Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2022 i 5280 Magazine

Accurate histories of minority and marginalized communities are difficult to come by. It’s even harder to tell such stories when those communities have been destroyed—which is what the city of Denver did when it razed the largely Hispanic Auraria neighborhood in the 1970s. To ensure similar cultural demolition doesn’t happen in the future, the city released a historic context study of its Mexican American, Chicano, and Latino communities in March. The study—the first in a series of similar projects—will help determine the culturally significant structures that deserve special protection, so they aren’t torn down. At the same time, the report provides fascinating insight into the evolution of Latino culture in the Mile High City. That tale is far too wide-ranging to publish in a single magazine story—or a book or…

Like so many transplants, Hutch Hutchinson fell hard for Colorado. It was autumn 1986, and the New Hampshire native had just wrapped up his second summer as a fly-fishing guide in Alaska when he made the cross-country drive from New England to Aspen. His brother had recently moved there, and the then 24-year-old Hutchinson was simply planning to visit for a few days. Instead, he called his mom and asked her to ship his stuff west. A lot has changed since then. Hutchinson started a family, made the transition from guiding to being a travel specialist for Vermont-based fishing giant Orvis, and in 2015 co-founded the Roaring Fork Fishing Guide Alliance, a professional organization dedicated to the conservation of the region’s fisheries. The Roaring Fork Valley has changed, too. Pitkin…

Eighty percent of Americans and a third of the planet’s residents live in places where our home galaxy is no longer visible, according to a widely cited 2016 study published in Science Advances. “Growing up in Colorado, it never occurred to me that there are billions of people in urban areas where they can’t see the Milky Way,” Ridgway Mayor John Clark says. “If they were brought to Ridgway on a moonless night, they’d be scared to death.” Alien invasion fears aside, anyone who’s been engulfed by a dark night sky knows how transformative it can be. The authors of the light pollution study (three of whom are from the Front Range) likely want all of humankind to be able to gaze into the cosmos and feel insignificantly small yet…

GEAR UP If you plan to create large prints, a DSLR or mirrorless setup will work best, but newer smartphones (Foott recommends Google’s Pixel) with night mode take great images, especially when paired with a sturdy tripod. Be sure to use a two-second timer or remote shutter so vibrations from your finger don’t mess up your shot. CONSIDER THE CONDITIONS A few clouds can be a fun accent, but to predict when the heavens will be the least obscured, Foott recommends checking the hourly charts at cleardarksky.com. Built for amateur astronomers, it forecasts the weather at observation sites across Canada and the United States, including 166 locations in Colorado. SCOUT IT OUT Investigate your location during the day so you’re not stumbling around for the first time in the dark.…

Since time immemorial, humans across the globe have connected the brightest dots in the heavens, finding forms significant to them. The United States’ original inhabitants are no exception, and thanks in part to groups like Minnesota’s 13-year-old non-profit Native Skywatchers, whose mission is “to remember and revitalize Indigenous star and Earth knowledge,” interest in Indigenous astronomy has recently grown. Not all tribes have chosen to speak publicly about their star stories, however, and those who do sometimes follow cultural protocols that such information should only be transmitted at certain times of the year. In Nancy C. Maryboy and David Begay’s fourth edition of Sharing the Skies—a guide to constellations important to the Navajo, or Diné, whose homeland is in the Four Corners area—the introduction specifies that “the coming of the…

TIP #1 BE READY TO PAY WELL OVER ASKING The Mile High City housing market ended 2021 with record-low inventory and record-breaking appreciation—which combined to make bidding wars the new normal for potential homebuyers. Don’t expect much to change in 2022: This past January, agent Karen Dorfman of Denver’s BSW Real Estate reported 60 showings of one single-family home over five days. The home garnered 23 offers, the highest of which was $115,000 over the $650,000 list price. Indeed, according to the Denver Metro Association of Realtors’ annual market report, last year’s close-price-to-list-price ratio averaged 104 percent for single-family homes and 105 percent for multifamily units. Translation: You’re almost certainly going to pay more than a house is listed for. “I always tell my clients to seek out homes $25,000…

