Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2020 i 5280 Magazine

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…

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…

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…

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.…

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. 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.) LICKETY SPLIT In Colorado, if it has snow on it, someone…

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…

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.…

It’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…

WITH AN EASEL 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. WITH A SMARTPHONE 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…

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…

1. Dakota sandstone 113 million to 95 million years old* 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 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 3. Morrison formation 161 million to 144 million years old When archaeologists go fossil hunting, they home in on the terra-cotta-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…

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. 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. 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…

IN 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…

ON 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…