Memories: Happy Colorado Day!
I came to Grand County for a job: executive director of Colorado Headwaters Land Trust. I visited a few months before moving for an in-person interview with the Board of Directors. One of the Board members, Ed, picked me up from the airport and drove me in over Berthoud Pass.
As we descended into the county and passed the Second Creek trailhead, I realized I had been here before, for a friend’s wedding in Longmont. I had arrived a few days early and my friend took us for a hike to the Broome Hut. At the time, I had no idea I would eventually move here, and be able to hike to the hut whenever I wanted.
Ed took me on a tour of the county. When we reached Hot Sulphur Springs, another realization hit me: this was where John Wesley Powell based his research of the Colorado River. Some of the crew who went with him down the river and through the Grand Canyon were even from Middle Park!
John Wesley Powell is a hero of mine. He was an early American explorer and researcher who helped found the Smithsonian Institution and the US Geological Survey. He helped shape our understanding of the American Southwest. He understood the relationship between humans and water, and how we could better manage our natural resources as the country grew after the Civil War.
His writings are a big part of how I understand the West and why I am committed to conserving what we have, all along the Colorado River.
I soon had a third realization: Colorado – Grand County in particular – was where I wanted to be. The mountains, trails, rivers, lakes, towns, and ranches were all calling me upstream, from the Grand Canyon to Grand Lake.
Once I got the job offer, I shared the news with my friends in Flagstaff, Arizona. A rancher I worked with spoke up,
Why do you want to move there?!
It turns out he knew Grand County well: he grew up on a ranch in northern Colorado and once dated a woman from Kremmling back when there wasn’t a lick of pavement in the county and driving through the mountains was an adventure all on its own. One of the ranch managers mentioned she was raised down County Road 9, between Kremmling and Silverthorne. An older neighbor shared that growing up in the 1950s, he and his grandfather used to take summer trips to Grand County from Phoenix to fish and cool off in the mountains.
If I needed even another sign to move here, my father remembered that he went to summer camp in Grand County! He was 15 when he attended Vagabond Ranch, an adventure camp located up Highway 125 in Arapaho National Forest. The first time he visited me in Grand County we went for a hike in the forest around the old camp property.
All of these stories remind me why this community matters, especially today on Colorado Day! This is a day to remember Colorado’s history, to appreciate where we are today, and to imagine what the next 150 years of Colorado should look like.
The conservation easement on the historic McElroy cattle ranch off Highway 9, south of Kremmling (Oct 15, 2020)
Since moving here, I have met people whose families have been here for generations, from the times of covered wagons and homesteaders. The house I bought was built from an old Holzwarth cabin, part of the ranch which once covered much of northeastern Grand County. I’ve heard firsthand stories of when the first market was built and when the first stoplight was installed.
Land conservation is not just about open spaces and wildlife. It is also about hearing and learning the stories of the people who lived here and made this place what it is today.
And I’ve made my own history in Grand County. After losing my home, that historic cabin, in the East Troublesome Fire, I rebuilt. I used Colorado trees milled in Grand County to build my new home on my property, setting roots down at the headwaters of the mighty Colorado River.
I’ve made a point of meeting my neighbors who have seen this place change over the decades, to learn what’s been done, what’s worked, and what we could do next.
Through the land trust, I had the honor of helping to create the first two conserved town parks in the county: the 275-acre Himebaugh Gulch in Hot Sulphur Springs and the 743-acre Granby Highlands-Trails in Granby. I protected historic ranches and family properties throughout the county, preserving the land, histories, and memories all at once.
I love my home here, and I am going to be here for many years to come. I look forward to celebrating Colorado Day for many more years, protecting the history we have and building a new history with every passing day.
