In this issue of HighCountry, we explore a few of the more off-the-beaten-path places to bum around. Cool thing about bummin’ around is you never know what you’ll run into. Kids know this much better than older folks. They understand bummin’ around on foot is one thing; but on bikes – one of the best Read More
Ice fishing, Eagle Nest Lake
Mid-May and it is snowing, again. We’ve had plenty of warm weather – ski slopes are closed, aspens are beginning to bud at the branch tips, creeks are swollen with runoff – but winter is slow to let go. But you know it will, and you can see it on the face of Eagle Nest Read More
Riders In The Sky
Summer. Just the word makes spirits soar. Later, it’s back to the daily grind, but in the meantime, I figure a change of attitude (and altitude) might do a body good. Who knows? Fresh perspectives can change things forever. When I got the chance to take a hot air balloon ride (always on my bucket Read More
“Rut 66” & New Mexico roads
The Southwest summer sky. A thing of beauty – smashing sunrise, searing midday sun, orange twilight, peaceful nights. Just one of the things people flock to New Mexico for. Sure, there’s the landscape – mountains and mesas, gorges and rivers – food, art, music, festivals, history, adventure. All great stuff we’re famous for, but you Read More
Boyz 2 Cowboys
Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys… Yeah, well, tell it to a ten-year-old, especially boys hobbled in school by too much learnin,’ or penned up in the house too long with their sisters; boys with the natural wandering soul of a cowboy, untethered, slapping the imaginary hind end of a palomino, Read More
Ski vacation: Enhanced torture by cheese
Most people I know don’t love old goat cheese. I don’t know what’s wrong with them. My cousin Billy didn’t love it, learned not to love it. It wasn’t really his fault. It had more to do with genetics; he was victimized by relatives. A bystander. I got sucked into the deal. Billy fell asleep Read More
Homespun mountain golf: The wilder, the better
A golf ball comes screaming by my ear,… …rattles through a few tree branches, bangs off the barn, ricochets off a tire, then rolls to a stop beside the stock tank. “Fore!” we hear after the ball has stopped, followed by hoots and howls from what looks like a band of pirates behind us. We Read More
Bubba the dog runs away with the Boy Scouts
A friend called me a dog the other day: not as in “You old dog,” which I’ve been called before, but a hipper version. “Yo Dog… what up?” It got me thinking, sort of, about dogs here in the southern Rockies, how they penetrate our lives and language – sly dog, lucky dog, dog tired, etc. Read More
Born to be wild: The love of the road hits us all
“BRAKES!” That was the scream from the driver of our four-passenger mini-bike – a homemade job with a mammoth seat mounted on top of a lawnmower motor – each time we neared an intersection or a squirrel dared to dart out in front of us. We were the brakes, three riders on back hanging onto Read More
Serious winter fun: No limit to lunacy
Looking out the living room window, Itchy Butt was on fire, burning to get outside. Snow was hammering the window panes; you could tell the storm was going to be big, maybe a monster dump. But no matter how hard Itchy Butt stared at the storm, no matter how forlorn the look on his face, Read More