5280 Magazine June 2020

THE DENVER MAGAZINE

I N S I D E

COLORADO

N A T I O N A L

M O N U M E N T

Explore This Often Overlooked Western Slope Gem!

DISPATCHES FROM THE PANDEMIC IN COLORADO PAGE 64

51 WAYS TO (STILL) HAVE YOUR BEST SUMMER EVER PAGE 56

STUCK AT HOME? FOUR IDEAS FOR SPRUCING UP YOUR SPACE PAGE 24

JUNE 2020

5280.com

dedication selflessness Thank you to all healthcare workers for your heroism. compassion sacrifice SCL Health salutes all healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic for everything they do to save lives and protect our communities.

We thank our caregivers and associates for their extra hours. Their sacrifices. Their teamwork. Their commitment to care. Their compassion. And most of all, their willingness to do it all over again tomorrow.

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8 NATIONAL PARKS & MONUMENTS

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CLIENT SERVICE IN THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC “The Courts are closed. We are open.” –Jim Chalat Colorado’s courts are operating on an emergency basis.

Remote practice at CHALAT HATTEN & BANKER.

Colorado’s state courts were closed on March 20, 2020.

Colorado’s Chief Justice has cancelled jury trials until July 6th. Our district and county courts will still hear emergency cases during the closure. These include emergency domestic violence matters and extreme risk protection order hearings.

Our clients come from every county in Colorado and from across North and South America, Europe, and Australia/Oceania. Before COVID-19 we lawyered by phone and video using pay-phones, home-phones, mobile devices, laptops, video tele-conferences, SKYPE, ZOOM and FaceTime. We are very comfortable with ZOOM for any purpose including a consultation with you as a potential new client.

We have experience with CISCO WebEx, and have attended hearings in court using the system.

In some civil cases set for a jury trial prior to July 6th, the lawyers can agree to waive a jury and try the case to the bench. The judge then acts as the finder of fact.

Witnesses and lawyers can appear remotely using the Colorado Court’s CISCO WebEx system. Courtroom decorum and ethics rules apply. Lawyers need to dress for court—top to bottom—and conduct themselves as they would in court. You can’t text answers to your client while he is being questioned by the court or adverse counsel.

Colorado’s federal courts were closed on March 27, 2020. All federal civil and criminal jury trials have been canceled at least until July 6, 2020. Grand jury proceedings have been suspended; naturalization and citizenship ceremonies are postponed; federal barrelated functions are also canceled.

The courtrooms are closed but time marches on; filing deadlines for motions, objections, discovery, disclosure and mediation deadlines are still in effect.

For more than a decade our courts have operated on a paperless basis. All pleadings and orders are filed and served electronically.

The legal profession is a service industry. Colorado’s Chief Justice ordered that “wherever reasonably feasible, judicial proceedings, regardless of their nature, should continue to be conducted remotely.”

Clients’ cases have not come to a dead stop. There’s a lot of work to do.

Our firm leans into technology. In 1996 Linda Chalat developed and launched one of the first law firm websites, chalatlaw.com. In 2019 we migrated our entire operating system to the cloud.

This allows us to deploy our high-speed practice management system. You can contact our office by phone or through our website; set up a video or FaceTime consultation; receive assembled documents to get started on your case; and ethically retain us via DocuSign signature.

No matter the situation: stay-at-home, safer-fromhome, limited return to work, we are answering your calls, responding to e-mails and contacts from our websites. We listen to our clients and the folks who call us asking for help.

The courts might be closed. We are open. We welcome new clients, referrals and second opinion requests.

Call, text, email or visit chalatlaw.com.

Jim Chalat, 5280 Top Lawyer 2015-2020 Attorney/Partner | jchalat@chalatlaw.com

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Local journalism is more important now than ever before.

That’s why Chalat Hatten & Banker has renewed its commitment to 5280, Denver’s Magazine, in order to help keep 5280’s award-winning reporting, editorials, and features accessible to the community throughout this crises.

TOP

These are complicated times for our country and community.

WE ARE HERE TO HELP.

Call us for a FREE consultation today.

303.861.1042 | CHALATLAW.COM |

1 6 0 0 B R O A D W A Y, S U I T E 1 9 2 0 , D E N V E R

FEATURES

JUNE 2020

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46

Monumental Beauty An oft-overlooked sanctuary of stone and vast skies, Colorado National Monument delivers isolation, desert mystique, and some of the West’s prettiest scenery.

Here, your guide to exploring this Centennial State gem.

BY KASEY CORDELL

56

How To Have The Best Summer Ever (No Matter What) COVID-19’s arrival—and persistence—has likely complicated your warm-weather plans. But don’t despair: From Tiki cocktails to plein-air painting, we found 51 social distance friendly ways you can still enjoy Colorado’s hottest months.

BY KIM HABICHT & ANGELA UFHEIL

64

Colorado In The Time Of COVID-19 Four reflections from writers around the state about life during the early days of the pandemic.

BY KELLY BASTONE, TED KATAUSKAS, SARAH SCOLES & MARTIN J. SMITH

Jason J. Hatfield

Uncrowded Colorado National Monument makes for spectacular stargazing and nightsky photography.

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With stunning mountian vistas, exhilarating outdoor activities and a Bavarian-inspired village full of world-class shopping and dining, Vail is where you can live a life full of endless possibilities and find the freedom to explore what you’ve been missing.

DEPTS.

DIALOGUE 14

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DINING GUIDE 70

28 COMPASS 17 OUTDOORS

A Boulder rock scrambler is setting speed records on some of the Centennial State’s most famous terrain.

18 HISTORY

We highlight key moments in local institutions’ journeys toward better respecting Native Americans’ wishes, including the Denver Art Museum’s recent installation ceremony for a Haida pole by famed carver Dwight Wallace.

EAT & DRINK 27 SWEETS

27

Meet Sarah Tuneberg, the head of the state’s COVID-19 response team—aka the woman guiding Colorado into its new normal.

Ride sharing, bicycling, RTD, and all those scooters make Denver feel like a city you could live in sans car. But before you ditch your pollution-spewing ride, you may have some concerns. We discovered three local solutions.

30 BUSINESS

Just as diners need to support Colorado restaurants right now, chefs—and consumers—need to do the same for the state’s growers and producers.

24 HOME

Four easy-to-execute upgrades from local interior designers that will make your home feel and function better.

BY SCOTT MOWBRAY

38

COLUMN 38 THE PANDEMIC

17 ON THE COVER

Colorado National Monument at sunrise

28 WHAT’S HOT

Local food pros share their go-to pantry staples and the best ways to put them to work in your kitchen.

Plus: Dram Apothecary’s new CBD-infused, health-boosting drinks are stress relief in a can.

24

22 TRANSPORTATION

Third Culture Bakery’s mochi doughnuts marry Eastern and Western techniques and ingredients.

If we’d been paying attention, we’d have seen that our collective lack of compassion is the real illness.

BY LINDSEY B. KING

BACKSTORY 96 TALL TASKS

The wildest records ever set on Colorado’s 14,000-foot-plus peaks.

5280 (ISSN 10826815) is published monthly by 5280 Publishing, Inc., 1675 Larimer St., Suite 675, Denver, CO 80202. Subscriptions are $16 for one year (12 issues). Back issues are available for $5.99 plus tax and shipping by visiting shop.5280.com. Periodical postage paid at Denver, CO, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS (see DMM 707.4.12.5). NONPOSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to 5280 Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 37270, Boone, IA 50037-4270. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement No. #40065056 Canadian Return Address: DP Global Mail, 4960-2 Walker Road, Windsor, ON N9A 6J3. 5280® is a federally registered trademark owned by 5280 Publishing, Inc. 5280 also owns trademark registrations for TOP OF THE TOWN, DENVER’S TOP DOCTORS, DENVER MAGAZINE, COLORADO PARENT, and COUTURE COLORADO. © 2020 5280 Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

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20 PROFILE

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

Geoff Van Dyke DEPUTY EDITOR

ART DIRECTOR

Lindsey B. King

David McKenna

ED I T O R I A L EDITORIAL PROJECTS DIRECTOR

MANAGING EDITOR

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Jessica LaRusso

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Robert Sanchez ARTICLES EDITOR

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Spencer Campbell ASSISTANT EDITORS

Shane Monaghan, Angela Ufheil

RECL AIM YOUR SUMMER WITH A DIVERSE LINEUP OF ACTS UNDER THE STARS.

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ASSISTANT FOOD EDITOR

Patricia Kaowthumrong RESEARCH EDITOR

Kim Habicht CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Julie Dugdale, Daliah Singer CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Kelly Bastone, Scott Mowbray EDITORIAL INTERNS

Lily Capstick, Maya Chiodo, Caitlin Foster, Katie Ketchum, Yvonne Krumrey, Madi Skahill

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A R T & PH O T O G R A PHY PHOTO EDITOR

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DIALOGUE FROM THE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

June is typically a magical time in Colorado: The sun warms Denver and parks and patios are full of families and friends; Coors Field is redolent with the smell of hot dogs and sunscreen; and the snow recedes as residents soak up our wildlands while camping, hiking, cycling, and fishing.

This June will be different. If April was the cruelest month in the COVID-19 pandemic, June might be the most uncertain. ¶ The city and state relaxed stay-at-home orders weeks ago, but it’s still unclear how safer-at-home rules might affect the spread of the virus—and ultimately our daily lives. Distance learning has ended for the academic year, but it seems premature to assume that students and staff will return to schools in August. Many office employees have decided to continue working from home, while front-liners are still risking their health and the well-being of their families to give us the services we need. Each of our lives has been changed inexorably by this invisible threat, which is why we asked some of the state’s most astute writers to chronicle the experiences they’ve endured (“Colorado In The Time Of COVID-19,” page 64). However, we’ve also left room for the possibility of a return to something approximating normality with our guide to Colorado National Monument (page 46) and our feature titled “How To Have The Best Summer Ever (No Matter What)” on page 56. This June may be a time for grieving and reflection, yes, but it can be a time for optimism, too. It’s our hope that these pieces will help remind us all of that.

GEOFF VAN DYKE

coronavirus pandemic.

Evidently, many of our Facebook followers did not participate in the poll. “Says who?”

“As Some Businesses Plan to Reopen, Coloradans Say They’re Hesitant to Visit Them” April 29, 2020

A 5280 Instagram poll revealed that as the state lifted its stayat-home order at the end of April, some

Coloradans were still uncomfortable visiting salons, restaurants, and retail stores in light

of the ongoing novel

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Cindy Silva wrote.

“I have NO problem with it.” Kristen Baylis

Victor could hardly contain her excitement about escaping quarantine: “Can’t wait to go out to eat, shop, and more!” Francis Mac, meanwhile, seemed to question our findings: “Who did you poll?

These polls are such garbage.” Still, others were genuinely worried about when residents would feel ready to leave their houses.

After Cindy Trost

posed that query, Lisa Hensley Blanchard responded: “A vaccine perhaps? An accurate way of testing/tracing?

A treatment?” Those question marks underscored the uncertainty felt by many readers, including Lindsey Aitchison Henry: “I

want to support local businesses and am just as cooped up as everyone else, but I

don’t feel comfortable patronizing these newly opened businesses.

It’s not worth my or my family’s health. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and to act according to what they believe.”

“I honestly can get most places faster on my bike than waiting for poorly timed transfers.”

“RTD Is In Crisis—What Went Wrong” April 28, 2020

5280.com’s exhaustive series about the past, present, and future of transportation in Denver hit the third rail when it delved into the drama at RTD. “It is often cheaper to park downtown than buy a light rail ticket,”

Nikki Fitterer wrote. “As someone who lives close to the original C and D lines, I don’t ride as frequently as I used to because the price keeps going up.” Avril Lyons agreed that RTD is too expensive: “And I un-

derstand that is a cyclical problem. It’s expensive enough that most people don’t ride, but the fact that most people don’t ride is why it is so expensive.” Not

only is it costly, according to readers, it’s also inconvenient. “I honestly can get most places faster on my bike than waiting for poorly timed transfers,” Brittney Compton wrote. “Often the connecting train arrives just a couple minutes before I need to make the transfer and then I’m left waiting 15-plus minutes for the next one. With driving, parking, waiting, and time on the light rail, I’m looking at over an hour when I could bike to work in 35 minutes.”

CO NTAC T US Send email to letters@5280.com or mail your feedback to Letters, 5280, 1675 Larimer St., Suite 675, Denver, CO 80202.

Please include your name, address, and telephone number. Letters and posts may be edited for length and clarity. You can also follow us and join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest (all @5280Magazine).

From top left: Sarah Boyum; Courtesy of Jay Bouchard; Courtesy of Urban Villages

Summertime Blues

NO ONE ELSE SEES IT. BUT YOU DO. If you or a loved one is suffering from a mental health condition, the real picture can be heartbreaking for the whole family.

Mental health conditions like anxiety and depression often go “unseen.” But when they affect you or someone you love, they can cause stress and worry for everyone. Thankfully, caring and effective help is available.

At Insight Mood & Anxiety Center in Denver, patients–and their families–receive intensive, individualized care led by the industry’s foremost experts in psychiatry, psychology and medicine.

Here specialized teams work together to help children, teen and adult patients develop the skills and tools they need to successfully manage their condition. And ultimately, to enjoy an authentic and more fulfilling life.

Get the help you or your loved one needs, today.

For a better tomorrow.

Call 877-957-6575 and speak to a caring, experienced master’s-level clinician. Learn more at InsightBHC.com/Denver

IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL TREATMENT AVAILABLE Whether you seek care on site or from home, we are here for you.

As a leading mental health treatment provider nationwide, we are also experts in telebehavioral health.* For more information visit InsightBHC.com/VirtualCare

Mood & Anxiety Center Locations: Colorado, Illinois, Texas and Washington Most private insurance accepted. *Insight Behavioral Health Centers has been successfully providing Joint Commission accredited telebehavioral health services for several years. Both Virtual Intensive Outpatient and Virtual Partial Hospitalization Programs are available to patients, when medically and clinically appropriate. Virtual services are confidential and secure and are supervised by our team of licensed, experienced professionals who provide the same evidence-based treatment we deliver on site at our centers.

SATURDAY | AUGUST 15 | 2020 Experience the LoHi neighborhood at the first installment of our Block Party Series! This FUN-FILLED Saturday afternoon will feature FOOD TRUCKS, MARKETPLACE, KID ZONE, + MORE!

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HISTORY



PROFILE



TRANSPORTATION  HOME

Scrambling Man

Jeff Wang

A Boulder athlete is setting speed records on some of Colorado’s most famous terrain.

CoMPASS When two trails diverge, Kyle Richardson doesn’t take either. He scurries up the rocks next to them.

That’s because the 24-year-old is a burgeoning star of rock scrambling, a cross between trail running and vertical climbing done mostly without the aid of a harness or ropes. Richardson, a longtime runner, first encountered the niche sport while a student at the University of Colorado Boulder. The college town had become an epicenter for scramblers thanks to the preponderance of climber-friendly, 50-degree-angled slabs in the Flatirons. After mastering the precise footwork and handholds needed to escape precarious positions, Richardson started setting speed records on experts-only scrambling routes across the state. His most impressive feats have come on his home turf, though, where in fall 2019 he achieved the fastest round trips on the First Flatiron (30 minutes, 19 seconds) and Third Flatiron (30 minutes, 27 seconds). Although Richardson’s ultimate goal, as it has been from the start, is to experience nature in unexplored ways, “it’s cool to set records,” he says. This summer, he hopes to make marks on other routes less taken, including the entire ridge of the Gore Range, from where it begins near Silverthorne all the way to Copper Mountain. —SHANE MONAGHAN

Kyle Richardson scrambling along the Fifth Flatiron

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HISTORY OBJECT EVOLUTION As part of its $150 million renovation of the Martin Building, the Denver Art Museum (DAM) held a ceremony in 2019 to install a Haida pole by famed carver Dwight Wallace.

To ensure the event honored tribal customs, curators asked Wallace’s descendants to help plan the occasion—but local institutions haven’t always respected Native Americans’ wishes. Here, we highlight key moments in museums’ journeys toward enlightenment. —ANGELA UFHEIL

A Zuni war god shrine

The DAM begins collecting American Indian art, becoming one of the first U.S. museums to focus on artistry instead of ethnography. But it continues to make gaffes, like showing stolen Zuni carvings known as war gods, or Ahayu:da.

1968 The Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) accepts 500 boxes of tribal objects, the foundation of its Native American collection, from a private collector. Gordon Yellowman, a Cheyenne chief, says such items were often stolen.

1994 The DMNS hosts Yankton Sioux activist Maria Pearson for its first NAGPRA consultation, in which curators display their inventories to tribes. Yellowman, a former NAGPRA official, says such meetings spurred communication by showing both parties cared for the objects.

1991 The DMNS is praised for swiftly returning Zuni war gods found in storage. But the same year, a member of the Alaskan Tlingit tribe files a NAGPRA claim for Kéet S’aaxw, a ceremonial hat.

The DMNS takes six years to give it back and is accused of stalling.

1990

1973 The DMNS establishes the Native American Advisory Council, a first-of-its-kind consortium from Denver’s tribal community that consults on exhibits. Unfortunately, says Chip Colwell, former curator of anthropology at the DMNS, the council’s concerns were typically dismissed.

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A new federal law, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), enacts a system for tribes to request the return of human remains and certain objects. But curators can ultimately decide to keep items.

1980 After a two-year national campaign by the Zuni, public pressure convinces the DAM to return war god figures (it’s the first institution in the world to do so). They’re placed in a secure, roofless sanctuary in New Mexico so they can disintegrate naturally, per Zuni custom.

2012 History Colorado Center opens a Sand Creek Massacre exhibit that draws criticism from the victims’ descendants, who object to its title, Collision, among other details. The museum admits it failed to adequately consult with the tribes and closes the exhibit indefinitely.

2017 Colorado’s Ute tribes are given veto power over every word, photo, and item displayed at History Colorado’s Ute Indian Museum in Grand Junction. The institution uses the same process for 2018’s Written On The Land: Ute Voices, Ute History exhibit in Denver.

Clockwise from top: John Wesley Powell via Wikimedia Commons; Will Austin/History Colorado; Courtesy of the Denver Art Museum, Native Arts Department. Timeline design inspired by beadwork of leggings/high-tops made by Felipe Lopez in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On exhibition loan to History Colorado from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

1925

Storm Chaser Meet Sarah Tuneberg, the woman guiding Colorado into its new normal.

By late March, it looked like Governor Jared Polis’ plan to shutter the state was working: The novel coronavirus’ spread appeared to have slowed. Hospitals were adding ventilators.

More people were getting tested. Polis had extended the stay-at-home order to April 26 but remained optimistic about reopening Colorado come May. The problem was, he wasn’t sure how, stating that “until there’s a vaccine or cure, things won’t return to the way they were in January or February.”

The fear was that lifting all restrictions could lead to another surge of the virus that would overwhelm hospitals. To help devise a plan to gradually reopen the state, Polis created the Innovation Response Team (IRT), a public-private consortium of more than 200 representatives in fields ranging from IT to academia. And to lead the group, he needed an entrepreneur who also had experience in public health and emergency management. Selecting Sarah Tuneberg, Polis says, was an easy choice.

A 40-year-old Boulder native and veteran of 50-plus presidentially declared disasters, Tuneberg worked her first catastrophe in 2005 when, while getting a master’s in public health at Tulane University, she helped with the fallout from Hurricane Katrina. She then became a consultant, advising governments and companies following calamities like the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2013 Colorado floods. Tuneberg stood out by pioneering a new approach for determining the most vulnerable populations during a disaster. Previously, emergency plans focused on getting aid to areas with the most 911 calls. Tuneberg realized such communications weren’t necessarily indicative of where people were truly in need and that infrastructure and resources could help predict those locations. During a heat wave, for example, regions without tree cover will experience higher temperatures and residents will suffer greater consequences.

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In 2017, Tuneberg co-founded Geospiza, a Denver company that brings clarity to emergency management with data mining.

As a consultant, she’d used convoluted spreadsheets and old maps to make decisions.

“My friends in the private sector had these incredible business intelligence tools,” Tuneberg says. “I was still working with this manual process.” Geospiza’s software culls information from various sources, including the census and social media.

Last year, Kansas City hired the startup to determine which homes were most vulnerable to fires. After dispersing free smoke detectors based on Geospiza’s findings, the city’s homefire count dropped by 30 percent.

Spearheading Colorado’s response to a worldwide pandemic, however, is a challenge even Tuneberg hasn’t experienced. “We missed the window to suppress the virus with testing and had to bring the hammer, which was stayat-home orders,” Tuneberg says. “Now comes a dance to make sure we don’t have a big peak again.” To help, the IRT consulted on Colorado’s safer-at-home guidelines announced in mid-April— measures intended to limit the virus’ spread while the state’s economy revives. At press time, the IRT was still developing other strategies, such as improving testing capacity and expanding ways—including contact tracing—to track infections.