SAGUACHE 1. NEW SKY RANCH Partners, artists, and former Boulderites Victor Rivera and Gigi Douglas plan to host free eco-focused workshops on everything from permaculture to green building techniques when their studio, glamping site, and creative retreat launches this summer. DEL NORTE 2. GENERAL SPECIFIC STORE Owners and Florida transplants Corey Hubbard and Ryan Methfessel often throw dinner parties and community art shows in the historical, tin-ceilinged upstairs ballroom of their new art emporium and curiosities shop. 3. MELLOW MOON LODGE After fleeing the East Coast in 2018, filmmaker and San Luis Valley native Sam Bricker and his wife, Jessica Lovelace, transformed a 1940s motor lodge into this minimalist retro retreat complete with a bike shop and bar.…

When I was 18, I thought stubbornness was only a character flaw if you were wrong—and I was definitely right. A proud conservative, I preached fiscal responsibility, limited government, and personal accountability to anyone who would listen. And while normal people would have been content to hang George W. Bush campaign posters in their dorm rooms, I was so confident my feelings were fixed that I etched the GOP elephant onto my lower back. In other words: 20 years ago, I made a huge mistake. I’m not alone in wanting a do-over: According to the Harris Poll, nearly a quarter of Americans who get tattoos regret them, and that number may be on the rise. Between 2020 and 2027, Allied Market Research predicts the ink-removal market will jump nearly 20…

A metaphorical ocean breeze has been infusing Lincoln Park with Caribbean vibe ever since Wah Gwaan Brewing Company debuted last June. Harsha Maragh, a first-generation American from a long line of Indian Jamaicans, and Jesse Brown, who is African American, are honoring Maragh’s roots and mixing up the monochromatic craft beer industry, which, nationwide, is 93 percent white-owned. “A huge part of opening this brewery for us was increasing diversity of ownership,” Maragh says. “Part of it is being a voice for other communities: the African American community, the first-generation American community, the Caribbean community.” Wah Gwaan—a common Jamaican greeting that translates to “What’s up?”—hosts events, such as an August 6 Jamaican Independence Day bash, in its vibrant venue bedecked with murals of famous reggae musicians by local artist Chelsea…

The signs are everywhere. In the Dark Sky Mocha at Sugarlump Co. In the pendants depicting the moon over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains at jewelrymaker Cheryl Swartz’s gallery. In the night-time horse-drawn wagon rides offered by the local Amish community. In the 11-room motel recently renovated and rebranded as the Dark Sky Suites. The heavens above Westcliffe and Silver Cliffaren’t the only evidence of the area’s status as an International Dark Sky Community. Even before the sun sets on these small, adjacent southern Colorado towns, their identity as a locale where the cosmos are valued, protected, and marketed is clearly visible. That’s largely because of a non-profit called Dark Skies of the Wet Mountain Valley. The group, founded in 1999 by Suzanne “Smokey” Jack, was concerned that population growth…

IF YOU’RE INTO… BIRD-WATCHING GO TO: Jackson Lake State Park BECAUSE: At this popular RV camping destination, just 1.5 hours northeast of Denver, visitors who train their eyes on the sky while the sun is out may be rewarded with glimpses of orioles, Swainson’s hawks, and whooping cranes. DISC GOLF GO TO: Top of the Pines BECAUSE: Nestled at the base of the Sneffels Range, this recreation area’s 175 acres contain a new-in-2020 nine-hole course (the back nine is expected to open late this summer) designed by a landscape architect from nearby Ridgway. CAMPING GO TO: Lake City BECAUSE: Southwestern Colorado’s Hinsdale County is 96 percent public lands. Lake City, its only town, is home to the Slumgullion Earth & Sky Discovery Center, which has its own stargazing-friendly campground—book a…

