Denver Lofts

I have lived in the Denver area for many years, and wouldn’t imagine living anywhere else, at least for now.   I used to live up in the mountains, and we called “Denverites” by a name that isn’t usually used as a term of endearment.  We called them (which is really me/us now) “Weekend Warriors.”    Folks from Denver, as it goes, don’t usually do the mountain thing during the week, but are fired up on the weekends, clogging the roads (I-70), and making the ski resorts miserably crowded.

I’ve ‘gotten over’ my need to battle crowds, and traffic, especially now that I have discovered all of the backcountry skiing available to me within a short drive from the Denver area!

The great things about backcountry skiing are:

1) Once you have the equipment, there is no fee, lift ticket, or $14 bowls of chili at the lodge.  You pay for gas, and pack a lunch

2) It is family friendly – once your kids learn, and have the equipment, you can go whenever, and for however long.

3) There is no “guilt” associated with being done at 1:30, especially after you have paid up to, and over $100 for a lift ticket.   When you are done, you’re done, and that’s perfect!

4) No crowds (unless a group of squirrels, and maybe a snowshoer is your idea of a crowd-scene).

5) You can sleep in, wait for the morning traffic to subside, and then sneak up to the mountains mid-morning in plenty of time to get a lot of skiing in!

6) Did I mention that it is economical?

I was surprised at how easy it was to outfit my skis with “climbing skins” which go on and off easily.  You just need to trim them before use, and there are a number of good videos out there (Black Diamond site has a few) and tutorials.

Here is my photo from an awesome ski day, just outside of Copper Mountain in a little valley called Clinton Gulch.   It was about a 1.5 hour drive (easy drive) from Denver.  We got there around 10, left at 2 – and avoided all traffic.  It was a perfect day.

This is another photo of our glorious fall foliage in the Denver area.   I went with a few friends up to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) – it took us just about 2 hours to get to the trailhead from the Denver area, and we ended up hiking about 12 miles total if I remember – our destination being Black Lake, which is tucked up in the base of the Longs Peak Area.

I used my Canon Rebel T2i.

The colors were amazing – the reds in this photo were truly that vibrant.    More great reasons to live in the Denver area..!

I took a little excursion up to Rocky Mountain National Park today, and the fall colors were amazing!    Living in Denver definitely has some great perks and advantages – one being that we are extremely close to places of awe-inspiring beauty.  The drive to this location is about an hour and a half – and is accessible from Bear Lake.   The hike isn’t hard, and is family friendly (for the first mile – I actually did 5 1/2 miles each way, getting up to some more remote scenery).

This photo was taken on October 1, 2011, and serves as a reminder to me why Denver is such a great place to live!

I have recently been experimenting with a Konova Slider for my videos.  A friend of mine owns one, and did a review and montage on his site, learningdslrvideo.com so I borrowed his for a few days to see what I could do with it.   I took it on a trip to Western Colorado (Fruita Area, which is about 4 hours west of Denver) for a race I was participating in.   We also went to Colorado National Monument and took a few shots there.

The slider worked great.   it is well-built, and the “legs” or stands that swivel out that it sits on are sturdy and wide, so it gives the slider a good amount of stability.   The whole unit seemed very solid, and pretty easy to use.  The only difficulty I had with it was getting small grains of sand, or dust in the tracks, which can make the slider choppy and bumpy, so I recommend to anyone using this slider outdoors to take a can of spray duster (the kind you use for computer keyboards) to clear out the tracks from time-to-time.

I would highly recommend this slider.  I was wishing at times that it was a little longer, but from what I understand, konova makes longer ones that are a little more expensive.

The slider is easily packed into a nice, durable bag that comes with it, so I had no problem carrying it on short hikes.  The camera I used was a Canon EOS Rebel T2i DSLR and the video was shot in HD (High Definition).

Anyways, here is the video/montage using the Konova Slider.  Enjoy!