Tuneberg admits such planning is tough when we still know so little about the virus. Fortunately, she’s no stranger to dealing with disaster. —SM

Photo illustration by Sean Parsons. Source photo: Courtesy of Cartier Women’s Initiative (Sarah Tuneberg)

PROFILE

A HOME FOR THOSE ETCHED IN ETERNITY. COLORADO SPRINGS, CO | USOPM.ORG

TRANSPORTATION

Carless Entry

Scooter Saga Will the city’s new licensing plan leave lowincome riders behind?

CONCERN…

Should I be scared of biking in the Mile High City?

(Because I am.)

The mountains are calling.

Without my sport utility vehicle, how am I supposed to answer?

How will I get my groceries home from the store without a spacious car trunk?

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TRY…

BECAUSE…

The Bike Streets Map, an overview of more than 400 miles of cycling-safer side streets across Denver

A mere 16 percent of respondents to a recent Denver Regional Council of Governments survey said they felt confident riding on city streets. That sense of danger led avid Denver bike commuter Avi Stopper to recruit a team of 150 volunteers to chart low-traffic, low-speed bike routes. The resulting map, released in 2018, can be downloaded for no charge from bikestreets.com. Plus, a free iPhone and Android app, set to debut sometime this summer, displays your location on the map as you pedal along.

Titus Adventure Company, a Denver business that rents fourwheel-drive rigs

When it’s safe to travel again, rent your choice of Toyota—Tacoma, 4Runner, or Sequoia—and the Titus team will deliver it to your driveway. Each vehicle comes with unlimited miles, skid plates, upgraded off-road suspension, and a rooftop tent, as well as (at an added cost) backcountry equipment, such as fishing gear or a bike rack. Don’t worry about washing off that well-earned layer of mud; Titus takes care of cleaning the exterior and interior when you return. From $210 per night in the summer, plus additional fees for gear; tacrentals.com

The Guru, an electricassist cargo bike from Denver’s Juggernaut Cargo Bikes

While you can purchase a pedal-powered freight hauler at area shops like SloHi Bike Company and Front Range Cargo Bikes, you may want to test how the European trend translates to Denver. Conveniently, Juggernaut is accepting applications to try the Guru—its battery-assisted pedaling system can boost you and your up-to-300-pound haul over hills—for a free week this summer. Your feedback will be used to perfect the bike before it hits the market (debut TBA). juggernautcargobikes.com

Despite all the fist-shaking when electric scooters appeared on Denver’s streets in 2018, the city’s decision to let the vehicles stay led to a startling revelation: We use them. An average of 4,832 rides take place each day, according to a 2019 Denver Public Works (DPW) survey.

Won over by the high usage, officials will integrate scooters into Denver’s public transportation plan this summer by signing at least one operator to a long-term license, forcing the others to, well, scoot.

The move will allow DPW to more closely regulate the two-wheelers by holding the companies responsible for, say, blocked sidewalks. Advocacy groups like the Denver Streets Partnership also hope chosen operators, along with the city, will subsidize rides for low-income residents— though DPW has made this a recommendation, not a requirement. Still, micromobility fans such as Bicycle Colorado are “really optimistic,” says spokesman Jack Todd.

Let’s hope that feeling doesn’t zip away. —LC

From top: Courtesy of Titus Adventure Company; Getty Images

Ride sharing, bicycling, RTD, and all those scooters make Denver feel like a city you could live in sans car.

But before you ditch your pollution-spewing ride, you may have some concerns. We discovered three local solutions. —LILY CAPSTICK

HOME

Comfort Zone

If spending so much time indoors the past few months has an upside (other than slowing the spread of COVID-19, of course), it’s that it led the metro area’s top interior designers to rethink their abodes. Whether you’re forced to stay inside or not, their easy-to-execute upgrades will make your home feel and function better.

1 3

WINDOWS ON THE WORLD

With future excursion plans in limbo, Atelier Interior Design’s Katie Schroder decided to catch up on printing and displaying photos from her previous vacations. “I find I’m really treasuring things I can look at from past travels,” she says. Leave end tables and other surfaces open for functional items like lamps and coasters, Schroder says.

Instead, hang small photos in gallery-style groupings to help them fill a space. For a budget-friendly option, we love Denver-based Artifact Uprising’s Polaroid-reminiscent prints [1] charmingly displayed with twinkling lights. Prints from $9 for 10, artifactuprising.com SHELF LIFE The design gurus at Studio Thomas use a formula they call “the five elements” [2]— wood, metal, texture, reflection,

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2

“I like having fresh flowers. It’s important to keep cheery things around. It’s like how sunny days make you feel better than gloomy ones.”

— K AT I E S C H R O D E R

social distance conscious shoppers. eronjohnsonantiques.com

life—to balance entire rooms, but the combination also can transform smaller spaces, like that bookshelf you’ve grown sick of looking at. Incorporate a wood bowl, a metal sculpture, books with textured covers, glass candle holders, and a plant. A local source for vintage volumes and curios? Athmar Park’s Eron Johnson Antiques, which has an online store for

FLOWER POWER After receiving a surprise arrangement herself, Schroder had her local florist, Moss Pink Flora & Botanicals, deliver fresh blooms [3] to six friends during the stay-at-home order to inject a dose of color into their homes.

If you want bouquets regularly brought to your door, sign up online for the East Colfax Avenue shop’s subscription service to set your budget and desired delivery frequency. Bouquets start at $50, mosspinkflora.com

DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS

When she began working from home with her husband and two young boys during Denver’s stay-at-home order, Kaleidoscope Design’s Cassy Kicklighter Poole set up a system that should bring structure to any school-free span: dedicated, task-oriented stations. “Centers throughout the house keep things consistent,” Kicklighter Poole says. One end of her dining room table is now a workspace stocked with pens, crayons, and paper for the kids; the kitchen hosts help-yourself snack bins; and the basement is fair game for rowdy play.

Clockwise from top left: Courtesy of Artifact Uprising; Pete Eklund/Courtesy of Studio Thomas; Tod Kapke/Courtesy of Moss Pink Flora & Botanicals

—JESSICA LARUSSO

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S A M E M O U N TA I N S NEW PERSPECTIVE

S E E YO U I N T H E N O T T O O S O C I A L LY D I S TA N T F U T U R E .

WHAT’S HOT



BUSINESS

EAT DRINK &

Ube coconut

Thai tea

Mashup Magic Third Culture Bakery’s mochi treats marry Eastern and Western techniques and ingredients.

Once upon a time, a Hawaiian butter mochi fell in love with an Indonesian cake. The resulting bun in the oven— actually a chewy mochi muffin—was born in Berkeley, California, at Third Culture Bakery, which opened its first Colorado outpost, in Aurora, in February. There, you can also meet Third Culture’s second child: the butter mochi doughnut, which co-founders Sam Butarbutar and Wenter Shyu make from the same carefully sourced ingredients as their firstborn. The couple only uses Koda Farms’ Blue Star Mochiko sweet rice flour (which gives the goodies their signature toothsome bite), organic Indonesian coconut sugar, and French-style butter produced by local dairy farms.

The doughnuts are crowned with colorful icings infused with real fruit purées, in flavors such as mango passion fruit, yuzu lemon, and guava cheesecake; the muffins come in six varieties, but we play favorites with the matcha, churro, and black sesame versions. Shyu and Butarbutar ship the original muffins worldwide, but residents of the Denver metro area can order the gamut of muffin and doughnut flavors for pickup or delivery. Neither is complete without one of Third Culture’s hand-whisked green tea lattes. It’s—dare we say it— another matcha made in heaven.

Guava cheesecake

—PATRICIA KAOWTHUMRONG

 Find Third Culture Bakery’s current menus online. 9935 E. Colfax Ave., Aurora, 720-507-4830, thirdculturebakery.com

Vietnamese coffee P H O T O G R A P H BY S A R A H B OY U M

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WHAT’S HOT

Secret Weapons

If grocery shopping during a pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that simple ingredients are often the most valuable. Here, local food pros share their goto pantry staples and the best ways to put them to work in your kitchen. —PK

CRUSHED TOMATOES “I use them as a base for so many things. Most often, I sauté chopped onions, garlic, and red bell peppers in really good olive oil before adding the tomatoes to the pan. It makes a quick sauce for polenta or breaded cutlets, which I like to top with melted Havarti cheese.” —Lorena Cantarovici,

PRETZELS “Pretzels are the best bread crumb possible, since they are already so crunchy and well-seasoned. I grind them in the food processor to my desired consistency then use the crumbs to make fried chicken or chicken piccata.”—Linda Hampsten Fox, chef-owner, The Bindery

HOT SAUCE “I have more than 20 different hot sauces at home; some favorites are Paddy O’s Potion, Sriracha, sambal oelek, Lingham’s, Crystal, Tapatío, Valentina Salsa Picante, and Tabasco Green Pepper Sauce. I like to take store-bought dressings, like Italian or honey mustard, and doctor them with different hot sauces to use on salads or as marinades.”

—Blake Edmunds, chef and partner, Señor Bear and Mister Oso

RAW CASHEWS

RED LENTILS “For a quick soup, boil a cup of red lentils with chopped carrot, onion, salt, and pepper in about 21/2 cups of water for about 30 minutes, then blend together until smooth. In a separate pan, melt butter, dried mint, and a tablespoon of flour.

Mix it into the soup and finish with red pepper flakes and lemon juice.” —Ismet Yilmaz, chef-owner, Istanbul Café & Bakery

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“Blended cashews create a rich, velvety texture in everything from vegan béchamel to keto cauliflower soup. For our cream of mushroom soup, we blend cashews with sautéed cremini mushrooms, onion, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper to create the smoothest, creamiest version of that classic.” —Bridget Bagel, co-owner, Postcard Foods

Find details and contact information for these establishments and more in our Dining Guide on page 70.

Why you should drink this traditional beverage—made with local ingredients—right now.

Shae Whitney has been foraging botanicals from Centennial State wildlands for almost a decade, transforming the bounty into sparkling waters, syrups, and bitters for her Salida-based craft beverage brand, Dram Apothecary. Now, she’s out to turn Coloradans on to “switchels”—“a historical blend of water, ginger, apple cider vinegar, and either honey or maple syrup,” Whitney says. “Farmers have been using them since the 1700s to rehydrate after long days in the fields.” Akin to the original Gatorade, these tangy, not-too-sweet drinks—which Dram began selling as canned sparkling beverages, in alpine berry and ginger-cinnamon, in March—are both tasty and loaded with health benefits.

“Vinegar is a bioavailable form of electrolytes and potassium,” Whitney says, “and vinegar and honey are great for immunity and gut health.” Even better, Dram’s berry-flavored bubbly switchel contains elderberry, which some studies have shown can shorten the duration of colds and flus. With 25 milligrams of stress-relieving hemp CBD per can (which cost less than you’d pay for a pint), you’ve got an old-made-new elixir that’s arrived just in time. $54 per 12-pack, dramapothecary. com —DENISE MICKELSEN

Sarah Boyum; Illustrations by Amanda Croy

chef-owner, Maria Empanada

Better Bubbles

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BUSINESS

Local Love

Just as diners need to support Colorado restaurants right now, chefs—and consumers—need to do the same for the state’s growers and producers. B Y S C O T T M O W B R AY

Not long after the restaurant shutdown began in mid-March, a deeply committed locavore friend of mine made a crack over the phone about “people who have ‘Eat Local’ stickers on their bumpers while Amazon trucks pull up to their houses four times a day.” I laughed and was glad I didn’t have an Eat Local sticker. I am both an avid gardener and a heavy Amazon user and was, at the time, shopping for wildflower seeds from a Vermont-based company whose globally sourced flowers would boost the local population of honeybees. Over two previous seasons, my plots of mountain phlox and sweet alyssum had been defeated by invasive bindweed and thistle, plants pleasing enough to the bees but not as much to me. Those mangy, sad weed patches were vexing life lessons on the challenge of encouraging the local ecology while keeping an eye on aesthetics.

A similar but more perilous challenge now faces locavore Colorado restaurant owners and chefs struggling to survive after the financial crash of the COVID-19 closures: How can they stay true to their Serve Local vows and remain creative for a food culture that in recent years has been thrilling to both the riches of farmers’ markets and the flavors of the global pantry? What

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will it mean for chefs to cook creatively, responsibly, and affordably in the wake of this craziness?

Prominent among the Colorado leaders defining the local/global food equation pre-coronavirus were progressive chefs at upscale restaurants like Beast & Bottle, Annette, Spuntino, Potager, Beckon, Arcana, and Fruition. Those chefs consistently supported the booming network of local farmers, ranchers, and makers of beer, cider, bread, honey, and the like while watching culinary trends in

Courtesy of Douglas Brown (2)

From left: Workers loading Black Cat Farm’s Boulderarea retail truck; potatoes at Black Cat Farm’s stand

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Los Angeles, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Rome. They played with ingredients like yuzu kosho and za’atar and served orange wines from California and Slovenia.

Then and now, the math surrounding what I call the Restaurant Values Index (the RVI for short, which I have, of course, entirely made up) is complicated.

Consider one of the finest plates of poultry in Denver, simply called Miller Farms half chicken, which was served at Mercantile Dining & Provision before the pandemic: It contained creamy feta from the restaurant’s own Fruition Farms sheep; chicken from Indiana’s Miller Poultry, chosen for its sustainable and ethical animal welfare practices; and a muhammara made with pistachios, olive oil, and Middle Eastern spices. Try to do the RVI math on that.

The fact is, unless you’re consuming a locally grown tomato in July or turnip in February, purely local eating is not a choice for many Coloradans. In Denver, for example, we live on the High Plains in the shadow of mountains, and local foods—those grown in fossil-fuel-heated greenhouses in winter, say—in some cases may have more detrimental carbon footprints than ingredients brought in from warmer climes.

Why bring all of this up now, when Centennial State restaurants are mired in an existential struggle? As Sonia Riggs, president and CEO of the Colorado Restaurant Association (CRA) shared, polls from April revealed that almost three percent of local restaurants had closed permanently and 22 percent would if the dine-in closure order lasted more than 30 days, which, of course, it did. Most of the CRA’s focus in the near- and mid-term will be about unlocking substantial, targeted government relief to alleviate the fiscal pain that will most likely extend into the spring of 2021 and beyond.

“If restaurants don’t get this support,” Riggs says, “the number of closures will be dire, and we’ll see the effects of that down the supply chain, including impacts on local farmers and makers. There will be at least a partial collapse of a labor market that’s historically represented 10 percent of employment in Colorado.”

But the ideals behind the RVI haven’t magically disappeared, and I’d argue they will be more important than ever, because local values—community, soil, craftsmanship—and the global threat of climate

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change are multigenerational. Consumers who care about these things need to reward restaurants that actively do the same.

Boulder chef-farmer Eric Skokan— whose 425-acre organic farm supplies his restaurants (Black Cat Farm Table Bistro and Bramble & Hare) and farm-dinner program and who trucked retail produce to Boulder neighborhoods during the lockdown—predicts a long period during which restaurants and their customers will settle into a new reality. Skokan was contemplating having fewer courses on Black Cat’s tasting menu, for example, to reduce the frequency with which servers would have to breach the psychological and physical “bubble” that surrounds each table.

Consumers will want more space when they dine out (and state government will likely have mandated table separation by the time you read this), and outdoor seating will be at a premium. Fewer diners sitting farther apart means fewer sales, and Jennifer Jasinski, the chef-owner of Ultreia and Rioja, among others, forecasts that even months after reopening, restaurants might only bring in 40 percent of previous revenue. That means smaller staffs, shorter menus, and increased reticence about using costly ingredients, local or otherwise.

“We’re all helping each other out…but when I ask the big companies, I’m not getting any help.”

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There was general agreement, however, among the chefs I interviewed that Colorado suppliers stepped up during the shutdown—and that they would be a critical source for restaurants during the recovery period. “Fresh Guys [a 14-yearold Denver-based supplier of locally and regionally grown produce] is helping us out,” Jasinski tells me. “And I know its margins are like mine. We’re all helping each other out…but when I ask the big companies, I’m not getting any help.”

For his part, Kelly Whitaker, owner of the Wolf ’s Tailor and Brutø in Denver and Basta and Dry Storage in Boulder (he’s also a co-founder of the Noble Grain Alliance, which promotes

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local heirloom wheat), said that he found himself selling all the freshly milled flour he had directly to customers after the shutdown. He was carefully monitoring takeout orders at Basta (which, he seemed amazed to say, included Alamosa farmed whole bass, carried out in pizza boxes) to determine how the quarantine would affect customers’ long-term expectations.

“All I think about right now is what it’s going to be like to own a restaurant going forward,” Whitaker says. “We’re going to learn what people truly value. Are they going to race for comfort? Are they going to race for fine food?” Known as a chef who loves to change things up even when all is well, Whitaker seems excited by the coming challenges.

Meanwhile, in Wyoming—whose vast grasslands count as local when it comes to Denver meat suppliers—former Blackbelly head butcher and chef Nate Singer tells me that Carter Country Meats, where he is a co-founder and butcher, was selling a record amount of grass-fed beef to consumers when the brand’s restaurant shipments dried up in the spring. Customers, he says, had been driven by meat shortages to a new curiosity about range-fed animals, which often produce meat that’s more muscled than what is typically served at restaurants.

This anecdotal evidence seemed to show that some housebound cooks were using the lockdown to expand their own food values. Might pandemic sourcing shape what they would expect from restaurant menus going forward? I know my newfound handmade pasta skills have vastly increased my expectations about fresh noodles going forward.

Riggs of the CRA says that in the long struggle to come, the posture of restaurants large and small needs to be one of “gratitude and transparency.” I agree. Gratitude and transparency sit right in the wheelhouse of independent restaurants, be it a taqueria or a fancy farm-to-table spot, where the chef is behind the stove and the manager and owner know your name and your tastes.

I also agree with Skokan, who hopes that “values-forward restaurants” might have an advantage in Colorado’s new dining scene. It’s up to us to prove that they do, by seeking them out, supporting them, and giving thanks for their willingness to battle in the fight for good—both locally and globally. m

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T H E PA N DE M IC

BY L I N D S E Y B . K I N G

The Viruses Among Us t’s one of my earliest memories, although I’m not sure why.

I have no idea how old I was or what it was about the dime-size scar on my mom’s upper left arm that captured my gaze. My fingers traced and retraced the indentation in her otherwise unblemished skin. I remember asking her what it was. She explained to me, in the way parents do when they’re trying to tell the truth without scaring their children, that when she was a little girl there was an illness that everyone had to get a shot for so they didn’t get sick. A look of dread must’ve registered in my eyes, because she said, “Don’t worry. You won’t have to get one. That sickness is gone now.”

The smallpox virus was indeed eradicated worldwide in 1980, about a year after I was born. My parents didn’t have to tote me down to a National Guard armory to receive that vaccine—as my mom’s parents did for her sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s—to protect me from that disfiguring and often deadly infection. Polio, too, was death-rattling in this country as I came into the world. However, my pediatrician still stuck a needle in my leg, an additional fail-safe nail in that disease’s proverbial coffin.

Although I can’t fault her for being imprecise with a toddler, my mom probably should’ve said I wouldn’t have to get that vaccine in particular. Because the truth was that I was inoculated against lots of nasty diseases as a child, including diphtheria, tetanus, measles, mumps, and rubella. Like most American Gen Xers, I had little concept of the savage nature of viruses, save for a short-lived scuffle with a Jackson Pollock–like smattering of chickenpox.

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Getty Images

I

If we’d been paying attention, we’d have seen that our collective lack of compassion is the real illness.

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T H E PA N DE M IC That is, of course, until AIDS began killing tens of thousands of Americans in the late ’80s and permeated the national consciousness well into the late ’90s. Even then, I, like many others, experienced the virus that causes AIDS in a sanitized, through-the-evening-newscast manner. I never feared it because I was not high risk and the virus was not easily transmittable.

And because antiretroviral medications have made HIV a manageable chronic condition over the past 25 years, most Americans probably worry more about getting diabetes than they do HIV. That sense of security is one of the blessings and curses of modern medicine in an industrialized nation. With the excep-

Americans—because of readily available antibiotics, semi-compulsory vaccination policies, and fortunate geography—have mostly been able to think of hemorrhagic fevers, severe diarrheal illnesses, and acute respiratory syndromes as things that happen over there. tion of the seasonal flu, the United States doesn’t often experience widespread outbreaks of fatal infectious diseases, viruses or otherwise. Americans—because of readily available antibiotics, semi-compulsory vaccination policies, and fortunate geography (tropical regions, with their rich biodiversity, offer ample opportunity for pathogens to leap from wild animals to humans, to devastating effect)—have mostly been able to think of hemorrhagic fevers, severe diarrheal illnesses, and acute respiratory syndromes as things that happen over there.

At least, that was the case until a novel coronavirus arrived stateside sometime in late 2019 or early 2020.

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as a freeway leading out of Kenya’s capital city, I battled car sickness to continue paging through what was the scariest book I’d ever read.

One passage, especially, gave me pause: Preston explained that HIV had most likely emerged from Central Africa, spurred by human intrusion into the rainforests and spread unremittingly along a newly built east-west highway between Mombasa, Kenya, and Kinshasa, Zaire (now Congo).