• MAY–SEPTEMBER The Smokey Jack Observatory in southern Colorado’s Westcliffe hosts shindigs nearly every weekend during the summer. Visit darkskiescolorado.com/events to see the lineup: There are star parties with themes such as spring constellations and the Andromeda galaxy; electronic-assisted astronomy sessions, during which live images from the observatory’s telescope are projected onto a 10-foot-wide screen you can watch from the adjacent amphi-theater; night-sky photography workshops; and daytime solar observations with special filters for viewing the sun. You can even tune in virtually via live-streamed telescope footage on the Dark Skies Colorado Facebook page. Free; donations to Dark Skies of the Wet Mountain Valley are encouraged • MAY 15 At 9:29 p.m., the moon will begin to enter the Earth’s shadow. Thanks to the Colorado Springs Astronomical Society (CSASTRO)—one of the largest…

THERE ARE a lot of things to love about Jason Hatfield’s photography. The textures. The color saturation. The composition. But in landscape photography, the real magic is often in capturing a spectacular scene at the right time with a wide depth of field—that is, having everything perfectly in focus. Hatfield’s 2013 “Wilkerson Pass Sunset,” a shot of yellow aspens in South Park, and his 2019 “Stony Storm Break,” an image of Colorado blue columbines set against the craggy San Juan Mountains, are exquisite examples. In both pictures, the viewer can see all the way to a crisp, clear horizon. Hatfield, who resides in Montrose when he’s not traversing the West chasing the golden hour, grew up in Ohio, a place where he estimates he could peer only about three miles before…

PRICE KEY (Average Entrée) $ UNDER $10 $$ $11 TO $15 $$$ $16 TO $ 2 5 $$$$ $ 26 AND HIGHER. SYMBOL KEY NEW Indicates a restaurant featured in 5280 for the first time (though not necessarily a restaurant that has just opened). A Ace Eat Serve $$$ Uptown Area / Asian This Uptown restaurant and ping-pong hall features Asian-inspired cuisine and 11 ping-pong tables. Try the Sichuan shrimp won tons and don’t miss the Peking duck, which is served family-style on Thursdays and Sundays. Reservations accepted. 501 E. 17th Ave., 303-800-7705. Dinner African Grill & Bar $$$ Lakewood / African Head to this cheery African restaurant for rich stews, fried fish, rice dishes, and friendly service. Get the chakalaka, a traditional vegetarian South African stew. Reservations not accepted.…

For more than 50 years, the wranglers at Sombrero Ranches have moved nearly 400 horses from the outfit’s winter pasture, near Browns Park, to its headquarters, 12 miles west of Craig. In 1994, Sombrero rechristened the event the Great American Horse Drive, a City Slickers–like experience during which amateurs never failed to reach Big Gulch Ranch near Craig. That is, until COVID-19. After a two-year hiatus, 40 novices will once again take to the open range. Held May 3 to 8, the excursion begins with four days of riding, cookouts, and campfire serenades by team leader (and former America’s Got Talent contestant) Chris Petersen. Then, guests will begin driving the herd 60 miles over two days. Making it “gate to gate” isn’t easy, but it can be life-changing; onetime guest…

You leave your office in Denver, arrive at Union Station, and hop aboard a podlike car. Once you’ve settled in, the capsule whooshes into a dark tube. A mere hour and a half later, you pop out in San Francisco, ready to spend the weekend with a friend. This scenario represents the possibility of hyperloop technology, a theoretical method of ground transportation that moves faster than a jet through a vacuum-sealed tunnel. Although its potential sounds like something out of an Octavia Butler novel, a new partnership between Switzerland-based Swisspod and Pueblo’s MxV Rail could make Colorado the cradle of hyperloop travel. Swisspod traces its roots to Reddit, where, in 2015, Denis Tudor learned about a hyperloop competition sponsored by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Tudor’s team won Best Design, and the…

In 2019, the house next door to Lisa Negri’s Washington Park home was about to go on the market. Over the past few years, charming, unimposing bungalows and Victorians in the neighborhood, where Negri has lived since 2012, had increasingly been replaced by trilevel modern builds. Negri suspected that whoever bought the house would raze it and follow suit, erecting a monolith that would cast her house in perpetual shade. So she took matters into her own hands: She bought the place and leveled it herself. “At first, I thought, Well, my dogs will love just having that extra space, and I will have my sunshine,” Negri says. “In the end, I realized that that was a little bit more entitled than I wanted to be. And I started thinking…

