The first couple days we walked or biked around town taking photos of old buildings. The trick was to overcome my Southwestern prejudice that wood is an ignoble building material. I tried to put this and other prejudices aside so I could enjoy Leadville on its terms.   more »

A woman in the torrid lowlands (7000 feet), downriver, told me Leadville, CO, was ugly. But she seemd like the fussy type, so her comment was actually a positive recommendation. Indeed, approaching the city limits of Leadville, there were mine tailings and dilapidated shacks...   more »

Thus my head is still shaking in disbelief, here in the upper Arkansas River valley, because for the first time in my life I have abandoned this conventional disdain of tourists, and have really come to enjoy them.    more »

We could read the poetry of William Blake to find inspiration about what happens when men and mountains meet. But that might mislead us into thinking that perspicuity on a mountain peak takes effort on our part.    more »

The sheer, outdoor-ish, physical frolic of the place pleases me immensely. Before this summer I had thought that to get away from the standard American chubbie/gasoline culture, you should go to Oregon. But now...   more »