“Excuse me,” I called out to the driver of our van. “Can you tell me what road we’re on right now?” In a beautiful British English accent, our native Kenyan driver responded that we were on the Mombasa-Lagos Highway, or Trans-African Highway 8.

IN 1999, I WAS A 20-YEAR-OLD college kid lucky enough to be on a multicountry study abroad program. Cramped in the far back row of a passenger van with roughly 10 other students, I was reading Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone. As a budding writer, I’d heard that the basis of the 1994 nonfiction thriller about the emergence of the Ebola virus had been an article in the New Yorker—but I hadn’t so much as read the dust jacket until I was on a plane between Mombasa and Nairobi in Kenya.

As the van bumped along what counted

Preston had a different term for the same exact ribbon of pavement: the Kinshasa Highway, a metaphor of sorts for the proliferation of AIDS in Africa.

Reading The Hot Zone while traveling along the Mombasa-Lagos Highway, I remember thinking, was akin to getting on a Mississippi River boat cruise and opening The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for the first time. Horrors leap off the pages of both books. And, it turns out, viruses are not unlike racism: insidious, debilitating, and everywhere. In fact, as I kept reading I learned that roughly 150 miles from where I would stay that night, in a rustic cabin resort near Lake Nakuru, was a breeding ground for an entirely different contagion. Although no one knows from what natural source Marburg virus originates, several transmissions of the highly fatal hemorrhagic fever have been traced back to Mount Elgon National Park. I had not planned to explore Mt. Elgon’s caves, which anecdotal evidence suggests could be harboring the virus, but my 100 days abroad would allow me further encounters with other microbe-caused maladies I’ve never seen in any of the five U.S. cities in which I’ve lived, Denver included.

Before I’d left on my travels, I’d had no fewer than seven needles shoved into my shoulder muscles, protection against ill-

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nesses like yellow fever, hepatitis A and B, polio, and tetanus. I’d also had to down pills to combat typhoid (a bacteria) and malaria (a parasite). But the necessity for prophylactic medications and vaccinations, administered in a sterile travel clinic by a nurse, felt theoretical at best.

I imagine it’s that abstractness, in part, that allows some Americans—and far too many Coloradans—to forgo immunizations. A trip through the developing world made the need very concrete for me.

In Havana, Cuba, raw sewage burbled up through the floorboards of an artist’s studio we visited—a not uncommon occurrence, he said, embarrassed—making me grateful for the sting from the hepatitis A shots I got. In Bahia, Brazil, we slathered Deet on our skin to dodge mosquito-borne dengue, a hemorrhagic fever (with a limited-availability vaccine) that rose by 672 percent between 2018 and 2019, 20 years after I visited. In Varanasi, India, where polio has only recently been eradicated, I saw what the virus does to the human body: its attack on the central nervous system weakening the spinal cord and causing paralysis and horrific muscular contractures that disfigure the limbs. When I bent down to talk to a young man on the street—his legs contorted, he’d learned to walk with his hands—I understood one thing very clearly, even as a 20-year-old. This human being was just like me: flesh, blood, needs, desires, feelings. The difference was one of geography. He’d been born in a developing country where political corruption, an archaic caste system, and poverty were (and are) pervasive—and where health care lagged desperately behind. By chance, I had been born in the United States, where there was certainly graft and inequality and destitution and haphazard access to health care, but where there was also, at the very least, comparatively ready access to a potentially lifesaving polio vaccine.

As I trekked through other countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, and China, I didn’t see infectious disease firsthand— but I did wander the so-called wet markets endemic to Asia. There, a menagerie of both live and dead animals, some of which could be designated “wild,” are on display and for sale for human consumption—or as pets.

But wet markets are also simply markets where people visit the butcher or the produce stand or the fishmonger. For many Asians, wet markets are not so different from, say, Costco. To a tourist, wet markets are a circus of sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and textures. For an epidemiologist, though,

they are petri dishes of possible pathogens ripe for transmission from animals to humans. Several viral infections with pandemic potential have been traced to wet markets in China over the past two decades.

It was only natural, then, that virologists and epidemiologists became highly suspicious of the microbes that may have been looking for new hosts at Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market located in Hubei Province, where SARS-CoV-2 is thought to have first infected humans.

Although researchers have yet to make a definitive connection between the novel coronavirus and the seafood market, some experts say it could be ground zero for the illness that, as of May 13, had infected 4,170,424 and killed 287,399 globally, including more than 20,000 cases and 1,009 deaths in Colorado.

FROM MY FOURTH-FLOOR APARTMENT in Platt Park, I can see the busy intersection at East Mississippi Avenue and South Broadway. Typically, I can also hear it.

But as Denver’s stay-at-home order went into effect in late March—followed by a similar statewide directive—the sounds of angry horns and squeaky breaks and poorly muffled engines have gone mostly silent. The preponderance of ambulance sirens, however, has increased noticeably, I think. The dog that lives in the apartment above me howls his agreement each time an ambulance or fire engine screams past our building.

Sitting in this 730-square-foot apartment—the walls closing in tighter the longer I am alone in quarantine—I ruminate on all the ways in which I have encountered the remnants of disease or the possibility of disease, without actually being in true peril of contracting disease. Until now, here, in the United States.

As I write this, the tragedies continue to mount. Thirty thousand dead in Italy.

Cases are rising again in China. More than 21,000 have succumbed in New York. Here in Colorado, we passed 1,000 deaths as we went to press. But there is another calamity—a much less noticeable yet maybe equally profound one—that Americans may have to acknowledge before this virus will abate. Our collective lack of compassion and empathy has not only been laid bare by the pandemic, but it has also likely fueled it.

As this virus felled thousands in China, we failed to see our grandfathers in their grandfathers’ faces. As health care professionals in Northern Italy became infected

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T H E PA N DE M IC at catastrophic rates, we refused to envision that fate for our own doctors and nurses and medical professionals. As physicians the world over began noticing that those who were immunosuppressed were more susceptible to the disease, some Americans suggested that they could be sacrificial offerings. As New York City morphed from one of the world’s great cities to the epicenter of the disease, we shrugged our shoulders when some, including the president, suggested the area should simply be sealed off. When bodies began to pile up in vacant hospital rooms in Detroit, we didn’t shudder at the thought or wonder if those people’s loved ones knew where they were.

Much of this uniquely American response wasn’t surprising, considering our historical tendency to give a half-hearted, that’s-so-sad headshake and then wave things off as problems that happen over there. HIV and Ebola have been Africa’s dilemmas. When bird flu hit, we ignored it as Asia’s plague du jour. Polio was India’s trouble to fix. It wasn’t, therefore, much of a shock when our apathy toward each other here at home unmasked itself as the novel coronavirus disregarded our bor-

What all of this has revealed is that the viruses among us—the new coronavirus and Ebola and Marburg and SARS and MERS and all the scary bugs we don’t know about yet—aren’t the real problem. We are. ders and seeped into our cells. For spring breakers and some churchgoers, stemming the spread of a deadly virus on American soil was not priority number one. For rightwingers in Denver who were protesting the state’s stay-at-home order, shouting manically at stoic, scrubs-bedecked people who were counter-protesting was somehow not out of line. For politicos—on both sides of the aisle—COVID-19 was a weaponizable disaster in an already contentious election year. For opportunists, the fear and the chaos made it easy to engage in price gouging for hand sanitizer or conveniently declare abortions nonessential surgeries.

What all of this has revealed is that the viruses among us—the new coronavirus and Ebola and Marburg and SARS and

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MERS and all the scary bugs we don’t know about yet—aren’t the real problem.

We are. If we’d been paying attention at all to how we’ve become desensitized to the plights of others—be they fellow Coloradans or fellow Americans or simply fellow human beings—we would’ve recognized that the danger really comes from us.

Still, it would be unfair and, more important, inaccurate to say that Americans have entirely lost their ability to show grace. Just here in Colorado, I know doctors and nurses who volunteered to man drive-thru testing lines—because they care. I know journalists who worked overtime to bring critical information to Coloradans—because they care. I’ve talked with people who have given blood

T H E PA N DE M IC and sewn masks—because they care. I know there are researchers in Fort Collins working on a vaccine, doctors in Denver formulating new treatments, and local businesses building rapid test kits. I have heard the 8 p.m. howling and seen grocery store employees go out of their ways to be kind to shoppers and watched one of my neighbors give her postal worker a plate of cookies and smiled at the handiwork of children who have scrawled “Wash Your Hands” in chalk on the sidewalks in my neighborhood. People do all of these things because they care.

But these are individual acts, and as heroic and important as they are, we have to agree, collectively, that there is no longer such a place as over there. Any perceived notion of America’s superior ability to respond to a crisis-level outbreak within its borders disappeared as quickly as our stockpiles of N95 masks, which means we are all here now together in this surreal reality—and although there must be social distance between us physically, we can no longer be emotionally distant. American individualism isn’t mutually exclusive with empathy and sympathy. We just have to remind ourselves what compassion really looks like.

For me, compassion looks like a faded mental photograph of the expression on my mom’s face when she realized I was afraid. More than 35 years later, I can still see what I now know was protective instinct, that maternal desire to soothe, assure, and shield me from any possible hurt, no matter how small. It’s unrealistic to expect people to feel for strangers the way a parent cares for a child; however, kindness for others can be taught.

In four or five or six years, I hope parents have to talk with their preschoolers about why they need to get an immunization for something called COVID-19.

I know they’ll have to explain that a few years earlier, so many people got sick— and they’ll probably leave out the fact that so many people died. Because that’s what parents do. But I also hope they explain that getting the vaccine is itself an act of compassion; that not only could it save their lives, but also potentially many other lives. And I can only hope that one day, not too long from now, maybe another mom can tell her little girl that she doesn’t ever have to get that shot because that sickness has gone away for good. m Lindsey B. King is 5280’s deputy editor. Email her at letters@5280.com.

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MONUMENTAL An oft-overlooked sanctuary of stone and vast skies, Colorado National Monument delivers isolation, desert mystique, and some of the West’s prettiest scenery.

Consider this your essential guide for exploring the Centennial State gem.

BY KASEY CORDELL PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON J. HATFIELD

BEAUTY

One of many prime photo stops on the hike through Monument Canyon

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MONUMENT MAN President William Taft’s signature might have certified CNM as part of the National Park Service, but it was John Otto who provided the pen. Otto arrived in Colorado from California in 1906 and spent nearly three decades carving trails into the cliffs and canyons outside of Grand Junction that, in his words, felt “like the heart of the world.” He regularly wrote letters to Taft and others advocating for its protection.

In 1911, persuaded by the persistent requests, Taft designated Otto’s beloved terrain in order to preserve its “extraordinary examples of weathering and erosion.”

Sunrise at the Coke Ovens Overlook

A star of the Western Slope, Colorado National Monument is defined as much by what isn’t there as by what is.

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ost national parks are famous for what they contain. Mesa Verde has its cliff dwellings, Yellowstone prizes its geysers, and Glacier possesses glaciers (for now). The beauty of Colorado National Monument (CNM), on the other hand, lies in what’s missing: Its cliffs, monoliths, and impossibly shaped stone formations are the remnants of massive rock walls that wind, weather, and time have eroded away.

It’s also, blissfully, missing crowds. The 32 square miles of high desert draw just 375,000 visitors per year, a million fewer people than nearby Arches National Park in Utah. Perhaps that’s because Colorado National Monument isn’t a national park, but rather a monument, a mostly semantic distinction largely based on who does the designating: Typically, Congress creates parks and presidents make monuments.

CLOSED (ISH) Certainly, though, the fact that CNM is relatively deserted isn’t due F O R C OV I D - 19 to a lack of spectacular scenery. For those who’ve come to know it well, While the monument’s it’s a sanctuary holding all the neck-craning desert allure of any touristgates were open at press time, its visitor choked national park. From the top of this roughly 2,500-foot-tall center, campgrounds, plateau, the Book Cliffs provide a pastel horizon line that matches any and some comfort staocean equivalent. At the bottom of its canyons, sagebrush, juniper, and tions weren’t. Check nps. piñon pine flash Everglade-worthy green hues. And to the north and gov/colm for updates. east, Fruita and Grand Junction promise quaintness, community, and culinary delights for trail-weary, hungry hikers and cyclists.

Although COVID-19 has forced changes at the monument, prospective visitors can take solace in knowing that the primordial landscape isn’t going anywhere. Once safer-at-home orders (still in place at press time) lift, Denverites can drive four-plus hours to savor this dramatic desertscape secure in the knowledge that it will still deliver delicately balanced rocks, brazen bighorn sheep, and the smell of sage in the morning. After all, beauty—like love—grows in absentia.

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Taft appointed Otto its custodian for a salary of $1 per month.

Among the caretaker’s legacies are the Serpents Trail—once deemed the most dangerous road ever built and now a popular hiking trail—and Rim Rock Drive, a 23mile scenic tour along the plateau’s edge that Otto conceived in his first few years in Colorado but which wasn’t completed until 1950.

Otto left Colorado in 1932 for unclear reasons and died in Yreka, California, in 1952 with only $144 to his name—not enough for a proper burial. Fifty years later, a group of Coloradans raised money to erect a headstone with an Otto quote. It reads: “Do your best for the West / The best for the world. / The new day, get it going.”

SOLITUDE-O-METER Look for this icon to get a sense for the crowds you can expect on adventures in the monument.

History Colorado, 10038539

NEGATIVE SPACE

M O N U M E N TA L B E A U T Y

THE TWO - HOUR TOUR

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If you can only do one thing, explore the 23-mile Rim Rock Drive by car or bike. Largely built between 1931 and 1950, Rim Rock Drive climbs steeply from near the Colorado River and traces the rim of the plateau, providing unrivaled perspectives on the park’s towering rock formations, the Grand Valley, and the Book Cliffs. Give yourself at least two hours (three by bike) to properly photograph the many pull-offs. Here, a mile-by-mile guide to some of our favorites.

Start at the west-side entrance (elevation: 4,690 feet), near Fruita.

VISITOR CENTER | MILE 4.5

BALANCED ROCK | MILE 1.5

Why Stop? To get maps and hiking recs (if it’s open).

The interactive exhibits inside provide overviews of the monument’s ecology and history with refreshing brevity. That leaves you plenty of time to follow the half-mile Canyon Rim Trail to Book Cliffs View and Window Rock, two of CNM’s most spectacular overlooks.

Why Stop? To gander at a 600-ton boulder teetering on a sandstone pedestal. An illustrated sign provides a useful, if quick, lesson about how erosion shapes rock into improbable sculptures like the one in front of you.

GR AND VIEW | MILE 6 Why Stop? The view, yes—but also to remember those who helped make your tour possible. Thousands of Civilian Conservation Corps workers carved these roads out of stone in the 1930s; a plaque here recognizes nine who died when blasting for Half-Tunnel collapsed a cliff on top of them.

Getty Images (Balanced Rock); David Marshall (bighorn sheep)

WEST ENTRANCE | MILE 0

COKE OVENS OVERLOOK | MILE 8 Why Stop? For an excellent look at the beehive-shaped rock formations that resemble ovens used in coal production (you can get closer to them on the half-mile Coke Ovens Trail, just down the road). Bonus: Bighorn sheep sometimes congregate here—as well as near Fruita Canyon—so have your camera ready.

COLD SHIVERS POINT | MILE 19

RED CANYON OVERLOOK | MILE 16

Why Stop? To (carefully) take dramatic selfies on the rock platforms above Columbus Canyon. There’s a reason this place gives folks the willies: It’s a steep 300 feet from the edge of the cliff you’re standing on to the canyon floor.

Why Stop? To ogle a remarkable example of a “hanging” canyon—essentially a canyon inside a canyon created by erosion. This one showcases the roughly 2,500-foot drop between the monument and the valley, beautifully framing the city of Grand Junction.

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THE TRAIL TRIFECTA

Colorado National Monument has more than 45 miles of hiking trails— consider these three moderate treks its Triple Crown.

MONUMENT CANYON TO WEDDING CANYON | 5 miles, loop | Elevation gain: 550 feet If it takes longer than it should to hike the 2.5 miles to the base of Independence Monument, it’s probably because of all the photo stops you’ll make. The popular first half of this loop, which begins at the Lower Monument Canyon trailhead, zigs and zags past sandstone crags popular with rock climbers and provides plentiful peeks at the Grand Valley. After you arrive at CNM’s 450-foot signature spire, bear north on the unimproved Wedding Canyon Trail. Hikers need to be surefooted and equipped with above-average route-finding skills for this section. Not you? Simply turn back the way you came for the same extraordinary views (and none of the uphill trudge).

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DEVILS KITCHEN | 1.5 miles, out and back | Elevation gain/loss: 300 feet Your eagle eye will get as much of a workout as your legs on this short climb: Cairns are your only guide as you ascend a stone slope on your way up to the rocky hideout that is Devils Kitchen (pictured). The grotto’s big boulders let adventurous types scramble up for artsy shots of the Grand Valley or—facing the other way—No Thoroughfare Canyon. (One of the least explored areas of the monument, No Thoroughfare Canyon boasts two small waterfalls in the springtime.) It can be windy up top later in the day, so if you’re planning a picnic—which we recommend—be prepared to chase an errant napkin or two.

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ECHO CANYON | 3 miles, out and back | Elevation gain/loss: 300 feet Mention that you’re going to hike Echo Canyon to CNM’s rangers, and you’ll see smiles tugging on their lips. That’s because this often ignored cruise through a verdant canyon (or as verdant as they come in these parts) to a seasonal waterfall is a quiet favorite among those who know the area best. After starting at the Devils Kitchen trailhead, your initial climb across cairn-lined slickrock is rewarded at the .75-mile mark with a shaded stroll along a (seasonal) stream through a treelined box canyon. Wildflowers take root here in the spring, but be wary: Poison ivy is also prevalent along the creek.

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1. Dakota sandstone

CR E TACEOUS PERIOD

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113 million to 95 million years old*

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Dakota sandstone holds deposits from the massive inland sea that existed here about the time bees and flowering plants entered the fossil record. See It: Atop Black Ridge, on the west side of the monument

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2. Burro Canyon formation 119 million to 97 million years old Cream-colored and flecked with green shale, the Burro Canyon layer contains petrified wood and the occasional dino bone. See It: Also on Black Ridge

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3. Morrison formation 4

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JUR ASSIC PERIOD

MESOZOIC ER A

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161 million to 144 million years old When archaeologists go fossil hunting, they home in on the terracotta-colored Morrison formation, which represents the era when dinosaurs proliferated. See It: At Highland View, which offers an excellent vantage of CNM’s layers, including the plateau-topping Morrison formation on the other side of the canyon

4. Wanakah formation 169 million to 163 million years old 6

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This thin line of green and red rock was laid down when the Centennial State was full of mud flats, pterosaurs, and Plesiosaurus (a Loch Ness monster–like creature). See It: Above the section of Rim Rock Drive at Artists Point

5. Entrada sandstone 170 million years old The salmon-hued Entrada sandstone is composed of the remnants of sand dunes that blew over from an inland sea in Utah right around the time salamanders and Stegosaurus showed up on the planet. See It: At eye level in walls lining the Alcove Nature Trail near the visitor center

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6. Kayenta formation

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This lighter, yellow-orange rock is relatively resistant to erosion and serves as

CNM’s rock layers present a pictorial history of our planet.

Use this Bill Nye–style guide to discern the difference between Jurassic (old) and Triassic (really old) stone—and to learn where to see the ancient strata.

a protective caprock to many of CNM’s formations. Created when Colorado had a much wetter environment, Kayenta sandstone often has smile shapes in it—the ghosts of ancient streams. See It: Capping many of the park’s cliffs and buttes

7. Wingate sandstone 206 million to 192 million years old Wingate sandstone provides the monument with much of its color and shape: Burnt orange in hue, it’s made up of former sand dunes, hence its vulnerability to erosion. Wind, water, and weather chew through the relatively soft stone, creating arches, windows, and monoliths when sections wear away. See It: Comprising many of the sheer cliffs, like those visible at Fruita Canyon View

8. Chinle formation 220 million to 206 million years old The brick red rock at the base of many of the monument’s cliffs was formed by sediment deposits in ancient floodplains when Colorado was prime umbrella-drink territory. Sadly, there were no cabana attendants—or any humans, for that matter—back when our state sat close to the equator. See It: Where the road cuts through Fruita Canyon

9. Precambrian era 1.8 billion to 1.72 billion years old† The gray exposures in the bottom of many canyons have a convoluted story.

What started as sedimentary rock has been eroded, melted by volcanic activity, and crunched between continents. It also served as the base of an ancient mountain range, which gradually eroded.

See It: At the bottom of Columbus Canyon, visible at Cold Shivers Point

*Dates reflect the years that are visible in CNM’s rock layers. †The missing 1.5 billion years of rock record here is called the Great Unconformity. It’s a geologic mystery mashed up by erosion and tectonics.

Brad Cuzen

PRECAMBRIAN ER A

TRIASSIC PERIOD

192 million to 190 million years old

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ROCK STAR

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PATRIOTIC PILLAR

Meet Independence Monument, CNM’s most famous rock.