On a blustery October day at SkyPilot Farm in Longmont, a posse of pigs feasts on organic squash, apples, and pumpkins. Their 15,000-square-foot pen, a movable fence that’s relocated every few days to fresh pasture, is lush with green alfalfa, which the animals munch on as they meander. Craig Scariot and Chloe Johnson, the husband-and-wife farmers behind nine-year-old SkyPilot, and their business partner, Justin Brunson, chat nearby about the free-range setup that sustains these animals—and the tasty provisions they hope the hogs will eventually become. Brunson, the former chef-owner of now-shuttered restaurant Old Major, founded River Bear American Meats three years ago to craft artisanal charcuterie, sausage, and deli meats from livestock raised responsibly in Colorado and across the Midwest. River Bear not only makes its own line of goods,…

TIMELINE 1997 In response to pressure from passionate area residents, Ridgway’s town council passes a lighting ordinance that requires all outdoor fixtures to be fully shielded, meaning light is contained and reflected down at the ground. 2003 The city replaces its energy-sucking mercury vapor street lamps with high-pressure sodium fixtures, which are more efficient and emit orange-colored light. 2016 The CO 62 corridor downtown undergoes a major renovation. All of the project’s lighting—including 66 short pathway lampposts—is designed to limit light pollution. March 2018 The town’s new master plan prioritizes dark-sky preservation and sets the goal of IDA certification. May 2018 The city staff begins updating Ridgway’s outdoor lighting ordinance to meet the IDA’s standards, which include limits on brightness for residential and commercial buildings. May 2019 After holding two…

Sometimes, as seen from the vantage of the Great House Pueblo at Chimney Rock National Monument, the full moon rises in a narrow gap between the monument’s namesake twin stone pillars near Pagosa Springs. In fact, the phenomenon occurs only on certain nights, when the moon rises farther north than usual, during the northern major lunar standstill (MLS)—a period of 36 months that comes around every 18.6 years. Could the Great House’s view be a coincidence? Or did the Ancestral Puebloans, who lived in what is now the Four Corners region more than 1,000 years ago, build this structure with the MLS in mind, as University of Colorado Boulder professor J. McKim Malville proposed in 1987? Such claims of celestial alignments—when human-made objects correlate perfectly with cosmic events—have faced criticism…

1. Across the New Mexico border, Capulin Volcano National Monument has been an International Dark Sky Park since 2016. In addition to telescope-assisted viewing events most Saturday evenings during the summer, rangers offer guided monthly moonlight hikes with advance reservations. 271 miles 2. Although being in a place called Goblin Valley State Park after sunset might sound spooky, it’s worth it for the dramatic shots you’ll get of the Milky Way rising over thousands of hoodoos (rock spires) in this southeastern Utah International Dark Sky Park. 392 miles 3. Antelope Island State Park is located on the largest island (accessible via a narrow, two-lane road) within Utah’s Great Salt Lake. Explore the International Dark Sky Park’s 28,800 acres—home to bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and bison—by foot, horseback, or bike before enjoying…

1. The Boulder triathlete community might be jazzed about Aviointeriors’ Skyrider 3.0 seats—essentially bike seats that take up 23 inches, compared with the lavish industry standard of 31 inches—but the rest of us aren’t buying the Italian company’s argument that it’s “ultrabasic economy,” not cattle class. Let’s hope Frontier doesn’t, either. 2. Strap-clutching standing passengers aboard RTD’s Route 15 bus have become so accustomed to their white-knuckle rides up and down Colfax Avenue, they don’t even notice their neighbors’ armpit aromas anymore. What’s to prevent Frontier from taking this people-packing mode of transportation to the skies—you know, other than federal regulations? 3. Please wait until reaching cruising altitude before visiting the lavatories located at the front and rear of the craft, which, of course, remain free of charge. Require toilet…