Roam-- You've got mail... :-)”

“Wow, just came across this, downtown shady? definitely not compared to any other city I've lived in. I would have to say that compared to everywhere else I've lived downtown Denver is by far the least shady, cleanest city, and there really aren't a whole lot of panhandlers either. I feel perfectly safe anywhere downtown at 4 am.”

“I was staying at the Grand Hyatt, a block off the 16th street Mall. There were 25 homeless men per block. I only had one person ask me for money, but I didn't spend much time on the mall and of course avoided eye contact.”

“Looks like I will be nearby, so I will definitely try to join you on Friday! ;-)”

“Sweet!

Bison - you should come down too - Scruffy Murphy's around 6:30 or so this Friday!”

“I'll see, I'm moving stuff on Friday and don't know if I'll make it back down...

"There were 25 homeless men per block."

In Denver, don't believe that, I think you thought you were in Denver, and you were actually in some other city, I've walked around downtown all day and maybe seen a total of 25 homeless.”

“some of them were probably just wayward hippies from Boulder that somehow got lost.

If your up around the Samaritan House at say.... 23 & Arapahoe, maybe you'll see 20 or 30 homeless, but down on the mall area it's pretty cleaned up. There's a few, but not tons.”

“Actually, there are 2 shelters (from what I could see) within a few blocks of my hotel. Looks like the guys were waiting for their evening meal and bedding...

Anyways, I will check out some local sites tomorrow afternoon before I meet up with the group! :-)”

“Well, I have to say, Downtown Denver is one of the nicest cities I've been to. Lots of art, cool restaurants and to me, the 16th street mall feels like a a college town campus to me! I took a 5 mile walk around the downtown yesterday--and was really impressed by the amount of public art and their riverwalk area was very nice....never felt unsafe... I only wish I could have seen the Mountains from the city center.

I also got to meet Roam Around, TMac and Armymedic--we all went out for a beer and it was fun talking to everyone (although armymedic was the quietest of the group)--I don't have access to a card reader until I get home, but when I do, I'll post my trip report and some pictures of my "city hike" and my meeting with the guys....”

“Nice, glad you liked our city! Sorry I couldn't make it out, I'm in the middle of moving...”

“That's okay, Thinkbubelz and I want to visit Rocky Mountain National Park on our tour of National Parks... (not sure when, but that's one that we have yet to see.)

I'm sure I'll be out that way again sometime! :-)”

“Glad you made it home safe and sound!

Be sure and give a heads up when you guys head out this way.”

“Hey Roam,
It was really nice meeting all of you!! :-) One of these days we'll come back to Denver to do some hiking... Usually, it's just 1 big trip a year, so probably won't be until next summer. Although I think it might be fun to try to do some skiing out west sometime! :-) Not sure if we are up to wintercamping yet... (snowshoeing and dayhiking in the winter, yes...but not quite ready for tent-camping... :-)

LEt us know if you're ever in the midwest--or Michigan! ;-) If you take a road trip out our way, you've got a place to crash! :-)”

“Hey Roam,
It was really nice meeting all of you!! :-) One of these days we'll come back to Denver to do some hiking... Usually, it's just 1 big trip a year, so probably won't be until next summer. Although I think it might be fun to try to do some skiing out west sometime! :-) Not sure if we are up to wintercamping yet... (snowshoeing and dayhiking in the winter, yes...but not quite ready for tent-camping... :-)

LEt us know if you're ever in the midwest--or Michigan! ;-) If you take a road trip out our way, you've got a place to crash! :-)”

“my wife and i are SERIOUSLY considering moving to denver some time in the next 1-2 years.

so any of you midwesterners that made the move that are now in denver speak up! did it work out well for you?

really i could move anywhere but denver seems like a good balance of lifestyle and cost.”

“I think you'd like it, just based on your hobbies - you can't beat living here. It's a bit slower paced than the east coast, but still a big enuff city that there's culture, nightlife, pro sports, museums, etc, etc......


For example....

Friday night I went to a small concert at the Boulder Theatre, saw a Grateful Dead tribute band and then an Allman Brothers cover group - paid around 25 bucks for two tickets.

Saturday morning we got up and went skiing at Arapahoe Basin (they close for the season on June 8th) took about two hours to drive to their parking lot - zero lift lines, pretty good snow - especially considering it was about 60 degrees on the slopes.

Sunday, went down to Castlewood Canyon and rock climbed all day. Could've gone to Eldo or Boulder Canyon (closer) but wanted to go check out the new area.

I really really love livin' here. World class rock climbing and backpacking right in our back yard.

Check out wilderness.net and look at all the wilderness area in CO. It'll take YEARS to backpack at least once in each separate area - forget about really touring each one thoroughly.


One trend i noticed after moving here is there are LOTS of people from Iowa and Nebraska here. TMac moved from IL, Ms D from Ohio. They seem to have settled in pretty good. Adventurist came from PA/NJ - i'm the token southern redneck (they tolerate me for some reason)
last edited: 6/02/08 6:21:37 PM”

“thx. yeah, that's what we are thinking. actually i think all she wants is a new house and a change of scenery.

oh... and we both want to get away from my mother. haha!”

“overall, there's way more people here that moved from somewhere else than there is natives.”

“No...Whos on first.....Hi Roam!!!!


...& Hus in China....lol...
last edited: 6/03/08 2:34:41 AM”

“Hey Div!

:)”

“Jimmy, I'm only 7 months into my move, but I love it here.

In fact, I was back in Ohio last week and couldn't wait to come home. It's definitely home to me now.

There is definitely not a lack of things to do. I don't know how into the outdoors your wife is, but if she's not, I don't think she'll regret it either.

Go for it. You'll love it. :)”

“oooohhhhh preetttttyyyyyy”

“Big job interview today, have to go all out: Lycos polo shirt, thumb ring, oiled thighs, resume in 24pt Impact with $40 stapled to it.”