The largest monolith in CNM, Independence Monument is the lone surviving remnant of an extensive ridge that once linked the Island formation to the east and the plateau upon which the visitor center is built. As wind and water gnawed at the delicate sandstone, the rock eroded along natural fracture lines. Over time, the walls became weak and collapsed, giving shape to the pinnacle we see today. After discovering this spire, the patriotically minded John Otto inscribed the names of the Declaration of Independence signers on the rock. Then, in 1910, on the Fourth of July, Otto climbed Independence using poles driven into holes he’d drilled and temporarily planted an American flag on top. The tradition continues today: Each July rock climbers wave the Stars and Stripes from the summit. (If you’re not up for several pitches of moderate climbing, including an exposed final section, the nearby Monument Canyon area has myriad other, shorter climbing routes.)

Window Rock

450 FEET Height of Independence Monument. It’s CNM’s tallest monolith.

Sentinel Spire

Praying Hands

1910 Year John Otto first climbed the spire. If you look closely from the viewpoint at Otto’s Trail, you can still see the holes he drilled into the rock to assist his ascent.

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Months Otto was married to artist Beatrice Farnham after exchanging vows at the base of Independence Monument in 1911. Farnham left Colorado saying, “I could not live with a man to whom even a cabin was an encumbrance.”

M O N U M E N TA L B E A U T Y

B E YO N D T H E BORDER Try this quintessential side trip if you’re already in the area.

You don’t have to drive all the way to Arches National Park to see, well, arches.

Inside McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, which borders CNM to the west, Rattlesnake Canyon holds the second largest concentration of these stone spans in North America. Get-

ARTISTIC RENDERINGS

Three ways to capture CNM’s magnificent displays.

Aptly named Artists Point has long been a preferred place for painters to pick up their palettes. Perched at 6,200 feet, this butte leans out into Monument Canyon, giving creatives broad vistas of stone pillars like the Coke Ovens as well as of the Grand Mesa and the Book Cliffs’ far-off faces. A short trail leads away from the main pull-off area and offers a bit more solitude (and plenty of flat ground) for inspired brushstrokes. In fact, past entries into CNM’s annual plein-air contest (this year, from September 27 to October 4) were created in this very spot.

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You don’t need a professional camera to create stunning sunrise and sunset shots. The low-hanging sun does the work for you by lighting up the Book Cliffs and the Grand Mesa in rose gold hues.

Make sure you’re set up at least 30 minutes before official sunrise and sunset times so you don’t miss the full range of color. Stake out a spot at the Coke Ovens, Grand View, or Red Canyon overlooks at dawn for excellent perspectives on the sun cresting the Grand Mesa and scattering its rays. Book Cliffs View is a popular sunset spot, but nearby Window Rock provides similar panoramas of the Book Cliffs afire with evening glow—and fewer potential photo-bombers. Not getting quite the exposure you want? If you have an iPhone, lock a focus by holding your thumb on the screen; then, once it’s set, adjust the exposure by sliding your finger up or down.

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Credits Tk Courtesy of David Marshall (Rattlesnake Canyon); Getty Images (paintbrushes)

SMARTPHONE

Capturing the Milky Way means venturing into pro territory (and requires more than a smartphone). That’s why we tapped local lensman Jason J. Hatfield, who took the images for this feature, for some night-sky photography advice.

What you’ll need: a modern DSLR or mirrorless camera; a tripod; and a wide lens with a fast aperture. The Milky Way is visible spring, summer, and fall but changes orientation and the time of night at which it appears; use an app like the Photographer’s Ephemeris or PhotoPills to plan accordingly. (Also: You want to avoid light from a bright moon, so aim for when it is below the horizon or about one week before or after a new moon.) Consider a location with something interesting in the foreground, like the striking rock formations at Book Cliffs View, which Hatfield also chose to avoid light pollution from Fruita and Grand Junction.

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ting there takes some doing, though. Taking the shorter hike (5.5 miles, round trip) requires slow rolling on the Upper or Lower Black Ridge four-wheel-drive access roads in a high-clearance vehicle for about an hour. You can get there under your own power by approaching from the Pollock Bench trailhead— but you’ll need a lot of energy to cover the roughly 16 miles (round trip) and about 2,000 feet of elevation gain (and then loss) over terrain that requires some scrambling. Your reward either way: a gapeinducing collection of natural arches, some spanning more than 75 feet, set on the edge of the ruggedly beautiful Rattlesnake Canyon. blm.gov

EASEL

TRIPOD AND A LONG EXPOSURE

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M O N U M E N TA L B E A U T Y

THE FLORA FILES

Colorado National Monument might lack water, but nature still manages to wring Monet-worthy plantscapes from a scant 11 inches of precipitation a year. The Alcove Nature Trail and the Ute Garden Interpretive Trail offer excellent introductions to the high desert’s scrappy plants that will only increase your admiration for this area—and enrich your explorations. Or, start with this primer.

Sagebrush Sagebrush’s aroma might help keep candle companies in business, but its scent is intended to deter animals from munching on it. The colorful plant— which isn’t part of the culinary sage family—does provide cover for critters seeking refuge from predators.

Colorado Piñon Pine What this evergreen lacks in height it makes up for in potency: The nuts in piñon cones are a robust source of fats, proteins, and vitamins. Look for piles of the picked-apart cones—signs that a bird has buried the seeds for safekeeping.

Indian Ricegrass Unlike the low-growing cheat grass—brought here

by Europeans in the late 19th century—that you’ll see in CNM, Indian ricegrass is endemic to Colorado. Native Americans used its proteinrich seeds to make flour.

Utah Juniper The Methuselah of CNM, these slow-growing evergreens (pictured above) can live to be more than 1,000 years old. Their roots extend as far as 100 feet out and 25 feet down in search of water, a neat trick when you’re growing in desertlike terrain.

Mormon Tea The tea from this bamboolike plant, Ephedra nevadensis, gives sippers a “buzz” courtesy of a compound similar to the stimulant ephedrine.

Early settlers learned from Native Americans to boil it and use it as a medicine to treat a variety of ailments, including colds.

Colorado National Monument rangers ask that visitors stick to obvious trails for a good reason: They’re trying Delicate soil requires a delicate touch. to protect the monument’s fragile biological soil. Made up of living organisms (such as lichens, fungi, and cyanobacteria, a friendly photosynthetic bacteria), the clumpy crust helps stabilize otherwise easily eroded soil beneath and provides an important nitrogen source for plants eking out an existence in the arid environment. Like alpine tundra, the frangible ground cover can take a long time to develop—and to recover from a parade of hiking boots squashing it.

DON’T TREAD ON ME

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Getty Images (Utah juniper); Illustrations by Brad Cuzen

Yucca Consider this pointy plant nature’s Swiss Army knife. Native Americans ate its seeds and fruits (but typically not its roots, which can be toxic because they contain small amounts of cyanide) and used its leaves for everything from baskets to sandals and turned its sharp tips into sewing needles.

Mountain Mahogany This shrub’s corrugated leaves are a favorite snack for the park’s bighorn sheep. Native Americans preferred the long, sturdy branches, though; they’re ideal for arrow shafts.

LOCAL KNOW-HOW The beta you need for a successful monument adventure.

Dogs aren’t allowed on the monument’s trails, so consider leaving your pupper at home.

Midsummer highs average 90 degrees here. If that’s too hot, plan your trip for fall, when the mercury drops into the 70s.

Be prepared for afternoon breezes. The area’s diurnal winds are the result of differential heating. As the sun warms canyon walls, the winds are drawn into them, seeking lower pressure. At night, as the rocks cool, the winds drain back down.

Don’t be surprised by the number of arms in slings you see in town. Collarbone injuries are common in this mountain biking mecca; Lunch Loop Trails, near CNM’s eastern entrance, is a popular local system.

At press time, many hotels and restaurants in Grand Junction (pictured) and Fruita were closed (or partially closed) due to COVID-19. Check 5280. com for updated information.

ALONE BUT FOR THE BIGHORNS

Chronicling the pleasures—and pain—of an overnight backpacking trip along the Liberty Cap Trail, a trek that offers gorgeous canyon and valley views and none of the crowds.

3 P.M. My husband and I stop by the visitor center to get our required-but-free backcountry camping permit and ask for trail recommendations. When the ranger mentions bear sightings on Ute Canyon Trail, we opt for the 11-mile out-and-back Liberty Cap Trail; we’re not keen on close encounters of the ursine kind.

9:30 A.M. The next morning, en route to the Upper Liberty Cap trailhead, a bighorn sheep struts across the horizon on a rock wall like he owns the place. He kind of does.

10 A.M. We heave on packs loaded with a gallon of water each— since there are no water sources on Liberty Cap—sign the logbook, and head down a meandering path through piñon and juniper.

TO RATTLESNAKE CANYON

10:04 A.M. We stop to complain about the weight of our packs.

11:30 A.M. After gradually descending about three miles through meadows of Indian ricegrass, we find a spot to set up camp.

Visitor Center Black Ridge Road

Grand Junction

C O L O R A D O N AT I O N A L MONUMENT Tra

il

At press time, Saddlehorn Campground, the only maintained camping area in the monument, was closed due to COVID-19. When it reopens, try to snag sites B36 or B39 for some of the best cliffside views.

Rim Dr Roc ive k

Liberty C

ap

Liberty Cap

12:30 P.M. Unburdened by our packs, we practically dance the remaining 2.5 miles to the edge of the mesa above Liberty Cap.

Trailhead: Upper Liberty Cap

1:30 P.M. We pick our way down a trail better suited to bighorns than humans to get a closer look at the rocky dome that is Liberty Cap. Rungs once led up the 50-foot-tall mound but have been removed.

We try scaling it anyway—and quickly decide we are insane.

Elevation Loss/Gain: 650 feet

Distance: 11 miles, out and back

SOLITUDE-O-METER

3 P.M. A sock change and a snack refresh us before we set off to explore more. Our wanderings reveal novel vantages on the canyons we thought we’d already seen from every possible angle.

6:30 P.M. We make it back to the tent in time to watch the sunset light up the Book Cliffs in pink and yellow sepia tones no Instagram filter could ever imitate.

7:30 P.M. Dinner made and bear canister hung, we settle in for the night. I can see my breath in the glow of my headlamp; it’s supposed to drop to near freezing tonight. We’ve got three uphill miles to retrace tomorrow, so I click off the light and listen to an orchestra of frogs and bats. Planes flicker like night lights overhead. Most of them are headed west. In the morning, so are we. m JUNE 2020

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How To Have The Best Summer Ever* June usually marks the beginning of the season of possibilities: trails to explore, patios to drink on, beach vacays to take. This year, COVID-19’s arrival–and persistence–has complicated those plans. Before you give up on warm-weather joy, though, consult our guide. From Tiki cocktails to plein-air painting, we found 51 social distance friendly ways to enjoy Colorado’s hottest months.

BY KIM HABICHT AND ANGELA UFHEIL ILLUSTRATIONS BY TESS SMITH-ROBERTS

*No Matter What

The Best Summer Ever*

YOU C AN STILL…

Dine Alfresco

To enjoy dinner on a rooftop deck as the sun dips behind the Rockies is truly the peak of summer delight. But since increases in table separation may make finding a seat in your favorite eateries’ open-air spaces more difficult than ever, you should probably prepare a backup plan. Take some inspiration from this patio in Cherry Hills Village, designed by Paul Mahony, senior partner at Louisville’s KGA Studio Architects, to transform whatever outdoor real estate you have into a swanky spot for supping and sipping.

1

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Go Green

Stay Covered

It may not provide full shelter, but a pergola still creates the impression of a ceiling, Mahony says, driving home the outdoor-room concept.

He collaborated with Denver’s Diamond Homes and Designs

by Sundown to create this elaborate structure, but simpler versions (such as Toja Grid’s DIY pergola kits) offer a less expensive alternative.

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Fired Up

Sitting Pretty

Mahony used this home’s chimney to anchor a grand outdoor hearth to “entice guests to lounge outside.”

A stand-alone firepit serves the same purpose, especially if you’re missing campfires.

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Shed Some Light

“Your outdoor space is an extension of the interior,” Mahony says.

“You’d rarely have a room indoors with zero lights.” The owners of this English cottage–style abode chose gas lamps and a rustic chandelier to cast a romantic glow, one you can also achieve with a few closely watched candles.

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Avoid the inconvenience of carrying cushions inside before every 10-minute Denver downpour with colorful versions in a waterproof fabric like Sunbrella, which, Mahony notes, can be hosed down.

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Set The Table

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This patio’s teak table and chairs won’t stand up to Colorado’s weather patterns as well as powder-coated metal, but, Mahony says, “if you leave it alone, it fades to a nice, neutral gray.” To restore a soft, wood look even after years of outdoor use, just clean and stain.

David Patterson/Courtesy of KGA Studio Architects

Avoid uniformity when incorporating potted plants; after all, no two trees grow to exactly the same shape and height.

A variety of container sizes and foliage—like the flowery annuals and taller topiaries the homeowners selected with help from Littleton landscaping company Designs by Sundown— adds visual interest.

*No Matter What

You Can Still…

U-Pick Berries Straight From The Bush Lately, getting produce has meant donning a mask and being disappointed by picked-over grocery store shelves.

Happily, as of midJune fresh fruit and vegetable lovers can skip Safeway in favor of operations like Brighton’s Berry Patch Farms, which has been owned by Tim and Claudia Ferrell since 1998. Eight different U-pick fruits, veggies, and herbs (including golden raspberries, pickling cucumbers, and basil) are spread across 15 acres, meaning there’s plenty of space for social

YO U C A N S T I L L

CAPTURE STUNNING VISTAS Most summers, Coloradans can be found filing into Rocky Mountain National Park to ogle gorgeous natural wonders—and, of course, to snap pictures of them. Packing into popular attractions (if they’re even open; Rocky was still closed at press time) isn’t advisable this year, but in case you haven’t noticed, just about every square inch of our state has beauty worthy of your gaze. Nobody knows this better than Andrea Slusarski, a plein-air artist and associate professor at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, who says that “drawing the outdoors makes you see it a different way.” So put down your phone and try Slusarski’s approach to appreciating—and documenting—the Centennial State, no matter your vantage point.

From top: Courtesy of Andrea Slusarski; Getty Images

STEP 1: Gather your materials.

Slusarski uses a Stillman & Birn Alpha Series sketchbook, but if you don’t want to drop $20, paper scraps are fine. She suggests trying a variety of drawing utensils, including graphite, colored, and watercolor pencils. (Bring a small jar with a lid so you can carry out your dirty paint water— leave no trace applies to artists, too.) Pro tip: Pack a cushion or blanket to sit on.

STEP 2: Select your scene.

Although you might feel

comfortable heading out to a secluded spot on a less trodden trail, Slusarski says your backyard or neighborhood park make equally worthwhile subjects.

STEP 3: Loosen up.

“A lot of people get overwhelmed when they start out,” Slusarski says. “Our brains like to simplify things, so we’re seeing an object but not actually drawing it accurately.” She suggests starting with an exercise she teaches her art pupils: a blind contour drawing.

Illustrators depict a subject without looking at their

drawing pad or lifting their pencil, a drill that helps novices home in on the specifics of their scene.

STEP 4: Sketch!

“Something I like to emphasize is that everyone’s art should look different,” Slusarski says, so don’t stress if your first drawings come out, ahem, abstract. Instead, focus on appreciating all the details—an oddly curved aspen, nesting red-winged blackbirds, the cairn your child stacked in your landscaping—that you would’ve otherwise missed.

ON THE WEB Visit 5280.com for an easy, delicious way to use up your haul: a fouringredient recipe for raspberry lemon verbena jam from Saba Moraba of Boulder’s Saba Jam.

distancing—and less anxiety over whether the person in the next aisle is spewing germs all over the strawberries.

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The Best Summer Ever*

You Can Still…

Swap Screens For Sunshine It’s not totally your fault you’ve spent the past two-plus months attached to your phone/ tablet/TV (see: stay-athome orders). But now that summer is here, ditch the devices with some help from Tracy Markle, the founder of Boulder’s Digital Media Treatment and Education Center. Below, her checklist for a digital detox that will have you trading your iPhone glow for alpenglow.

SIP A TROPICAL COCKTAIL

 Decide how long you’ll

Right now, nothing sounds better than lounging on a beach in Turks and Caicos, sipping rum punch from a hollow coconut. But you don’t need sand in your swimsuit to enjoy a Tiki-style libation. Colorado mixologists concocted these shortcut recipes to the usually labor-intensive, fruity drinks to give you a taste of the tropics from your own backyard.

 Determine the apps and devices that are most problematic for you. Markle suggests downloading the Rescue Time app, which tracks where you spend the most time online. Cut those spots out.

 Pick something to

replace screen-based binging. Most often, the people Markle sees succeed are those who get outside.

“Summer is probably one of the best times to detox because of our ability to engage in nature,” she says. Even simple activities like walks around your block or playing catch with your kid in the yard will do.

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ON THE WEB For a bonus cocktail recipe from Kendra Anderson, advanced sommelier and owner of RiNo’s Bar Helix, visit 5280.com.

WE’RE JAMMIN’ Basil from your quarantine herb garden adds a savory note to this fizzy offering from Minetta Gould of LoHi’s Lady Jane.

2 oz. Jones House gin from Denver’s the Family Jones (or any clear spirit) ½ oz. lime juice 1 Tbsp. berry jam (Gould likes strawberry) 2 medium basil leaves, plus more for garnish Flavored seltzer water, such as passion fruit 1. Place all the ingredients except the seltzer in a pintsize mason jar. Fill with ice cubes and seal.

2. Shake for five to 10 seconds, or until the glass becomes cold.

3. Remove the top and add seltzer. Garnish with basil.

BASIC BEACH This approachable cocktail (pictured) from Jake Novotny, general manager at Boulder Tiki bar Jungle, gives you a reason to add falernum to your bar cart: The almond- and cloveflavored liqueur gives many tropical drinks an extra dimension beyond booze and fruit notes.

1½ oz. Montanya Oro rum from Crested Butte (or another gold rum) 1 oz. lime juice ½ oz. honey syrup (two parts honey mixed with one part warm water) ½ oz. John D. Taylor’s Velvet Falernum ½ oz. grapefruit juice Mint sprig 1. Put all the ingredients, minus the mint, into a shaker filled with ice. Shake for five to 10 seconds.

2. Strain into a tumbler filled halfway with crushed ice.

3. Garnish with mint.

From left: Emilija Manevska/Getty Images; Courtesy of Evan Grainger

digitally diet. Markle recommends at least 30 days to see benefits, such as reduced depression and anxiety.

YO U C A N S T I L L

*No Matter What

YOU C AN STILL…

Savor The Season

From left: Courtesy of Mortal Kombucha; Suzanne Tadros/Courtesy of Little Herbal Apothecary; Courtesy of Cardamom Designs; Courtesy of Weave and Gather; Courtesy of Jessica Schutz; Courtesy of Brumate

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Sure, come late September, it feels great to say you crossed another 10 fourteeners off your list—but do you ever find yourself secretly wishing you’d indulged in more simple, quintessential warm-weather pleasures? If so, this is your year: Between the stress and restrictions (social, monetary, travel) brought on by COVID-19, you have plenty of excuses to make this your most relaxing summer yet. We even created a find-your-local-Zen bingo card to give you a sense of accomplishment, albeit via the most laid-back game there is.

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Have a backyard campout complete with Parker-born Mountain Mallow’s cookies-and-cream marshmallows tucked inside your s’mores. $14 for 18

Cozy up your patio furniture with pillows sheathed in Denver artist Kate Kellogg’s hand block-printed Cardamom Designs covers. From $24

Follow @cheesmanbark on Instagram for a remote dose of puppy cuteness.

Read “Monumental Beauty” on page 46 of this issue to fuel daydreams about a future trip to Colorado National Monument.

Combat pandemic-induced anxiety by streaming a calming class from nonprofit Kadampa Meditation Center Colorado. $12 per week for unlimited sessions

Roll a bit of calming lavender- and chamomile-scented oil from Alpine Essence in Berthoud on your wrists before snoozing with your windows open. $8

Activate childhood nostalgia with push-up ice cream pops (try the orange cream) from Steuben’s in Uptown. $4

Groove to There Will Come Soft Rains, Colorado crooner Esmé Patterson’s dreamy March album, while grilling in your backyard.

Sprawl out with a book in a nearby park on Gili Gear’s waterproof Earth Mat, an upcycled vinyl mesh blanket handmade in Vail and Denver. From $40

Have your partner massage Don’t Be Sore muscle rub from Lafayette’s Little Herbal Apothecary onto your achy-from-summerruns limbs. $16

FREE SPACE

Catch a midafternoon nap with your honey in a nylon double hammock from Boulder’s Trek Light Gear. $70

Try disc golf (we like Camenisch Park’s Badlands Disc Golf Course), the cheaper and more leisurely—but equally social distance friendly—cousin to Tiger Woods’ sport of choice.

Busy your art-campless young Monet with a Paint & Plant pottery-decorating kit from Green Lady Gardens on Santa Fe Drive. From $35

Score the best seat in the driveway at your neighborhood happy hour thanks to Steamboat Springs–based Big Agnes’ new cupholder-equipped Big Six Armchair. $200

Gaze at the clouds (and don’t feel guilty that you aren’t out hiking).

