VAIL, COLORADO – I can’t believe I get paid to travel, run up and down the Canadian, Colorado, and Montana Rockies, and blog. You know, this is about as good as my days in the University of McGill drinking lots of beer, hanging with loose women and having free *****.
Starbucks is ready to throw me out, so here is my itinerary for thrill-seeking around the Rockies come June and July: I’ve got a 450-mile bike ride starting in Gunnison, Colorado called “Ride The Rockies,” winding through the Colorado Rockies going to Gunnison. But, being the certified whitewater rafting junkie that I am, I’m not content to leave it at that. I mean come on, this is a guy who plans to name his next child Kicking Horse. That’s right! I’m going to name the the little dude Kicking Horse! (Cool? Or do you think my future mate may have issues?) Anyway, I’m throwing in some whitewater rafting as well.
With nothing more than meager pay, a backpack, a beat up old Volkswagen, and an all-carbon bike, I’ve got some cool Colorado whitewater rafting spots on tap. Yes, the bike is worth more than my car–I’m vintage Canadian.
So here is what I got. Quit drooling. Really.
I’ll hit Durango, Colorado and the Animas River in late May. I am doing to take a raft down the incredible Smelter Run, which is cool because after I flip it, I will swim to shore, hit the park, dry out, and then saunter over to downtown Durango to have some pints at the Carver Brewing company. That’s all they will give me. Then I am going to bum some real rafting down the Piedra and Animas Rivers from Durango Whitewater.
Colorado Springs and some Royal Gorge Rafting
Colorado Springs, Colorado is a little too conservative for chaps of my breed, but I’ve got friends there and that means free digs. Royal Gorge rafting is killer! Even many experienced whitewater rafters can struggle with Colorado rafting if the mountain run-off is determined to be huge that day. It’s jagged, rocky, twisty and–well–some of the most beautiful whitewater rafting south of the Banff, Canada area’s Kicking Horse rafting. Funnily enough, Colorado Springs whitewater rafting companies advertise Royal Gorge rafting as a family friendly deal. Well, like….yeah, maybe for those trailer park relatives you hate or that family that will give you a good inheritance.
Buena Vista, Colorado
I swear, half the tourism economy is rafting and the rafting is pretty mild stuff. Buena Vista is a favorite place of mine because I can go rafting and then take several hours to bike to Leadville, Colorado (11,000 feet), come back, swill some beer at a Colorado cowboy joint, then think about golfing Collegiate Peaks the next day. Hey! It’s cheap, but the views are killer. They make fun of my accent in clever ways, while thinking I’m a real idiot.
Make sure to check back because I have some more great stuff coming up. And, well, Rockies.com has me traveling, rafting, swan-diving out of airplanes and doing some really jacked up stuff – all in the name of entertaining travelers, tourists and the unemployed who always hope to stay unemployed.