I have been playing around with my “new” camera and since it is spring, I thought I would go up to the foothills at NCAR to try to get some shots of Boulder, and Denver off to the distance. I went up in late March this year, and right at dusk got a pretty good shot of Boulder and the plains in the distance, with some pretty ominous looking clouds brewing. The evening had some great lighting – the grass in the foreground was really dry and bright, so that made for an interesting effect. NCAR is a great place to practice – lots of great natural landscapes, interesting architecture, and great views of Boulder and Denver!

I took this photo of the Denver Skyline in December 2010 – I thought this one turned out pretty good – it was a beautiful evening (Click the image for a larger version – should open in a new window!). To see the original really, really big size on my flickr page, go here

I sometimes receive questions through the site that I am not able to answer (since I am just a listing service) – so sometimes I post those questions here to see if anyone out there can help.  Here’s the question about Dakota Lofts that I received today

***********************

Hi,
I am wondering if you could give me more information on the Dakota Lofts and if there is something for rent in that area. I am looking for 1-bedroom, 1-bath apartments in the “LoHi” area of Denver.

My budget is my biggest concern as i dont want to go over 800-850 dollars. If you have some availability in that area please let me know.

Thanks

There is a jewel in them thar mountains!

My family and I spend quite a bit of time up in the mountains of Colorado – especially in the Frisco/Copper Mountain areas.  One of the things that has been sorely lacking up there is a really, really good Mexican restaurant.

Of course, there are a number of “C – plus” places (as my dad would put it) that will fill you up in a pinch, and acually might taste ok after a few Margaritas.

BUT – this past weekend, we discovered a new place that is about as good as any place we have ever been – it’s called EL TOREO FAMILY MEXICAN RESTAURANT – and it is simply superb.  It’s owned and managed by Andres and Miguel Estrella.   The theme is bullfighting, as the Estrellas have a long history of bullfighting in their family.   The place is decorated with authentic, personal family photos.  The music was also authentic.

This restaurant used to be something else – another Mexican place that was so-so, but left a lot to be desired.   We came here last Saturday evening, and even though it was the off-season, they had everything on the menu (which, for being between skiing and summer seasons, is impressive – I know, as I used to be the head honcho of a restuarant in Vail many years ago.  That’s another story.

Miguel was waiting on us, and he was charming, and offered many stories about his family heritage, and bullfighting (we asked).   I was impressed that my parents are fairly knowledgeable about it, and could swap their knowledge with Miguel about “El Cordobes” the famous Spanish bullfighter.   My wife and I just sat back and looked a little ignorant, but it was fascinating and truly enjoyable to listen to.

Miguel suggested a few items that were “specialties” of the house – and since I am a Chili Relleno glutton, I tried that with a cheese enchilada.   It was….extraordinary…especially for being a middle-of-nowhere mountain-town Mexican place.  As anyone who has spent a few days skiing in Colorado, mountain Mexican food usually consits of bagged chips, canned salsa, and a pile of gloopy nachos as big as K2.

I am from Arizona, and spent a number of years in Tucson..just an hour from the border.  My parents lived in El Paso Texas for many, many years, and have traveled Mexico and Spain extensively.  We know good Mexican Food, and EL Toreo was authentic and absolutely delicious.

Opening a new restaurant, especially in this economy, and in an expensive ski-town can be a gamble, but it is our suspicion, and hope that El Toreo is here to stay.

Here’s what my mom wrote about it:

View Larger Map

It is amazing that in this day and age, people still fall for rental scams. But then, as I think about it, probably not everyone is as experienced as I am in knowing what to look for. After all, I run a number of rental sites, and see scams every day. Identifying a scammer, to me, is almost second-nature.

I have to remind myself that many people might be renting for the first time. Or, in this economy, many people are probably renting their homes, or a room in their house for the first time for the extra income, so naturally, these types of people wouldn’t be tuned in to the world of scammers.

Thankfully, my friend Dave, who just launched his new site Pickrent, has developed a great tool that will help you identify a scam. His Scam Tool
is very accurate, and quite helpful for anyone who may have received a questionable e-mail regarding renting, or a rental.

This is a great video, but for some reason, it is a bit unsettling.