Blend produce from your CSA share and a 20-milligram packet of Denver-based Caliper CBD’s powder into a nourishing smoothie. $25 per 10-pack

Bike to Huckleberry Roasters in Sunnyside for a cold brew (and a side of toilet paper, if necessary). $5.50 plus $2.50 per roll of TP

Record your “summer in the time of COVID19” musings in Cold Mountain Craft’s Aspenmade leather journal with a handy shoulder strap. From $109

Reward yourself for mowing the lawn (again) with new booze-infused kombucha from Boulder’s Mortal Kombucha. $6

Suffuse a postyardwork rinse with aromas of more tropical flora courtesy of a Hawaiian Dreams shower bomb from Fort Collins’ Salus. $2.65

Breathe easy when you go out in one of Weave and Gather’s masks, handmade by Boulderite Rachel Relin Haswell. $24

A

Light Jannu & Me’s citrus-infused Black Cliff candle with beachy sea salt, hand-poured in Boulder. $24

X Show your offspring what children did for fun before TikTok with a sparkly hula hoop from Colorado Springs’ MissHoopsALot. From $43

Keep your rosé chilled (yes, all day) in a Winesulator from Denver’s Brümate. $35

Enhance backyard stargazing—see if your kids can spot extra-bright Deneb, Vega, and Altair— with a telescope from Lakewood’s Mile High Astronomy. From $130

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The Best Summer Ever*

YOU C AN STILL…

Have A Summer Romance Maybe you’ve been swiping right waiting for stay-at-home orders to lift so you can take your quarantine crush on a non-Zoom-assisted date—or perhaps you and your SO haven’t had a night away from the kids since Valentine’s Day. Either way, it’s safe to say the new coronavirus hasn’t helped your love life. With restrictions beginning to relax, we’ve planned five pandemic-friendly, passion-igniting alternatives to traditional dates, whether you’re fanning a new flame or rekindling an existing relationship.

THE SUBSTITUTE:

THE STANDARD:

Swapping flirty glances over steaming-hot lattes THE SUBSTITUTE:

Take a morning stroll after filling to-go mugs with made-at-home joe from Native Coffee Club’s subscription service. Each delivery (starting at $20/month) includes beans from a Colorado-based roaster such as Jubilee Roasting Co. or Little Owl Coffee and a free drink card for their cafes—i.e., the perfect way to secure a second date.

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Pack up your own candy and popcorn, get in the car, and claim your parking spot at the Drive-in Movie Club pop-up from July 21 to 26. In a TBD location (visit zip-tickets.com for updates), you and your date will get to view cult classics and newer releases without fretting about the dude in the row behind you ruining the movie with his constant texting (or worse, coughing).

THE STANDARD:

Holding hands while viewing the Denver Art Museum’s new exhibit THE SUBSTITUTE:

Take a virtual tour of the Clyfford Still Museum via its online collection.

Narrow your selection— filter by what’s currently on view, color, or where or when the works were created—then activate the “slow looking” feature, which simulates the in-person viewing experience by zooming in and panning across the canvas.

THE STANDARD:

Sipping beers and rooting for the home team at Coors Field THE SUBSTITUTE:

Host your own localmicrobrew-fueled contest with Colorado Ski Chairs’ custommade cornhole sets (starting at $300).

The Centennial-based company will handmake two boards using repurposed downhill or cross-country skis or snowboards in the color of your choice.

Bonus: Adapting it to be a two-person game means no one has to share bags.

Clyfford Still’s “PH-960”

THE STANDARD:

Canoodling over dinner and drinks at a low-lit, romantic restaurant THE SUBSTITUTE:

Dim the lights, put on some Sinatra, and work together to make professional-grade dishes with a meal kit from PreFare.

The Denver operation delivers premeasured ingredients (locally sourced when possible and with minimal packaging waste) for entrées like beef ragu pasta that require 15 minutes or less of hands-on prep.

Clockwise from top: Getty Images; Courtesy of Rachel Adams; Courtesy of Clyfford Still Museum; Courtesy of Native Coffee Club

THE STANDARD:

Catching a summer blockbuster at a packed movie theater

*No Matter What

You Can Still…

YO U C A N S T I L L

ENJOY A BEACH READ

Plan The Perfect Picnic

These new books from Colorado authors will keep you flipping pages, whether you make it to a seaside perch or not.

Change your meal-time scenery (which you’re surely sick of) by noshing on these Colorado-made goods in one of Denver’s many public parks.

Build a charcuterie board with Il Posto chef Andrea Frizzi’s new to-go cheeses, including mozzarella, Gorgonzola, and madein-house Burrata.

If Your Favorite Beach Activity Is:

Building sandcastles

Read: Other People’s Pets by R.L. Maizes Because: Boulder writer Maizes’ first

Read: Tiny Dino Worlds by Christine

novel, out next month, tells the story of veterinarian-in-training La La Fine, who survived an unstable childhood by forming bonds with animals. When Fine’s locksmith-by-day, burglar-bynight father is captured, she drops out of school and pays his legal bills by taking up his line of work. Her calling card?

Caring for the pets of those she robs.

Clockwise from top left: Courtesy of Celadon Books; Courtesy of Roost Books; Courtesy of Simon Pulse; Courtesy of Severn House

If Your Favorite Beach Activity Is:

Letting your dog chase the waves

If Your Favorite Beach Activity Is:

Watching people from behind your sunglasses and inventing wild backstories for them

Read: Stake by Kevin J. Anderson Because: From his home in Monument,

Anderson has penned an array of science fiction stories, including prequels to the Dune series. His latest, out in August (the audiobook is already available) and set in Colorado Springs, has a plot that questions not just motive but reality itself: A detective tracks a rash of murders committed by a man convinced he’s slaying vampires.

As of April, you can find Boulder-based Wilde’s Chicken Chips—the breast-meat crisps come in flavors like jalapeño and chicken and waffles—in single-serving packages at Whole Foods Market.

Bayles Kortsch

Because: Junior fossil fanatics can

design Jurassic-themed habitats and make dino eggs from ice using Bayles Kortsch’s first book for kids (and their adult helpers). The Denver author consulted with two paleontologists to ensure each project is as accurate to prehistoric times as possible—and to collect the dino facts throughout.

If Your Favorite Beach Activity Is:

Sunbathing with headphones on

Read: Turtle Under Ice by Juleah del Rosario

Because: Published in February, this

ON THE WEB Find more social distancing friendly ways to spend your summer at 5280.com.

Farmhouse loaves are made fresh daily at Moxie Bread Co., which opened a granary in North Boulder two months ago.

Order Front Range Cannery’s biscotti and vegetable zucchini antipasti, which owner Pauline Summers makes using a recipe from her mother and grandmother, who grew up in Calabria, Italy.

Because booze is banned in Mile High City parks until July 23, pack a few cans of Grüvi’s Denver-made, nonalcoholic Weisse or IPA. m

Boulder author and librarian’s second young adult book follows two sisters after their mother’s death. When her older sister, Ariana, runs away from home, teenage Rowena must confront how grief has altered their relationship.

AirPods-addicted tweens even have an excuse to go for the Audible version: The book is written in verse, meaning it practically begs to be read out loud.

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Colorado In The Time Of covid-19

In late March, just weeks into our forced hibernation and several days before Governor Jared Polis would declare April our “lost month,� we asked writers from around the state how the novel coronavirus had changed their respective worlds. Here, four reflections about life in Colorado during the early days of the pandemic.

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If you are scared about food, roceries, and in need, please reach out and we will brin g some home and leave them at your door.”

Comic Relief

A comedy club that barely was delivers food, hope, and redemption to Denver’s masses.

BY SARAH SCOLES

n mid-march, a new handwritten sign appeared in my apartment building’s mailroom.

It hung in sharp contrast to the one that had been there for a month, in which an aggrieved resident warned about package thievery. This new sign, instead, was about giving packages away.

“Hello neighbors,” it began. “Right now is a scary time.”

So true, I thought. Instead of traveling to publicize my new book, I was filling my days by worrying about my mom, who was sick with what we were calling “maybe The Thing”; imagining tiny death particles on every surface; wondering if my work as a freelance writer would continue to exist; and generally considering the collapse of normal society. Almost anything, including this note, could make me cry.

The letter writers, though, were offering to reduce fear by giving free meal kits—like those you’d get from a subscription service— to those who had lost jobs or income or who simply needed meals. By that point in the pandemic, that was already a lot of people: It was a few days after Denver’s bars and restaurants closed to inside customers and a

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few days before most of us were ordered to stay at home. “Our friends and family have donated 100 of these meals to those in need every day,” the letter continued. “If you are scared about food, groceries, and in need, please reach out and we will bring some home and leave them at your door.”

The people who’d penned this note, I later discovered, were comedians and bar owners Meghan DePonceau and Jeremy Pysher. They were also people with whom I’d exchanged polite hellos for a year. I’d seen them countless times when we both happened to take trash out at 6:30 p.m. or when one of them was pulling their dog back inside the apartment building as I stepped outside with mine—an interaction that would now feel uncomfortably proximal.

I texted the number on the note—not for a meal kit but rather to hear their story.

We’d spent a year living in the same building, and yet I never knew who they really were until we weren’t allowed to stand within six feet of each other. deponceau and pysher, I learned when we spoke by phone from our respective fortresses of solitude, both hail from

Buffalo, New York. When they moved here, they noticed a dearth of dive-y, affordable comedy venues. So when they got the opportunity to purchase a Ballpark bar called Rock Steady late this past year, they jumped. They shut Rock Steady down in early March to transform the space into a watering hole with authentic wings, entertainment every night, and an underdog ethos. They would call it Wide Right, the proper noun bestowed upon the field goal Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood missed (widely, to the right), thereby losing the 1991 Super Bowl. “It’s about the greatest loser of all time,” DePonceau says. “It goes with the bar’s whole mentality.” The plan was for Wide Right to open on March 14.

On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

Undeterred, Pysher and DePonceau hunted down cleaning products, bought wipes to sanitize the mic between acts, and moved barstools farther apart. Pysher posted on his Facebook page: “Here are the cocktails we are making right now for our first night as Wide Right. Hand Sanitizer: 98% Isopropyl Alcohol, Hydrogen Peroxide, Distilled Water. Should be delicious.”

They got just two shows in before Denver Mayor Michael Hancock closed bars and restaurants, effective March 17. “My entire business is entertainment, comedy, and creating a place that people can be at,” DePonceau says. Now, no one was really supposed to be at anywhere besides home.

DePonceau and Pysher began pondering what would come next. With access to bulk food but questions about how to prepare it, they hit upon the idea of meal kits. On their first day of packaging healthy ingredients into recipe-ready portions, the pair started getting offers from others who wanted to contribute to the effort. Soon, taking donations and delivering free meals became Wide Right’s whole operation. They weren’t making much of a profit, but they thought if they were going to go down, they might as well go down doing something useful. “We kind of realized that takeout wasn’t going to save our business,” DePonceau says. “So we focused on trying to help others.”

The number of “others” grew quickly, virally even, as more people lost work and facilities like daycares, shelters, and health care centers took Wide Right up on its offer. Whereas DePonceau had at first taken CONTINUED ON PAGE 80 requests through

Previous spread: Getty Images (Denver Capitol, hands, topo map, virus); Ivan Vdovin/Alamy Stock Photo (owl); Antiqua Print Gallery/Alamy Stock Photo (mountains)

Hello neighbors,

COLORADO IN THE TIME

of COVID-19

Viral Overload

Getting outside is central to being a Coloradan. But sometimes—such as during a pandemic—you have to set aside what you love to protect the people you love.

BY TED KATAUSKAS

ust after 10 a.m. on Monday, April 6, I was seated in the command center at Vail Mountain Rescue Group, Eagle County’s all-volunteer search and rescue (SAR) team, careful to maintain my social distance from the other responders.

Earlier that morning, a local contractor had called 911 to report that one of his employees hadn’t shown up for work. The overdue subject, a male in his fifties, had texted his boss on Saturday evening, saying he was exhausted after skinning up Meadow Mountain, a returned-to-wilderness ski area between the resorts in Vail and Beaver Creek, and was going to hunker down in a snow cave for the night. More than 30 hours later, he hadn’t been heard from, and his truck was still parked at the trailhead.

This spread, from left: Getty Images (hands, microphone, paper, virus); Getty Images (ski patrol, village, virus)

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Our plan was to split into three teams.

One would take snowmobiles to check three cabins; a drone crew would look for clues from above; and a dog team would hunt for the subject’s scent. As a canine handler, my job would be to collect scent from the subject’s vehicle and then put my dog, Halo, to work near his last known position roughly five miles up the mountain. For a SAR team, this was business as usual, with one big caveat: the specter of COVID-19.

Our subject was believed to be negative.

But who really knew? Outside of Telluride (where two part-time residents provided all of San Miguel County with tests), only those who fit the risk profile and exhibited symptoms were being tested in Colorado.

Just as we were preparing to leave, the incident commander’s cell phone rang. An

off-duty police officer skinning up the trail had located the subject making his way down to the parking lot, utterly spent but otherwise fine. I was relieved he had been found, sure, but also that I had potentially dodged a microdroplet-size bullet.

So much had changed since I left the Vail Valley on March 11 to tend to a family emergency in my northwest Indiana hometown. When I flew out of our two-runway regional airport, Eagle County (population: 55,127) had just confirmed its first cases of COVID-19, which likely had been in circulation for weeks. Our international ski destination had yet to prove it was as virulent a petri dish as the subways and sidewalks of New York City, though, so the new coronavirus at that time was more of an abstract concern than a full-blown threat.

Still, out of caution, like many of the travelers on that sold-out flight to Chicago, I judiciously scrubbed my seat’s armrests, belt buckle, and tray table with Clorox wipes purchased on a whim. Later, I sat through the night at the side of a hospital bed, watching my dad’s vitals deteriorate as he struggled to breathe, his lungs overwhelmed with pneumonia (much like a patient with COVID-19, though his test was negative), until the middle of the next day, when he left this world at the age of 92. It was a world utterly unlike the one he’d been born into. like many transplants, I moved to the Centennial State in part for the express purpose of getting after it outside. Embracing the outdoors is what defines being a Coloradan for many of us, but when doing so threatens the very communities we’ve joined, we must take a break from the mountains. I promise the backcountry will still be there when this is over—just as soul-restoring as ever, if not more so. Many mountain locals, though, might not be.

By March 23, Eagle County had the state’s highest concentration of COVID-19 cases: 168 per 100,000 people, almost eight times Denver’s. To put that into perspective, on the same day, in Queens, home to New York City’s apocalyptic Elmhurst Hospital, the case rate was nearly identical. Given how easily the virus spreads, rescuers who could be exposed to COVID-19 during a mission, when social distancing is all but impossible, might need to self-quarantine for 14 days, sidelining valuable resources— and not just for SAR CONTINUED ON PAGE 80 JUNE 2020

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Losing the end of our ski season is about so much more than the powder that went untracked.

BY KELLY BASTONE

bout a month before the Steamboat ski area was scheduled to close for the season, resort officials announced they were ceasing operations, effective the next morning. The March 15 shutdown wasn’t a surprise: Social distancing efforts had been underway for a day or two, and in fact, I had gone backcountry skiing that morning because I was leery about sharing the gondola with potential COVID-19 carriers.

Shuttering the resort struck me as the right thing to do, but the news also filled me with longing.

Normally, the ski season ends with the ritual of Closing Day, a mashup of silly stunts, beer salutes, and live bands playing to sun-hungry snow riders who bare too much skin and wear too little sunscreen.

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Pond-skimming is de rigueur. Laughably impractical vehicles, like snowblades and monoboards, get dragged out for clownish effect. And if you’re not in costume, you are a buzzkill. My Closing Day standby is a fuchsia and yellow striped trench coat and an electric pink wig, but I’ve also been known to wear fake black hair with an off-shoulder shirt of red sequins. The Best One Piece Award goes—in perpetuity—to my friend Steve, who always sports an ’80s masterpiece of neon colorblocking.

“None of that would happen on any day but Closing Day,” Steve said recently.

He’s right: Closing Day suspends everyday expectations. It’s when we let our alter egos out of their cages, dress them in garish colors, and free them to do things we’d never approve of on any other Sunday. That

makes it the ski-town version of Mardi Gras. Like New Orleans’ signature street bash, Closing Day is about boozing and regalia and gorging on pleasures before the fast; after all, our Lent is the snowless summer. But it’s about even more than that.

Across the Centennial State, at more than a dozen ski resorts big and small, Closing Day is when we pay collective tribute to the season’s greatest moments. My friend, Jacqueline, likes to cruise around the mountain savoring last runs: her last line down North St. Pats, her last plunge down the Chutes. I like to stand on Sunshine Peak and gaze out at the whitewashed vastness that surrounds Steamboat. I revisit the hallowed places where powder cascaded over my head and I felt kissed by God. And I bid farewell to the resort’s quirky wintertime community. Some years, I join in the long-standing tradition of hiking up to the radio tower on Mt. Werner to pass a bottle with familiar faces. A few are people I know well enough to text on a powder morning: “You headed up?” Others I just recognize by their ski clothes, though after months of seeing these resort regulars on the runs, they feel like friends. There’s Bearded Dude, who tucks his dreadlocks into a crazy top hat. Cheery Guy, always in his green Marmot jacket. And Unsmiling Skier with the graying mullet, whom I often notice as he’s bombing down Surprise. I don’t know how they identify me, but we are nonetheless members of the same tribe—and Closing Day lets me high-five those characters before we all go gloveless for the summer.

Closing Day can even be a time to say more final goodbyes. Two years ago, friends of mine mourned the loss of Chris “Johnsie” Johns, a ripping skier, cycle-shop owner, and golden-hearted guy who gifted bikes to underprivileged kids and adults through a charity he’d founded. The 51-year-old had died unexpectedly from epilepsy in early March 2018, and his buddies scattered his ashes from the tower on Closing Day before skiing down by headlamp after dark.

Personally, I prefer to log my final run at dusk, on one of the west-facing pistes where I can free-fall into a pink and orange sky. But this year’s sundowner didn’t feel the same. A few days after the resort closed but before stay-at-home orders would’ve made me think better of it, I skinned up to the summit and found CONTINUED ON PAGE 80

Getty Images (ski lift); Larry Pierce/Courtesy of Steamboat Ski Resort (sledders); Alissa Eckert, MS, Dan Higgins, MAMS/Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (virus)

Unmade Memories

COLORADO IN THE TIME

of COVID-19

Free Birds

Two friends, a mountain pass, and an end times journey to seduce an owl.

BY MARTIN J. SMITH

n the day the president finally realized you can’t bullshit a virus and the Dow dropped nearly 3,000 points, I got a call from Mark Obmascik, a friend who lives in Denver. Mark has been through some pretty grim days during his long career as a journalist, including his work helping to cover the Columbine shooting for the Denver Post.

Mark’s a dedicated birder. We’ve been friends since 2012, when I read The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession, his terrific book about the American Birding Association’s annual species-spotting competition, and I published a book of my own called The Wild Duck Chase: Inside the Strange and Wonderful World of the Federal Duck Stamp Contest, about the world of competitive duck painting. Long story. Anyway, my affable pal has a house in Tabernash, not far from where I live in Granby, and he had retreated to the mountains with his family to self-isolate.

He didn’t mention the ongoing end times unpleasantness when he called, but instead offered a proposition: “Wanna go out tonight and seduce some owls?”

Ivan Vdovin/Alamy Stock Photo (owl); Getty Images (sky, virus)

O

I laughed. It felt wrong, off-key, but in all the right ways. So, I assessed the situation. Our house-of-cards health care system was about to be gusted by a global pandemic. The world economy was in full-blown meltdown, and my retirement account was vaporizing. We still had the same president.

“What time?” I said. later that night we set out, just a couple of refugees from a foundering world.

We met at 8:30 at Windy Gap Reservoir in Grand County in what seemed like the only cars on the road. The parking lot was closed and gated, so we pulled into a nearby turnout.

“I’ll drive from here,” I offered.

Mark shook his head. “Separate cars.”

Right. The virus. “OK,” I said. “You lead, I’ll follow.”

Our destination was the almost 10,000foot summit of Willow Creek Pass, which crosses the Continental Divide in the Rabbit Ears Range between Grand and Jackson counties, about 20 rising miles from the U.S. 40 turnoff. CO 125 was mostly deserted, the night black as coal.

Even with the brights on, our headlights showed nothing but road and trees and an occasional flash of spring runoff as it tumbled down the creek. Every few miles Mark would pull over at what he considered likely owl habitat, strap on his headlamp, and climb out into the evening chill.

At our first stop, he set a small speaker on the hood of his truck and fiddled with his smartphone. He turned off his headlamp and tapped the screen. The speaker came alive with the amplified call of a boreal owl.

That’s what we were after, he explained: a rare, hard-to-spot critter a bit bigger than a beer can. He’d seen a social media post from an excited University of Colorado Boulder student the night before who’d done exactly what we were doing, somewhere over on Cameron Pass. The student claimed he actually got swooped by a horny owl, its wing nearly touching his speaker. There was unmistakable excitement in Mark’s voice as he recounted the story—bird people are like that—but it was a refreshing shift in tone after days of sobering infection projections and televised gloom.

