9-5-2021 Craig, CO Part II

 Try as I might, I wasn’t able to find a campsite in Steamboat Springs, CO, which is why we settled in Craig.  But Lindy wanted badly to visit Steamboat where I skied a few times about a half century ago!  Steamboat was always one of my fave places to ski, a laidback cowboy type of environment, not the snotty, snooty places like Aspen and Vail where the women actually skied in furs.  Spare me. 

 

And my God, does Steamboat get the snow.  Well, I had to revisit, even though I knew that my memories of the town and my experiences there, having faded over time, wouldn’t serve me.  Especially since my memories were mostly white and Steamboat is green, now. 

 

Yay, I made it back to my twenties!

The town is situated at ~7,000 ft. among towering mountains, hundreds of glacial lakes and mineral springs.  It got its name from the sound that emits from the hot springs when they blow off steam.  They said it sounded just like a steamboat, although no steamboat could ever come within hundreds of miles from there.  Much of Steamboat is about snow.  Snow, snow, tons and tons of snow.  In fact, the early settlers believed that it was easier to get around in the winter on their Scandinavian “snowshoes” (skis) than it was in the summer.  The term, “skis,” came later and derives from a Norwegian word, “skiboler,” which actually means, “ski boards.”

 

Ski jumps - Got balls?!

Although skis were the principle method of getting around in the late 1800s, a fellow named Carl Howelsen arrived in 1913 and is credited with turning skiing into a recreational sport.  He taught people how to make skis and wax them and held ski classes.  He built the town’s first ski jump and organized competitions such as jumping and racing.  Tiny toddlers were on skis before they could walk. 

 

Sledding and tobogganing were also methods of getting around in the early days.  These also became competitive sports and the Olympic luge competition is said to have originated in Steamboat.  But in addition to sport, the early folks found it easier to transport ranching, mining and farming supplies, food and mail and so forth by horse-drawn wagons equipped with runners rather than wheels. 

 

Riding the chair up to Christie Peak

A very happy girl!

The yellow arrow points to the 
condo Rob prefers to own.  Estimated
cost:  about $4M.  Anybody wanna
go halvsies?!

Steamboat 2021 

Steamboat has expanded in leaps and bounds since I last had a lift ticket.  (They ran about $75 for a six day ticket.  Today, they average about $1,000.)  It is now a tourist attraction in the summertime, as well.  It was a really fun nostalgia trip for Lindy, even if I couldn’t remember any of the specifics, other than the time I took a wrong turn on the mountain and wound up on a hotdog run called Exposition.  It was used during Olympic and other hotdog competitions.  The moguls were twice as tall as me and about three feet apart and by the time I reached the bottom of the hill, I was crying.  Not my most memorable run at Steamboat!

 

This morning, it was time to pack up for the next leg of our trip, heading for Evansville, WY.  So far, our route, skirted by miles of snow fences, is taking us through open range as far as the eye can see, not a tree in sight, surrounded by purple mountains on the horizon.  We have crossed the Continental Divide three times and we are fighting gusty 25 mph winds.  Holy buckets, what a drive.  We are now settled at River’s Edge RV Park in Evansville, WY on the banks of the North Platte River, just in time for toonies at sunset.