I watched him fiddle for a bit. “Is that some special speaker system for birding?”

He shook his head. “You could play Public Enemy through it if you wanted.”

He sounded the avian version of “You up?” a few times while we listened for a response. It occurred to me that much of our lives soon could be channeled through the same kind of electronica, since Skype, Zoom, Webex, and Google Hangouts were becoming the most acceptable forms of congregation. But at that moment, the owls were on mute.

We packed up and drove a few miles more, to a small bridge across Willow Creek that led back into the woods. We drove about 100 yards and stopped near a camping turnout, where a big-ass pickup and a fifth-wheel trailer were parked in a small pool of light. We opened our doors to a barrage of raging death metal music.

Mark shook his head: “This won’t work.”

After one other luckless stop, we reached the summit of the pass at about 9:30. Mark set up his equipment again. At one point we heard something other than an owl apparently responding to the call.

But then, just silence. we could have declared the evening a failure and packed up CONTINUED ON PAGE 81 JUNE 2020

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DINING GUIDE $ UNDER $10



$$ $11 TO $15

$$$ $16 TO $25



25 B E S T

SYMBOL KEY Indicates inclusion in our annual list of Denver’s best restaurants, released each October. These selections are at the discretion of 5280 editors and are subject to change.

25 B E S T

$$

American Elm

$$

Berkeley / New American Elevated fare and excellent classic cocktails anchor the menu at this neighborhood spot. 4132 W. 38th Ave., 720-7493186. Lunch, Dinner Annette

$$$

Aurora / New American Acorn’s former sous chef, Caroline Glover, brings a warm dining experience to Stanley Marketplace with Annette.

Enjoy a family-style menu featuring seasonal salads, toasts, and wood-grilled fare. Stanley Marketplace, 2501 Dallas St., Ste. 108, Aurora, 720-710-9975. Dinner Arcana

$$$$

Boulder / American This charming Boulder restaurant explores the roots of American heritage through food. Pair a local cider with the likes of Colorado lamb, red lentil dal, or farmer’s cheese toast. 909 Walnut St., Boulder, 303-444-3885. Dinner

B Barcelona Wine Bar

$$

RiNo / Spanish This trendy wine bar specializes in Spanish wine and tapas. Try the paella mariscos.

2900 Larimer St., 303-816-3300. Dinner

25 B E S T

Beast & Bottle

$$$$

Uptown Area / Seasonal A sustainable-sourcing mantra permeates a menu featuring everything from local lamb to cod collars. Look for weekend farmers’ market pop-ups and to-go pastas and meal kits from sister restaurant, Coperta. 719 E. 17th Ave., 303-623-3223. Dinner

70 5 2 8 0

Beckon

The Bindery

Acorn

RiNo / New American Contemporary American cuisine with Southern and Moroccan notes is served from an oak-fired oven and grill at this mainstay inside the Source. The Source, 3350 Brighton Blvd., 720-542-3721. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

Barolo Grill

JUNE 2020

$$$$

$$$

Highland / Contemporary Linda Hampsten Fox’s eatery, market, and bakery offers worldly fare inspired by her travels. Order the smoked rabbit pie with mustard gelato or duck confit hash. 1817 Central St., 303-993-2364. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

25 B E S T

Blackbelly

$$$

Boulder / New American Chef Hosea Rosenberg’s meaty menu focuses on charcuterie, small plates, and daily butcher specials. Check out the butcher shop and grab-and-go market, Blackbelly Butcher, located next door. 1606 Conestoga St., Boulder, 303-247-1000. Dinner Blue Pan Pizza

C

$$$$

RiNo / Scandinavian Chef Duncan Holmes brings an elevated, intimate, ticketed dining experience to Larimer Street. The Scandinavian-influenced menu changes seasonally, and wine pairings are available. 2843 Larimer St., 303-749-0020. Dinner

A

25 B E S T

$$$$ $26 AND HIGHER

Cherry Creek / Italian Dedication to authenticity translates to the food and extensive wine menu at this elegant eatery, which is focused on the cuisines of northern Italy’s Tuscany and Piedmont regions.

3030 E. Sixth Ave., 303-393-1040. Dinner

25 BEST

25 B E S T



For a more extensive list, go to 5280.com.

$$

West Highland / Pizza Masterfully crafted Detroit-style pizza is the draw at this tiny spot.

Try the Brooklyn Bridge, topped with pepperoni, Italian sausage, and ricotta, Romano, and pecorino cheeses. Also try the Congress Park location. 3930 W. 32nd Ave., 720-456-7666.

Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

Cattivella

$$$

Stapleton / Italian Chef Elise Wiggins offers rustic, wood-fired Italian fare. Go for the likes of grilled oysters, seasonal pizzas, and fresh pastas. 10195 E. 29th Dr., Ste. 110, 303-6453779. Lunch, Dinner Cherry Cricket

$$

Chicken Rebel

$$

Cherry Creek / Pub This cheery neighborhood hangout offers excellent green chile, great burgers, and delicious milk shakes. Also try the Ballpark location. 2641 E. Second Ave., 303-322-7666.

Lunch, Dinner

Highland / American The brick-and-mortar location of the popular food truck and former Avanti food stall serves up sandwiches, salads, and more starring beer-battered fried chicken. Don’t miss the loaded tots. 3618 Tejon St., 720-7106620. Lunch, Dinner

ChoLon

$$$$

Downtown / Asian This contemporary restaurant serves modern twists on Pan-Asian cuisine. Don’t miss the French onion soup dumplings. Also try the Stapleton location. 1555 Blake St., 303-3535223. Lunch, Dinner

Chook

$

Platt Park / Contemporary Chook specializes in Australian-style, charcoal-grilled rotisserie chicken and fresh veggie sides. Also try the Hale location.

1300 S. Pearl St., 303-282-8399. Lunch, Dinner

Bon Appétit!

At Boulder’s three-year-old Le French Café, France natives and co-owners (and spouses) Agnes and Quentin Garrigou serve flavorful bistro fare: crêpes and quiches, baguette sandwiches, and other specialties inspired by the tastes of their home country.

The croque madame stars ham and cheese layered between toast, slathered in a creamy béchamel sauce, and crowned with a fried egg. lefrenchcafeboulder.com

Sarah Boyum

PRICE KEY

(Average Entrée)



Due to mandated dine-in closures at press time, this list features only those businesses serving takeout.

HAPPY HOU THE WEEK WAS WON.

Food and drink starting at $8.

Lounge Opens Daily at 4 PM.

Join us for Happy Hour and indulge in handcrafted cocktails, generous sandwiches and delicious appetizers. These are the ingredients for an unforgettable evening.

THIS IS HOW HAPPY HOUR IS DONE.

Visit one of our two Denver locations: Denver Tech Center at One Bellevue Station | Downtown Denver

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DINING GUIDE 25 B E S T

5 Summer Adventures to Experience Colorado Unfiltered in Winter Park 1

2 3 4 5

HIKE PEAKS AND VALLEYS Whether it’s a day hike or an overnight backpacking trip, explore outdoors near Winter Park and Fraser.

Choose from wildflowers and waterfalls, or challenge yourself to reach panoramic views and high-alpine lakes.

BIKE THE ROCKIES Also known as Mountain Bike Capital USA, Winter Park offers more than 600 miles of biking trails. Cruise through town, enjoy a scenic cross-country ride, or shred the terrain at Trestle Bike Park.

Comal Heritage Food Incubator

D Daughter Thai

Denver Central Market

$$

Denver Milk Market

$$

RiNo / Global This marketplace features 11 vendors with dining options ranging from ceviche and handmade pasta to ice cream and craft chocolate. Take your pick from Crema Bodega, Culture Meat & Cheese, Curio Bar, High Point Creamery, and more.

2669 Larimer St. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch Downtown / Global Bonanno Concepts’ 16-venue collection of bars and restaurants features everything from fresh pasta and grocery items to poke bowls and charcuterie 1800 Wazee St., 303-792-8242. Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

Dio Mio

$$

RiNo / Italian One thing you can count on at Alex Figura and Spencer White’s fast-casual Italian eatery: perfect pasta. Try dishes like cacio e pepe.

The house-made sourdough is heavenly. 3264 Larimer St., 303-562-1965. Dinner

F The Feedery

STARGAZE ON A CAMPING TRIP With minimal light pollution, view the Milky Way at 9,000 feet. Choose from a variety of full-service and dispersed camping options for your next summer camping trip.

Fruition Restaurant

PlayWinterPark.com

$$$$

Highland / Thai This upscale restaurant serves beautifully plated dishes and inventive cocktails.

Order the stewed Bangkok-style ribs or the plalarb salad with fried frog legs and sticky rice.

1700 Platte St., Suite 140, 720-667-4652.

Lunch, Dinner

TAKE A SCENIC DRIVE ALONG CORONA PASS Take in unfiltered views of Colorado on a scenic drive.

Reach the top of the Continental Divide by driving 15 miles up Corona Pass Road.

FLY-FISH THE FRASER RIVER Discover Gold Medal waters near Winter Park and Fraser. Cast a line along the Fraser River or check out other creeks, streams, and reservoirs. Head to public access locations or booked a guided tour.

$$

RiNo / Latin American You’ll find family recipes from Latin America and Syria at this restaurant, which has a rotating menu and provides job training to local women. 3455 Ringsby Ct., Ste. 105, 303-292-0770. Lunch

$$

Englewood / Seasonal Chef-driven recipes and ingredients from local growers and its own urban farm and marketplace, Grow & Gather, fuel an evolving menu of dishes. 900 E. Hampden Ave., Englewood, 720-535-7217. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

$$$$

Country Club / New American James Beard Award–winning chef Alex Seidel’s tiny kitchen focuses on seasonal dishes that are big on flavor.

1313 E. Sixth Ave., 303-831-1962. Dinner

Fox Run Cafe

Congress Park / American This cozy cafe has simple, delicious fare including coffee, freshly baked pastries, salads, and sandwiches. 3550 E. Colfax Ave., 303-537-4584. Breakfast, Lunch

25 B E S T

Frasca Food and Wine

$

$$$$

Boulder / Italian Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson and master sommelier Bobby Stuckey’s fine-dining mecca has racked up scores of accolades over the years (including nods from the James Beard Foundation). The elegant Friulano cuisine always wows.

1738 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-442-6966. Dinner

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DINING GUIDE

H Hank’s Texas BBQ

$$

Highland Tap and Burger

$$

Hop Alley

$$$

25 B E S T

Highland / American Pick your patty, bun, and premium toppings for a customizable meal enhanced with a choice of more than a dozen Colorado craft beers. Multiple locations. 2219 W. 32nd Ave., 720-287-4493. Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

RiNo / Chinese From Tommy Lee of Uncle, this neighborhood hangout serves dishes rooted in Chinese tradition with a touch of distinctive flair.

Try the char sui pork shoulder family meal or bone marrow fried rice. 3500 Larimer St., 720-379-8340. Dinner

I Istanbul Café & Bakery

Julep

$

$$

J’s Noodles Star Thai 2

La Loma

$$

Le French Cafe

$$

Downtown / Mexican This local favorite offers a menu of classic Mexican eats (think: flautas, tacos, and green chile) in a convivial downtown location.

Pair your meal with a refreshing house margarita.

1801 Broadway, 303-433-8300. Lunch, Dinner

$

Westwood / Thai This traditional Thai spot has developed a cult following over the years. The tom yum soup, drunken noodles, and pad thai are regulars’ picks. 945 S. Federal Blvd., 303-922-5495.

Lunch, Dinner

Boulder / French This bakery and cafe serves delicious pastries and bistro fare. 2525 Arapahoe Ave., C-1, Boulder, 303-284-2265.

Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

K

M $$$

Downtown / Contemporary This community bistro is focused on consciously sourced ingredients. Order the comforting tomato soup. Also try the Boulder location. 1520 16th St., 303-6233127. Lunch, Dinner,

Maria Empanada

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$

Platt Park / Latin American More than 15 flavors of empanadas await at this casual spot. Share a dozen and save room for the alfajores. Also try the Stanley Marketplace location. 1298 S. Broadway Ave., 303-934-2221. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

NEUROREHABILITATION & RESEARCH HOSPITAL

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$

Valverde / Mexican This is a must-visit destination for taco lovers. Try the tacos al pastor and carnitas.

1565 W. Alameda Ave., 720-583-6586. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

RiNo / Southern This isn’t your typical Southern restaurant. Chef Kyle Foster serves sophisticated dishes inspired by the flavors and techniques of the South. Order the fried chicken. 3258 Larimer St., 303-295-8977. Dinner

The Kitchen

Washington Virginia Vale / Middle Eastern Inside the shopping center at the intersection of South Monaco Parkway and Leetsdale Drive, friendly

La Calle Taqueria Y Carnitas

J

Hale / Barbecue This fast-casual barbecue joint serves slow-cooked meats (including brisket and hot links) in sandwiches, tacos, and more. 5410 E. Colfax Ave., 720-277-3225. Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

L

owner Ismet Yilmaz prepares authentic Turkish pastries. 850 S. Monaco Pkwy., Ste. #9, 720-536-5455. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

P re s e nt e d b y

TODAY THROUGH JUNE 21ST! As you can imagine, the need to support families in need is greater n o w m o r e t h a n e v e r. W i t h y o u r h e l p , we can make a state-wide impact!

Join us in collecting 1.2 Million diapers for struggling families across Colorado.

H om eA idC olo r a d o . o r g / Bu i l d e r s 4 Ba b i e s

2020 FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGERS Who will be named?

Find out in a special section inside the November issue of 5280: The Denver Magazine Go to fivestarprofessional.com/wmconsumerfeedback to share your opinion

DINING GUIDE 25 BEST

Mercantile Dining & Provision

Mister Oso

$$$

RiNo / Latin American This Señor Bear spinoff offers a Latin-inspired menu of tacos, ceviches, and more from chef-owner Blake Edmunds.

3163 Larimer St., 720-677-6454. Dinner

25 B E S T

Morin

O

$$$

Downtown / New American Award-winning chefs Alex Seidel and Matt Vawter offer upscale, contemporary farm-to-table fare, including pasta dishes and family-style shared plates. Mercantile also features counter-service dining for breakfast and lunch, as well as a marketplace of locally sourced foodstuffs. Union Station, 1701 Wynkoop St., Ste. 155, 720-460-3733. Dinner

$$$

Downtown / French Chef Max MacKissock serves imaginative French fare at this elegant eatery.

Order a sophisticated cocktail, mocktail, or glass of natural wine with a platter of raw oysters. 1600 15th St., 303-623-0534. Dinner

N Northside Eatery & Market

Oak at Fourteenth

$$$$

Boulder / Seasonal This spot just off the Pearl Street Mall offers a diverse menu of seasonal, oakfired eats from chef Steve Redzikowski and creative cocktails from Bryan Dayton. Try the kale and apple salad. 1400 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-4443622. Lunch, Dinner

Ohana Island Kitchen

$

LoHi / Seafood This Hawaiian-inspired eatery serves top-notch tuna poke, Spam musubi, roasted pork, and more. 2563 15th St., 303-718-6580.

Lunch, Dinner

Owlbear Barbecue

RiNo / Barbecue The brick-and-mortar joint from pitmaster Karl Fallenius is serving brisket, ribs, and more with classic fixings such as mac and cheese and coleslaw. 2826 Larimer St., 970-708-3954. Lunch, Dinner

$$

Pho 79

Pho Duy

Westwood / Vietnamese Slurp down delicious bowls of noodle soup at this popular Vietnamese mainstay. 925 S. Federal Blvd., 303-937-1609.

Lunch, Dinner

Pizzeria Locale

$$

The Post Brewing Co.

$$

Pony Up

$$

Postcard Foods

$$

Denver / Pizza Inspired by the pizzerias of Napoli, Italy, this fast-casual pizza joint offers a modern take on a traditional classic. Also try the Highland and Stapleton locations 550 Broadway, 720-508-8828. Lunch, Dinner

Rosedale / American Diners flock here for the crispy fried chicken as well as the creative sides and tasty craft brews. Multiple locations. 2200 S. Broadway, 720-466-5699. Lunch, Dinner

$

Westwood / Asian This spot has some of the best pho noodle soup you’ll find in Denver, along with a selection of Vietnamese crepes, rice

Front Range / Prepared Meals This Dumont-based food truck will bring its from-scratch, frozen prepared meals and soups straight to your door. postcardfoods.com, 303-900-3201

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$

Downtown / Pub This casual bar serves comforting fare such as French dip sandwiches and fried chicken with craft cocktails. 1808 Blake St., 720-710-8144. Lunch, Dinner

P

$$

Highland / Seasonal This all-day eatery, bar, and market has a focus on local sourcing and seasonality. Try the Nashville-style hot chicken sandwich. 1691 Central St., 303-993-5599.

Lunch, Dinner

bowls, and more. Also try the downtown location. 781 S. Federal Blvd., 303-922-2930.

Lunch, Dinner

RESEARCH CARE COMMUNITY ACTION

THE ONE STOP SHOP TO HELP GET YOU THROUGH THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS.

COLORADO THEDENVERCHANNEL.COM/REBOUND

DINING GUIDE

Q 25 B E S T

Q House

great choice for herbivores and omnivores alike.

Try the mushrooms on toast. 1165 S. Broadway, Suite 104, 720-502-5681. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Brunch $$$

City Park West / Chinese Enjoy a modern take on Chinese cuisine executed by chef Christopher Lin, an alum of Momofuku in New York City. Try the braised pork rice. 3421 E. Colfax Ave., 720-729-8887. Dinner

R Restaurant Olivia

$$$$

$$$$

$$

$$

Five Points / Deli Get your fix of New York-style bagels at this Five Points deli. Order the Standard, a bagel and cream cheese topped with gravlax, tomato, and onion. Also try the Aurora location.

725 E. 26th Ave., 720-440-9880. Breakfast, Lunch

Rosetta Hall

$$

Boulder / International The tenants of Boulder’s first food hall include Petite Fleur, Folsom Foods, Confit, the Ginger Pig, Jacaranda, Rose’s Classic Americana, La Tigella, and Tierra. 1109 Walnut St., Boulder. Dinner

S 25 B E S T

Safta

$$$

RiNo / Mediterranean Acclaimed chef Alon Shaya brings modern Israeli fare to Denver. Order the creamy hummus with pillowy wood-oven pita, tabbouleh salad, charred cabbage, and halloumi.

The Source Hotel & Market Hall, 3330 Brighton Blvd., 720-408-2444. Lunch, Dinner Señor Bear

$$$

LoHi / Latin American This charming spot draws from the vibrant cuisines of Latin America and has excellent tropical cocktails. 3301 Tejon St., 720-572-5997. Dinner

Somebody People

$$

Overland / Mediterranean A standout pasta program and dishes that celebrate seasonal bounty make this zero-waste vegan restaurant a

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City Park / American Order delicious hot dogs, smashburgers, sandwiches, and more with all the fixins at this happy-to-please stand. 3525 E. Colfax Ave., 303-333-7627. Lunch, Dinner Super Mega Bien

$

$$$

RiNo / Latin American Chef Dana Rodriguez of Work & Class offers a combo of large-format items and Pan-Latin small plates. Don’t miss the Spanish rice-and-vegetable skillet. The Ramble Hotel, 1260 25th St., 720-269-4695. Dinner Super Star Asian Cuisine

$

Athmar Park / Asian This glitz-free eatery serves top-notch dim sum and an extensive menu of traditional Chinese plates. Order a steaming bowl of beef congee and the char sui pork buns. 2200 W. Alameda Ave., Ste. 34, 303-727-9889.

Lunch, Dinner

Sushi Den

$$$$

Uncle

LoHi / Asian This bustling modern noodle house’s selective menu includes dishes such as Chinesestyle steamed buns and, of course, noodles. Also try the Speer location. 2215 W. 32nd Ave., 303-433-3263. Dinner

$

Uncle Zoe’s Chinese Kitchen

Aurora / Chinese Handmade dumplings, along with a selection of Sichuan specialties, are on the menu at this family-owned restaurant. 12203 E. Iliff Ave., Unit D, Aurora, 303-755-8518.

Lunch, Dinner

Urban Farmer

$$$

Downtown / Seasonal This steakhouse has excellent in-house whole-animal butchery and charcuterie programs, and sources its honey from a rooftop bee hive. The Oxford Hotel, 1659 Wazee St., 303-262-6070. Lunch, Dinner

W $$

$$$$

$

South Park Hill / Deli This modern all-day eatery from Vince Howard, formerly of Del Rey Deli in Los Angeles, has hot and cold sandwiches and salads.

5724 E. Colfax Ave., 720-746-9138. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Tocabe

Uchi Denver

Curtis Park / Sushi James Beard Award–winning chef Tyson Cole combines unexpected flavors for his unique take on Japanese food. Try the kosho crudo. 2500 Lawrence St., 303-444-1922. Dinner

City Park West / Pizza Chow down on New Haven–style pizza right here in Denver. Pair the Porker Porkorino—topped with soppressata, mozzarella, pickled chiles, and spicy honey—with a frozen Negroni. 1702 Humboldt St., 303-8625323. Lunch, Dinner

Downtown / Italian The team behind Boulder’s acclaimed Frasca Food and Wine offers the same attention to hospitality at their more casual Denver restaurant. The restaurant is home to dishes from across Italy and a deep wine list.

1889 16th St, 720-605-1889. Lunch, Dinner Tessa Delicatessen

25 B E S T

White Pie

T Tavernetta

U

$$$

Platt Park / Asian Sushi Den offers fresh, vibrant seafood flown in twice a week from Japan prepared by masterful sushi chefs. 1487 S. Pearl St., 303-777-0826. Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

$$$

Downtown / Southern Nosh on re-imagined versions of down-home dishes, such as the signature honey-dusted fried chicken or bourbon peppercorn-glazed meatloaf with classic sides like collard greens. 1650 Wewatta St., 720-274-0650. Lunch, Dinner, Brunch

$$

Aurora / International This site is home to a sprawling, food-centric marketplace with offerings from Denver Biscuit Co., Annette, Sweet Cow Ice Cream, Misaki at Stanley, Maria Empanada, Cheluna Brewing Co., Logan Coffee Co., and more. 2501 Dallas St., Aurora. Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

Rosedale / Barbecue House-smoked Colorado craft barbecue is the specialty at this laid-back spot. Order the bison short ribs. Also try the Golden location. 2387 S. Downing St., 303-7222226. Lunch, Dinner

Rosenberg’s Bagels & Delicatessen

$$$

Steve’s Snappin’ Dogs

Downtown / Mediterranean James Beard Award–winning chef Jennifer Jasinski creates high-end Mediterranean-influenced cuisine.

Try the artichoke tortelloni. 1431 Larimer St., 303-820-2282. Lunch, Dinner

Roaming Buffalo Bar-B-Que

Spuntino

Highland / Italian Enjoy the locally sourced menu at this Italian-inspired spot. Try the seasonal pasta or any dish with Southern Indian influences. Don’t miss the house-made gelato for dessert. 2639 W. 32nd Ave., 303-433-0949. Dinner Stanley Marketplace

Washington Park / Italian This cozy yet modern neighborhood spot from the team behind Bistro Georgette specializes in fresh pastas and Italian classics, like chicken marsala and veal milanese.

209 S. Downing St., 303-999-0395. Dinner,

Rioja

25 B E S T

Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar

$

Berkeley / American American Indian food goes Chipotle-style at this quick-service restaurant. Try the fry bread taco loaded with beef, buffalo, or chicken and a variety of fresh toppings. Also try the Greenwood Village location. 3536 W. 44th Ave., 720-524-8282. Lunch, Dinner

25 B E S T

The Wolf’s Tailor

$$$

Sunnyside / Contemporary Basta chef Kelly Whitaker fuses Asian and Italian techniques and ingredients at this hip Sunnyside eatery. The results, such as 7x brisket braised in dashi and red wine and house-extruded mafaldine pasta with koji tomatoes, are unique and delicious. 4058 Tejon St., 720-456-6507. Dinner Work & Class

$$$

RiNo / American This elevated meat-and-three concept offers a delicious hybrid of American and Latin cuisine. Our pick: the Cajun rotisserie chicken, chickpea croquettes, and peppers five ways. 2500 Larimer St., 303-292-0700. Dinner

 These listings are in no way related to advertising in 5280. If

you find that a restaurant differs significantly from the information in its listing or your favorite restaurant is missing from the Dining Guide, please let us know. Write us at 5280 Publishing, Inc., 1675 Larimer St., Suite 675, Denver, CO 80202 or dining@5280.com.

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individual Facebook messages, she soon created an ordering system using Google Forms for anyone in need. Every night, she drove around the Denver metropolitan area, her car filled with as many as 150 individually wrapped representations of the words “It’s OK.” At the time, it was all anyone wanted to hear, even if it wasn’t entirely true.

Anyone also included the people in Pysher and DePonceau’s own apartment building—my apartment building. After all, DePonceau figured, if she was driving all over the city, why not also help at home?

She didn’t really know who any of us were.

That’s how apartment buildings often work: Each cube, crowded next to other cubes, is a my-space sanctuary, a place to which residents retreat, not one from which to reach outward.

She thought of us, in our separate rooms, the noise from our heavy footsteps and aggressive Lysol-ing seeping through the wood floors and plaster walls, leaking across the gap between the front doors and the hallways. The note was not just about delivering food: It was also a demonstration that someone was looking out for us.

A small gesture like that can make the difference between feeling alone and feeling alone together. “Even if it’s just a note, even if it’s just a phone number, even if it’s just in case of absolute emergency,” she says, “it’s just nice to have.”

She was right. When I called that number, DePonceau taught me not just about my own neighbors but also about sports—two topics about which, it turns out, I am generally ignorant. Wide Right, she explained, became a proper noun not because of Norwood’s bad day but because of his redemption. When the losing team returned home to Buffalo, a crowd of more than 20,000 people had gathered to cheer for them. They cheered, specifically, for the biggest loser. “We want Scott!” they chanted.

Cajoled up to the mic, his words echoed what a lot of people, the planet over, have felt as they watch COVID-19 tear through their communities. “We’re struggling with this right now,” Norwood told his neighbors.

But, he continued, it wasn’t all bad. “I know I’ve never felt more loved than right now.

We all realize the sun’s going to come up tomorrow, and we’re going to start preparing this football team right away. I know I’m going to be back. You can count on it.”

missions. Some members of my team with advanced medical training have been re-tasked to bolster the ranks of the county’s ambulance service. Others, myself included, are on standby to augment the nursing staff at our county’s sole 56-bed hospital, should it be overwhelmed by COVID-19. Getting benched by a quarantine means the removal of those important health care assets, too.

One afternoon, while on a work conference call, my cell phone pinged: Rescuers needed for Vail Mountain…. It was our second mission in two days. In a pique of cabin fever, defying an uphill travel ban at the resort (which the governor had ordered closed weeks earlier), a local couple went ski touring with their dog and had an accident at the top of Born Free. After calling ski patrol (no answer), the husband dialed 911 to report that his wife had broken her leg.

As my meeting progressed, I kept one eye on a computer screen scrolling the dispatcher’s notes as the mission unfolded and the cavalry arrived: a half-dozen Vail Mountain Rescue Group volunteers, including a furloughed Beaver Creek patroller, a paramedic from the county ambulance squad, and the pastor of Vail’s Lutheran church.

That night, as I was settling into bed in the loft I’ve sealed off from the rest of my home with a polyethylene curtain that has a zip door (in case I have to quarantine), my phone rang again. It was a teammate calling to talk about the mission and the new calculus at play with COVID-19. “You’ve got a wife, two kids, and a dog,” he said. “Me, I don’t have anybody. I just want you to know, I’ve got your back”—that is, should I decide to sit out the pandemic.

No way. Just as Coloradans are hardwired to head for wilderness, as a volunteer SAR responder, I’m compelled to answer your call for help. This viral war has changed things, though. I might be working in the COVID19 ward when you lose your way on the trail; my fellow volunteers might be in quarantine when your cell phone dies and darkness falls.

Others may choose not to respond to protect themselves and/or their families from the virus. With fewer of us out there, we might not find you in time. Or at all.

Come summer, when hopefully the worst of this crisis has passed, Halo and I will come looking, though. At whatever trailhead you left from, I’ll harness my dog and he’ll lift his nose to the wind. Then I’ll give the command: “Find bones!”

it silent, as it always is after the lifts quit spinning. Yet something was missing.

“There was no closure to it,” Jacqueline says, describing her own abridged ski season. Over the following week, some locals staged their own Closing Day celebrations on the ski area, hiking grills up onto the runs and cracking cold ones.

The parties clearly contradicted the spirit of the closure (beer-fueled close-talking hardly qualifies as social distancing), but I guess while ski bums might not require fancy furniture or cars or homes, they did feel they needed a proper season finale.

It might seem frivolous to insist on such moments, particularly when Coloradans are losing their lives and livelihoods to the new coronavirus. “What did I miss? A hangover?” Jacqueline jokes about being denied our Closing Day. But we also missed the rite of passage that helps us close the door on one season and venture into the next.

This need to honor occasions—to timestamp our lives—is not reserved for Colorado’s skiers, of course. There’s a broader assortment of mileposts that mark life’s chapters, and COVID-19 hijacked those, too. Children observed birthdays without playmates to help blow out candles. New restrictions at hospitals prevented us from bearing witness at our families’ births and deaths. High schoolers grieved over the prom photos that were never taken. College grads lost their opportunities to launch flocks of mortarboards into the air. Some of these events may seem expendable—after all, those co-eds still graduated—but as moments of collective caring, they matter. Without them, we feel walled off from our communities, regardless of whether we find our kinship among ski bums or classmates. We mourn the memories that we never got to make.

Here in Colorado, Closing Day is just one such memory. Fortunately, winter will return, and I suspect that this season’s cliffhanger ending will only spike our anticipation for the beginning of the next one. Opening Day 2020 will offer much more than the opportunity to skid down sheer ice. It’ll give us the chance to gather. And if we didn’t fully appreciate what it meant to be able to convene with friends—even those whose real names we don’t know—we certainly do now.

Ted Katauskas joined Vail Mountain Rescue Group in 2012. He is also the editor of Vail-Beaver Creek magazine. Email him at letters@5280.com.

Kelly Bastone is a freelance writer. She lives in Steamboat Springs with her husband and daughter. Email her at letters@5280.com.

Sarah Scoles is a Denver-based freelance writer.

Her new book, They Are Already Here: UFO Culture And Why We See Saucers, was published in March.

Email her at letters@5280.com.

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to leave. Instead we stood for a few more minutes, shuffling our feet, trying to stay warm in the cold night air. We both looked up.

The sky was clear and freckled with stars. The Milky Way arced above us in a wash of white, and we talked beneath TH E that glorious canopy about many things: the retreat of boreal owls to “sky islands” such as the one where we stood, the faint smudge of the Pleiades star cluster, the 25 death of my father two weeks earlier.

I hadn’t really talked much about it with anyone outside my family until—in that strange circumstance, during this strange time—Mark’s condolences triggered a thought.

Dad was born in 1918, the year of the Spanish flu. Pneumonia took him from » the nursing home room he shared with my 98-year-old mother, just a week shy of his 102nd birthday. That was shortly before the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, before we all began tossing around termsFALL FASHION like “self-isolation” and “N95.” I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d succumbed to one of the pandemics that bookended his life, and I suppose I’ll carry that question forever.

Our conversation stopped, and we listened in silence, still hoping. Eventually Mark and I bumped elbows, said goodbye, and followed one another down the same dark road, back to the uncertain world we’d left behind.

I’ve been thinking ever since about those owls, waiting alone in the cold and dark, hoping to connect with others who speak their language, others who appreciate communion and appear from out of nowhere with a simple promise: to spend some time together, even for just a little while. They’re 25 very much like many of us. I rely on friends the way others rely on their lungs, and social distancing feels, to me, a little like gasping for air. Technology offers us creative new ways to connect, but unscripted moments of actual human contact are my oxygen.

I sent Mark a text the next day: “Really nt Line enjoyed getting out last night. Just what I On The Fro needed after a rough few months. So thanks.”

He responded: “This virus may teach us there are more places than a bar to shoot the shit.”

Friendship, I think, is how many of us will survive. m

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Windsor | $2,300,000 Unparalled luxury in this 5br/8ba home with an open floor plan, designer finishes, gourmet kitchen and mountain views.

Main floor master wing with a private deck, two separate walk-in dressing rooms and stunning bath. There is a walk-out entertainment kitchen extending to stone patio onto the landscaped yard and pool w spa. Complete with a theater room, wine cellar, RV garage and guest house.

Charlene Rosenblatt 303.588.8472 Christina Larson 970.443.4111 | you.re.home777@gmail.com | DiamondHomesACutAbove.com

Denver | $1,350,000 This stunning 5br/4ba, 3,187 sqft home was completely updated 2017, complete w/ formal living room w/ Correra marble & custom mantle, great room, gourmet kitchen w/ La Corneu range, stainless appliances & upgraded cabinetry, dining room & covered porch. Upstairs offers a master suite w/spa-like bath, 2 additional bedrooms & full bath. The finished basement has 2 bedrooms, full bath & flex space.

Kimberly Austin 303.360.6400 Kimberly@AnotherJustSold.com | AnotherJustSold.com The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell

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Denver | $839,475 Immaculate 6br/5ba offering a lovely front courtyard, 2 story entrance, study, formal dining, great room w/ 19’ ceilings, laundry, chef’s kitchen, breakfast area, awesome backyard & 2 car garage. The upper level offers a spacious master bedroom, 5-piece master bath, 2 bedrooms & full jack-n-jill bath. The fully finished basement offers a rec room, 2 bedrooms, full bath, tons of storage & much more.

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In this time of change, Coldwell Banker ® and our tens of thousands of agents across the globe are still actively working to serve our communities in whatever way we can, even from our living rooms, kitchen tables and bedrooms.

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Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker® System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act.

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Castle Rock | $750,000 4br/4ba/3car Bell Mountain Ranch home on 5 acres zoned for horses w/stunning mountain views all around.

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Boulder | Price Upon Request Move-in ready 5br/3ba home in Orange Orchard. Master suite w/designer bathroom and a walk-in closet. Finished basement w/a non-conforming office/bedroom. The lot is 1/3 of an acre.

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Castle Rock | $875,000 The kitchen has leathered granite, high-end appliances & breakfast nook that faces the outdoor kitchen, pool & hot tub.

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Conifer | $875,000 Stonework Throughout this Beautiful 3 Bed/4 Bath Home. Amazing Architectural Details, Built-In 150 Gallon Aquarium and Amazing Views from Every Window. Kitchen with SS Appliances and Knotty Alder Cabinetry. Two Master Suites - Main & Lower Level.

Denver | $780,000 Cherry Creek 3br/2.5ba townhome w/chef’s kitchen w/ 6-burner stove, double oven & ss appliances. Living room w/ fireplace & master suite w/ 5pc bath, private patio & 2-car garage.

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Black Hawk | $650,000 This ranch property provides mtn views & outdoor amenities. The decks are maintenance free & the back deck features a built-in BBQ. The kitchen & master bath have been remodeled. The finished walk-out basement includes a wet bar & great room.

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Denver | $625,000 Fantastic opportunity in the Heart of Congress Park! There are 10-foot ceilings, large rooms, a full 2nd story and a full basement.

This home exudes character and has incredible bones!

Denver | $625,000 Awesome 5br/5ba Lowry home w/welcoming entrance, study, dining room, great room w/fireplace, chef’s kitchen w/dine-in island & stainless appliances, master w/5pc bath, spacious loft, fully fin. basement w/ rec room, fantastic yard & 2 car garage!

P.J. Farrell 303.884.5368 pj.farrell@coloradohomes.com | PJFarrell.com

Kimberly Austin 303.360.6400 Kimberly@AnotherJustSold.com | AnotherJustSold.com

Evergreen | $610,000 This recently updated home with mountain views features 5br/3ba, an additional bonus room & a 1.37-acre lot. Beautiful open floor plan with sliding barn door and 2 fireplaces. Recent updates include bathrooms, windows, carpet & vinyl wood flooring.

Littleton | $600,000 4br/3ba home w/open floor plan. Vaulted family room w/gas fireplace. Kitchen w/double ovens, 42-inch cabinets and a center island. Master suite w/master closet and 5-piece master bath.

Complete w/unfinished basement, oversized deck and 3-car garage.

Bethany Chamberlain 720.205.4934 bethany.chamberlain@coloradohomes.com

Colleen Teitelbaum 303.668.8186 TeitelbaumColleen@gmail.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

guiding you home since 1906

Denver | $600,000 Charming & sophisticated 2br/2ba condo w/hardwood floors.

Dining room w/a gas fireplace. Living room w/a 2nd gas fireplace.

Kitchen w/stainless steel appliances, balcony & new tile floor. Master bedroom w/a walk-in closet. Complete w/2 garage.

Parker | $599,900 4br/4ba features a study/den, dining room with butler's pantry & full-size pantry, kitchen with 42-inch cabinets, eating space, family room, unfinished basement, covered patio & low water landscaping.

The Master offers a fireplace & sitting space.

Kelly Baca 303.748.3295 Kelly.Baca@ColoradoHomes.com

Kris Hansen 303.956.6068 kris.hansen@coloradohomes.com

Wiggins | $579,000 5br/4ba custom home on 20 acres has a kitchen w/ granite counters, 2 refrigerators, 5-burner gas range, 16 custom-built pull-out drawers & 3 pantries, covered screened deck w/ mtn views, walkout basement w/ 2nd full kitchen, shop and detached garage.

Denver | $565,000 2br/1.5ba home in the highly desired Cory Merrill neighborhood.

Main floor features a convenient layout w/ ample sqft & kitchen w/stainless steel appliances. Basement w/lots of potential. Complete w/a covered back patio and newly landscaped backyard.

Travis Liverman 720.688.4334 travis.liverman@coloradohomes.com

Mackenzie Jones 303.597.8966 mackenziejonesre@gmail.com

Highlands Ranch | Price Upon Request 5br/4ba - 3-car garage, 2,821 sq ft, modern, clean, home with open floor plan, big yard and deck, master bath w/floor-to-ceiling tile, walk-in shower oversized tub. Basement w/bonus room, 5th bedroom, bath & new hardwood floors.

Superior | $549,000 4br/3ba townhome w/an open floor plan and plantation shutters throughout. Updated Mediterranean style kitchen w/granite counters and tile backsplash as well as a separate dining room. Master suite w/a walk-in closet and access to a charming patio.

Heather O'Leary 719.439.9789 heather.oleary@coloradohomes.com | HeatherOLearyRealEstate.com

Ernie Sica 720.469.6999 ernie.sica@coloradohomes.com | WeLoveColoradoHomes.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Lakewood | $530,000 3br home. There is an open concept kitchen w/granite counters and stainless steel appliances as well a one-half bath. Upstairs are 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a laundry and a loft space. Complete w/finished basement and a 2-car garage and a fenced patio.

Denver | $525,000 3br/4ba townhome offers an open floorplan, hardwood flooring, ss appliances, rooftop deck w/views, master w/barn door sliders & walk-in closet & 2-car garage. Additional features: surround sound prewire, Schlage security keypad & Ring doorbell.

Sarah Scott-Wilson 303.250.5323 Sarah@InfinityProsRe.com | InfinityProSarah.com

Garvin Laverick 720.245.9956 garvin.laverick@coloradohomes.com

Westminster | $525,000 5br/4ba home w/an open floor plan. Kitchen w/granite counters, designer appliances and a huge island. Upper level w/master bedroom and 2 additional bedrooms. Lower level w/a bedroom and bath. Complete w/finished basement, a yard and a covered patio.

Aurora | $465,000 4br/4ba offers a finished walkout basement, oversized 3 car garage, new carpeting & tile, kitchen w/ss appliances, 42 in cabinets & new granite counters & family room w/fireplace. Master Retreat w/3-way fireplace, sitting area & bath w/new flooring.

Christina Kern 303.915.0809 ckernsells@gmail.com | ChristinaSellsColorado.com

Shannon Byerly 303.919.2611 YourFreshStartRealty@gmail.com | YourFreshStartRealty.com

Fort Collins | $520,000 Remodeled ranch boasts of class & distinction with three bedrooms & three baths. See-through fireplace juxtaposing the authentic with the elegant. Quartz counters, new appliances & wood floors. Lots of sunshine backing to park. Superb open floorplan.

Monument | $520,000 4br/4ba – like new walkout ranch w/panoramic VIEWS, composite deck, covered patio, 2 master suites, 3-car garage, office, great room w/hardwood flooring, kitchen w/granite counters & stainless-steel appliances & wet bar rough-in in the basement.

Christina Larson 970.443.4111 you.re.home777@gmail.com | DiamondHomesACutAbove.com

Rob Thompson 719.337.7254 rob.thompson@coloradohomes.com | RobThompsonHomes.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

guiding you home since 1906

Lakewood | $515,000 3br/3.5ba home w/open floor plan. Kitchen w/cherry cabinets, stainless steel appliances and a stainless island. Upstairs has a master bedroom w/en suite bath, laundry room, an additional bedroom and loft area. Basement w/a full kitchen and 3/4 bath.

Littleton | $500,000 4br/2ba w/wood floors, new carpet, updated kitchen w/ quartz counters, modern cabinets, stainless steel appliances. Updated light fixtures, ceiling fans, furnace & water heater. Sunrun Solar, Trex deck, large yard, firepit, shed, & RV parking pad.

Sarah Scott-Wilson 303.250.5323 Sarah@InfinityProsRe.com | InfinityProSarah.com

Allison Damico 720.639.0974 allison.damico@coloradohomes.com | AllisonDamico.cbintouch.com

Denver | $500,000 The All-American Dream with 3br/3ba offers an open floor plan, living room, dining room, kitchen w/ stainless appliances, powder bath and 2-car attached garage. The upper level has 3 bedrooms, spacious master w/en-suite bath, full bath and laundry.

Commerce City | $465,000 3br/2.5ba with 2 offices, walk-out basement, hickory floors, 2-story great room, fireplace and open space/mountain views. Open and bright chef's kitchen w/stainless steel appliances, large island and dining area. MetroDenverHome.com for more info.

Kimberly Austin 303.360.6400 Kimberly@AnotherJustSold.com | AnotherJustSold.com

Taylor Carpenter 303.909.2108 taylor@taylorcarpenterhomes.com | TaylorCarpenterHomes.com

Englewood | Price Upon Request 4br/2ba ranch bungalow w/charming touches! The home features wood flooring in the main living area, new carpet, interior paint, granite counters, newer windows and exterior paint. Complete w/a fireplace, a 2-car garage and an attached shed.

Thornton | Price Upon Request This large corner-lot home at Hunters Glen offers four bedrooms, two and one-half baths and features a front porch swing, great entry room, large kitchen and family room with sliders to the back patio, grand master suite and unfinished basement.

Jessica Martinez 303.229.9621 Jessica.Martinez@Coloradohomes.com | JessicasDenverHomes.com

Sarah Bowles 720.837.2724 Sarah@chdagent.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Colorado Springs | $440,000 4br/3ba stucco rancher w/3-car garage, hickory flooring, dining room, gourmet kitchen, great room w/ fireplace, central a/c, whole home humidifier, newer carpet & bathroom tile, main floor master suite, laundry, finished basement & newer roof.

Idaho Springs | $425,000 Charming 2br/2ba Victorian. Modern kitchen with granite counters, island w/cooktop, SS appliances & breakfast nook. New paint, re-finished hardwoods, new furnace. Master suite, en-suite 3/4 bath and new windows . Wine cellar in basement.

Rob Thompson 719.337.7254 rob.thompson@coloradohomes.com | RobThompsonHomes.com

Cindy Sahli 303.588.2399 cindy.sahli@coloradohomes.com

Bennett | $394,000 Wonderful 4 bed / 3 bath / 2,700 sq ft brick ranch on a corner lot with finished basement, sun room, two-car attached garage AND a 36'x24' detached two-car garage with additional work shop area!

No HOA and expansive driveway for RV/trailer parking.

Parker | $384,900 3br/2.5ba home. Living room w/a vaulted ceiling. Kitchen w/30” cabinets, Formica countertops, stainless steel appliances and informal dining area! Family room w/custom paint. Master bedroom w/full bath and dual closets. Complete w/basement and deck.

Matt Brinkhoff 303.324.0241 matt.brinkhoff@coloradohomes.com | MattsColoradoHomes.com

David DeElena 720.275.2091 David.Deelena@coloradohomes.com

Littleton | $369,000 3br/3ba home is drenched with natural light and full of upgrades!

Including hardwood floors, granite counters & ss appliances & master w/vaulted ceilings & attached bath w/ granite counters & upgraded tile. Complete w/ brand new furnace & AC Unit.

Denver | $350,000 3br/2ba home located in the Barnum neighborhood features brand-new stainless-steel appliances, white quartz countertops, new paint, new carpet, newer roof and siding. It also includes double pane windows and a newer water heater and furnace.

Dario Valdetero 303.829.4929 dario.valdetero@coloradohomes.com

Salvador Montes Marquez 720.309.0964 salvador.montes@coloradohomes.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

guiding you home since 1906

Commerce City | $330,000 3br/3ba condo in the Parkside at Reunion neighborhood. Updated with an amazing open layout and located on a quiet corner with an outdoor patio. The location can’t be beat near DIA, E-470, Buffalo Run Golf Course, Reunion Rec Center & Coffee Bar.

Littleton | $325,000 2br/2ba condo w/vaulted ceilings, gas fireplace & large widows filled w/natural light . Kitchen w/granite countertops, new SS appliances & tile floors. Master suite w/walk-in closet & updated master bath.

Complete w/a private deck and 1-car garage.

John Grandt 720.351.8488 John@RefRealty.net | RefRealty.net

Stephanie Freadhoff 303.589.3777 stephaniesellshomes@outlook.com

Littleton | $315,000 3br Millbrook Townhome near hiking/biking trails, Aspen Grove shopping center, Arapahoe Community College and Chatfield Reservoir. Complete w/new interior &exterior paint, new balcony decking, ss appliances, attached 2-car garage w/basement storage!

Christina Tolbert 720.308.6996 Geri Rutz 303.895.9493

Kittredge | $315,000 2br/1.5ba paired home features new custom kitchen cabinets, quartz counters, ss appliances, luxury vinyl plank flooring, and new carpet, paint & LED lighting. Offers 9 ft ceilings, shiplap accent walls, new half bath & Rennai tankless water heater.

Terry Robinson 303.898.3658 Info@Early-Group.com | Early-Group.com

Littleton | Price Upon Request 2br/2ba + loft, w/2 car garage, hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, oversized picture windows, fireplace w/ wood accent wall & renovated kitchen w/ granite countertops, tile flooring & ss appliances. The upper level includes a master & loft area.

Aurora | Price Upon Request 2br/1ba charming home has a lot to offer. It boasts a recently updated kitchen and bath along with hardwood floors.

A large attached carport has direct access to the home. aHas alley access and a large yard.

Shannon Byerly 303.919.2611 YourFreshStartRealty@gmail.com | YourFreshStartRealty.com

Sarah Bowles 720.837.2724 Sarah@chdagent.com

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Parker | $599,990

Centennial | $585,000

Centennial | $555,000

4br/2.5ba w/hardwoods, study, dining rm, kitchen w/modern cabinets, Quartz counters & ss appliances, great rm w/ fireplace, loft, laundry rm, master w/ 5pc bath, upgraded carpet & AC.

4br/3.5ba home w/hardwood floors and new paint. Gourmet kitchen, Master suite w/walk-in closet, garden tub and deck. Complete w/bsmnt, garage and huge backyard backing to open space.

3br/4ba has all new wood floors, carpet, lighting, windows & closet doors, newer roof, freshly painted, kitchen w/ newer cabinets, granite counters & pantry & master w/ enormous closet.

The Rowley Group 303.717.5613

Loy Hall 303.917.4939

Jennifer Bub 303.253.4969

Erie | $550,000

Denver | $525,000

Arvada | $499,000

4br/3ba home w/views! New interior paint, re-finished hardwood floors, great room w/ shiplap, master w/west facing windows, separate closets, 5pc bath & retreat area & 3-car garage.

2br/2.5ba townhouse w/an open floor plan Remodeled kitchen.

Divinely located in the Heart of Lowry. There are 2 master suites.

Complete w/2-car tandem garage.

4br ranch features espresso hardwood floors, an updated kitchen, remodeled bath, new carpet & fresh paint. Updated the electrical, garage door, water heater, evaporative cooler & roof.

Brie Fowler 303.882.8672

Faith Young 720.270.9467

Brian Mygatt 303.910.1205

Denver | $499,000

Aurora | $480,000

Castle Rock | Price Upon Request

2br/4ba w/2-car garage, kitchen w/ ss appliances & island w/ seating, 2 bedrooms w/en suite bathrooms including frameless shower doors & elegant tile. The rooftop deck has mtn views.

3br/3ba home w/new luxury vinyl plank flooring and fireplace.

Kitchen w/42-inch cabinets, an eat-in kitchen with island. Master bedroom w/5-piece bath. Complete w/mountain views.

4br/4ba – backs to open space, finished walk-out basement, study, kitchen w/ granite counters, ss appliances & eat-in, great room, laundry room, pergola, 3-car garage & whole house fan.

Brian Anzur 303.263.6808 Andrea Anzur 303.731.9920

Danielle Martini 720.630.5500

Lori Finch-Ellis 303.517.6697

Aurora | $469,000

Longmont | $465,000

Lafayette | Price Upon Request

4br/3ba cul de sac oversized lot, renovated throughout w/vaulted ceilings, slab granite, ss appliances & new cabinetry.

Updates include a newer hot water heater, exterior paint & roof.

3br/3ba home features a kitchen w/ upgraded cabinets & counters, butcher block island, ss appliances and tons of cabinet & counter space. Includes unfinished equity-building basement.

3br/2ba home w/many recent upgrades like new roof, exterior paint, kitchen, hardwoods, travertine. Extended deck in the backyard is perfect for viewing the sunset over the foothills.

Jessica Drummond 720.788.4599

Forrest Oldham 720.771.0246

Debbie Cooper-George 303.944.8494

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

guiding you home since 1906

Aurora | $448,500

Broomfield | Price Upon Request

Frederick | $425,000

3br/2ba home w/an open floor plan. Kitchen w/granite countertops. Master bedroom w/5-piece master bath and walk-in closet. Complete w/an unfinished basement, backyard and covered patio.

3br/4ba includes a front porch, fresh exterior paint, hardwood floors, fireplace, soaring ceilings, open kitchen w/ss appliances, finished basement & spacious backyard w/deck & shed.

3br/2ba offers wood floors, kitchen w/quartz counters, custom backsplash & ss appliances, family room w/fireplace, master w/upgraded bath, covered patio, 2-car garage, AC & newer roof.

Terra DeLockroy 303.681.1518

Debbie Cooper-George 303.944.8494

Christy Hepp 303.910.5393

Westminster | $424,999

Aurora | $419,900

Commerce City | $410,000

4br/2ba - 2-car garage, new hardwoods & carpet, kitchen w/soft close cabinets, quartz counters & new ss appliances, updated baths, new furnace & fenced yard w/new deck & patio.

5br/4ba home. Family room has wood-burning brick fireplace.

Sprawling fenced backyard oasis features a covered patio, garden area, mature trees, flagstone pavers and sprinkler system.

4br/3ba – 3,188 sq ft, kitchen w/Corian counters & newer appliances, hardwoods, living rm, master w/5pc bath, loft, AC, Nest thermostat, patio, fresh paint & new carpet.

Amy Metz 720.272.7337

Janet Scott, GRI, CMAS 303.249.4019

Lori Vialpando 303.324.5731

Westminster | Price Upon Request

Denver | $380,000

Windsor | $379,000

3br/3ba features an oversized garage, new ceiling fans & light fixtures, hardwood floors, gas fireplace, new ss appliances & slab granite counters & finished walkout basement.

This Park Hill 3br/1ba home boasts hardwood flooring in the living area leading you into your kitchen with ss appliances, beautiful cabinetry, a statement backsplash & breakfast bar.

4br/3ba home w/cathedral ceilings and a gas fireplace. Kitchen w/slab granite countertops, a breakfast bar and a dining area.

Complete w/a fully fenced yard and 3-car tandem garage.

Debbie Cooper-George 303.944.8494

Dan DeBacco 720.955.6111

Michelle A. Nelson 303.748.5247

Lakewood | $369,000

Aurora | $365,000

Denver | $342,000

2br/1ba home w/an open layout and hardwood floors. Kitchen w/shaker style cabinets, quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances. complete w/backyard, covered patio and huge yard.

Everything you need on 1 level! 3br/3ba townhome features vaulted ceilings, main level master suite, open concept family rm/kitchen, fin basement, 3 patios & 2-car attached garage.

2br/2ba features new carpeting, open family room w/soaring ceilings, house fans, kitchen island & and with a main floor master, this bi-level has the look & feel of a ranch layout.

Christina Kern 303.915.0809

Jennifer Hebert 303.929.9044

Mark Muller 303.941.6926

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Castle Rock | $315,000

Littleton | Price Upon Request

Windsor | $279,000

3br/2ba features remodeled baths, fireplace, front & back patios, new carpet, full basement, Alexa controlled lights & built-in speakers, Ring doorbell, Ecobee thermostat & garage.

2br/2ba end unit condo w/hardwood floors. New interior paint including in the kitchen and newer bathroom cabinets. Complete w/newer appliances, a furnace, A/C and a hot water heater.

2br/2ba one-half duplex in the heart of Windsor, a large family room, a kitchen with ample cabinets and storage. Complete w/A/C, a 2-car attached garage and newer backyard. landscaping.

Jeanette Johnston-Starc 303.520.9425

Karyn Walker 303.819.8910

Michelle A. Nelson 303.748.5247

Loveland | $275,000

Aurora | $260,000

Denver | $259,900

3br/3ba town home in Emerald Glen. Open floor plan, laminate hardwood flooring, gas fireplace, central A/C, basement w/ bedroom, and opens onto a green belt. 1-car detached garage.

3br/2ba home w/an open floor plan. Upstairs w/a master bedroom, a full bath and a 2nd bedroom. Garden level basement w/a 3rd bedroom, another full bath, a laundry and a family room.

2br/2ba bath townhome. Kitchen w/stainless steel appliances and laminate floors. Upstairs has two bedrooms and full bath.

Complete w/finished basement, fenced patio and 1-car garage.

Lindsey Sampier-Baker 970.214.9715

Janie Stoddard 303.408.0738

Nita Kolarsick 303.250.8280

Lakewood | $250,000

Wheat Ridge | $235,000

Aurora | $190,000

2br/2ba w/1,100 sq ft boasts brand new flooring, new kitchen counters, new tile flooring, freshly repainted, a newer furnace and AC, living & dining area, laundry & 2 parking spaces.

This charming remodeled 2br/2ba townhome-style condo is situated around a beautiful courtyard & features a light, bright open floor plan. Don’t miss the private fenced & covered patio.

1br/1ba features all new flooring, remodeled kitchen with all new cabinets, ss appliances & granite counters, remodeled bath with new flooring, cabinet w/ granite & bedroom with deck.

Tom Dackonish 720.670.7284

Jeanette Johnston-Starc 303.520.9425

Dale Carroll 720.771.2500

Colorado Springs | $180,000

Westminster | Price Upon Request

Colorado Springs | $150,000

2br/2ba upper lvl unit has living room w/mini-bay window & fireplace, kitchen w/newer ss appliances & barstool counter connects to the dining area & laundry room w/ W/D included.

1br/1ba condo. Family room w/southern exposure and a balcony.

Kitchen w/stainless steel appliances, updated cabinets, granite counters and custom backsplash. Complete w/tons of storage.

2br/1ba home has new paint & carpet, eat-in kitchen w/ custom cabinet doors, new wood laminate flooring & all appliances included, bath w/ a custom vanity & laundry room w/ W/D & patio.

Jennifer Montoya, MBA 719.232.3397

Kris Hansen 303.956.6068

Jennifer Montoya, MBA 719.232.3397

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

CHEERS TO COLORADO

Get your bottle today at the following locations: Highlands Ranch Wine and Liquor

Evergreen Discount Liquors

Pinon Valley Liquors

County Line Wine & Spirits

Governor’s Wine & Spirits

Steins and Vines

Fabby’s Wine & Spirits

Highlands WineSeller

Hometown Liquors

Lincoln Wine and Spirits

HB Liquors - Costco Riverpoint Parkway

The Liquor Store - Colorado Springs

Hover Crossing Wine & Spirits

Lukas Liquor Superstore

Highlands Wine & Liquor Store

Tuscany Wine and Spirits

Northstar Liquor Superstore

Outback Liquors

Keg Liquors

Twins Wine and Liquor

Sports Center Discount Liquor

Piney Creek Liquors

Ken Caryl Wine and Spirits

Weber Street Liquor

Pioneer Hills Liquor

Mayfair Liquors

Andy’s Liquor Mart

Roxborough Liquors

Mile High Wine Cellars

Fun Junction Liquors

Sam’s Southeast Liquors

Pyramid Discount Liquors

In the Middle Liquors

Serenity Ridge Liquors

Santa Fe Spirits

Kokopelli Liquor

Smokey Hill Village Liquor

Super Liquor Mart

Peachwood Liquor

Southmoor Wine & Spirits

Super Wine and Spirits

Secret Creek Liquors

Stroh Ranch Liquors

The Denver Liquor Barn

The Liquor Store - Montrose

Tall Grass Liquors

Two Angels Liquors

Whiskey’s Liquor Store

The Big Liquor Warehouse

Village West Liquor

3-S Liquors

Chambers Wine and Liquor

Tiny Bubbles

Warehouse Liquor Mart

Colorado Beverage Company

Davidson’s Beer, Wine and Spirits - Centennial

Westside Liquor

Banana Belt Liquors

Daveco Liquors

Wildcat Wine & Spirits

Cheers Liquor Mart

Double D Wine & Liquor

Davidson’s Beer, Wine and Spirits - Highlands Ranch

Alameda Liquor Mart

Colorado Liquor Outlet

Emporium

Applejack Wine and Spirits

Edna Wine & Spirits

Denver Liquor Galaxy

Argonaut Wine and Liquor

Downtown Fine Spirits and Wines

DTC Wine & Spirits

Bear Valley Wine and Spirits

Eagle Wine and Spirits

Knock One Back Liquors

Europa Wine and Liquors

Cana Wine and Liquors

Flying Horse Wine and Spirits

Park Avenue Wine and Spirits

Great Vines Liquors

Colorado Liquor Mart

Gold Hill Wine & Liquor

Pecos Wine & Spirits

Hampden Crossing Liquor

MK Wine and Liquor

Sam’s Warehouse Liquors

Heritage Wine and Liquor

Columbine Discount Wine and Liquor

Monument Cork’n Bottle

South Boulder Road Liquors

High Point Liquor

Columbine Valley Liquors

Newton Beverage World

Volume Rate Liquors

Berthoud Wine and Spirits

Sportsman’s Liquor Windsor Craft Cooler Wyatt’s Wines and Spirits Amore Vino Bacchus Wine and Spirits Bruin Spirits Bubbles Liquor World Castle Pines North Wine & Spirits

High 5 Liquor

VISIT 5280.COM/5280-ROSE FOR A C O M P L E T E L I S T O F P U R C H A S E L O C AT I O N S

The label artwork was created by Pat Milbery and Pat McKinney of the So-Gnar Creative Division

$1 from each purchase will go directly to HomeAid Colorado and its mission to fight homelessness through construction projects and community outreach.

BACKSTORY Tall Tasks

While most of us are content bagging just one of Colorado’s 54 (or 58, depending on your criteria) fourteeners, a select few have taken their quests on the state’s tallest peaks to unheard-of heights. From achievements that displayed serious willpower to others that required more niche skills, these are the wildest records ever set on the Centennial State’s 14,000-foot-plus peaks. —SHANE MONAGHAN

HUSTLE UP

To summit all 58 peaks in nine days, 21 hours, and 51 minutes, Colorado native Andrew Hamilton essentially hiked a marathon every day. He was able to keep such a quick pace because a cadre of family members shuttled him between trailheads while he caught brief moments of shut-eye.

A MAD DASH

NUT CASES

Three people have nudged peanuts up Pikes Peak using prongs (up to two feet long) strapped to their foreheads. Texan Baxter Williams first completed the task in 1929 to win a bet. In 1976, University of Colorado Boulder student Tom Miller set the record of four days, 23 hours, and 47 minutes.

In 2018, Josh Sanders climbed 10 separate fourteeners in one day. During the sprint, the Michigan native gained almost 20,000 total feet of elevation and traveled some 45 miles, reaching the top of the final, recordbreaking peak, Mt. Belford, with just 27 minutes to spare.

SLEEPING IN THE SKY

LICKETY SPLIT

In Colorado, if it has snow on it, someone will ski it. Enter Salida’s Josh Jespersen, who climbed and splitboarded every fourteener in 138 days in 2017. The former Navy SEAL’s goal, in part, was to raise awareness for Mission Memorial Day, his local nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans stay active.

96 5 2 8 0

JUNE 2020

Local author Jon Kedrowski spent a night atop every fourteener in 2011, enlisting Fox31 meteorologist Chris Tomer for real-time weather updates.

Even so, Kedrowski still suffered through multiple blizzards and watched his tent get struck by lightning on Mt. Harvard.

Photo illustration by Sean Parsons. Source photos: Courtesy of Ellie Briggs (Ellie & Loki); Courtesy of Andrew Hamilton (Andrew Hamilton & Andrea Sansone); Courtesy of Laura Sanders (Josh Sanders); Getty Images (peanut); Isaiah Branch-Boyle (Josh Jespersen); Courtesy of Dr. Jose Oberholzer (Jon Kedrowski)

DOGGIN’ IT

At least three dogs have topped every fourteener, and while humans can grip rock as they scoot across the most imposing traverses—like Capitol Peak’s ridgeline—on their tails, dogs must make the walk without the aid of opposable thumbs. But Ellie Briggs says her pup, Loki—the most recent canine to do it—would have turned around if he wasn’t game for such climbs. (Loki was unavailable for comment.)

Peace.

Find yours in Boulder.

Leave behind the routine, the humdrum, and the sameness to rediscover your own stream of consciousness — on a pine-scented trail beside the Flatirons or strolling on historic downtown Pearl Street.

Begin. Be safe. Be local.

BoulderColoradoUSA.com | 800.444.0447

WE HOPE At National Jewish Health, the nation’s leading respiratory hospital, we breathe hope. Our doctors, scientists and caregivers are working on the frontlines of our community and collaborating across the globe to meet the challenge of COVID-19.

This is a battle we face together and we will continue to help lead the effort through science, research and care.

To everyone fighting this pandemic:

We breathe with you.

TM

For more information, visit njhealth.org/covidhope