Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/910378
By Teresa Bergen had no idea the size of a bear's claws until I stood under a gored aspen trunk in Rocky Mountain National Park. Sam Crane, my snowshoeing guide, points out that you never see claw marks in lodgepole pines. "Who wants to get sap on their claws?" he asks. Indeed. I'd only visited Colorado once before during the snow season, for a weekend in Vail, which felt a bit commercialized. But in Grand County — two hours northwest of Denver — I got to see a moose, stay in a cozy mountain lodge, and learn about the preferences of bears. My trip to Grand County was full of mom-and-pop enterprises, gorgeous sunsets, winter exercise, and piles of snow. Snow Exercise Rocky Mountain National Park o ers lots of free programming, in- cluding the snowshoeing expedition I joined with 23 other people. It's BYOS – I rented my snowshoes at Never Summer Mountain Products in the nearby town of Grand Lake. We started at about 9,000 feet and climbed 300 more. My activity tracker gave me the most points ever, proving it lacks the sense to di erentiate ex- ercise from imminent heart attack. Fortunately, we stopped frequently for natural history lessons. Some trails are packed down enough that snowshoes aren't required. Boots were enough for the East Inlet Trail near Grand Lake. However, wander o the trail a few inches and you're up to your thighs in snow. Out by Big Meadow, my closest-ever moose sighting thrilled me. She kept chewing her leaves as I took a bazillion photos. Ah, another tourist, she said. Grand County has plenty of skiing, even if it's not as glitzy as Vail. At Winter Park, the county's biggest ski resort, the beginning green di- amonds are more like intermediate blues elsewhere. Skiers and snow- boarders defy gravity and risk their necks in obstacle- lled terrain parks. If you're there for the holidays, don't miss their annual Torchlight Parade. More sedate folks (me) stick to the county's many miles of Nordic track. A Dogsledding Pastor Like many animal lovers, I was quite unsure about dogsledding. But the dogs at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA of the Rockies are well-loved and live to run. About 2,000 people a year attend a dogsledding presenta- tion at the Y, with 1,500 going on a short ride with a musher. Steve Peterson has one of the most intriguing slash careers I've encoun- tered: Chaplain/head musher. He's been a pastor for more than 30 years, and a musher for almost 20. He started with one dog, Fox, who accompanied him when he guided back country trips in Minnesota. He later adopted three dogs and acquired an old sled for winter camp- ing. " e bond that you develop with the dogs doing that together was a greater bond than I'd ever had with a dog before," he told me. When Peterson moved to Colora- do and became chaplain, the Y By Teresa Bergen had no idea the size of a bear's claws until I stood under a had no idea the size of a bear's claws until I stood under a gored aspen trunk in Rocky Mountain National Park. Sam Crane, my snowshoeing guide, points out that you never see claw marks in lodgepole pines. "Who wants to get sap on their claws?" he asks. Indeed. I'd only visited Colorado once before during the snow season, for a weekend in Vail, which felt a bit commercialized. But in Grand County — two hours northwest of Denver — I got to see a moose, stay in a cozy mountain lodge, and learn about the preferences of bears. My trip to Grand County was full of mom-and-pop enterprises, gorgeous sunsets, winter exercise, and piles of snow. Snow Exercise Rocky Mountain National Park o ers lots of free programming, in- cluding the snowshoeing expedition I joined with 23 other people. It's BYOS – I rented my snowshoes at Never Summer Mountain Products in the nearby town of Grand Lake. We started at about 9,000 feet and climbed 300 more. My activity tracker gave me the most points ever, proving it lacks the sense to di erentiate ex- ercise from imminent heart attack. Fortunately, we stopped frequently for natural history lessons. Some trails are packed down enough that snowshoes aren't required. Boots were enough for the East Inlet Trail near Grand Lake. However, wander o the trail a few inches and you're up to your thighs in snow. Out by Big Meadow, my closest-ever moose sighting thrilled me. She kept chewing her leaves as I took a bazillion photos. Ah, another tourist, she said. Grand County has plenty of skiing, even if it's not as glitzy as Vail. At Winter Park, the county's biggest ski resort, the beginning green di- amonds are more like intermediate blues elsewhere. Skiers and snow- boarders defy gravity and risk their necks in obstacle- lled terrain parks. If you're there for the holidays, don't miss their annual Torchlight Parade. More sedate folks (me) stick to the county's many miles of Nordic track. A Dogsledding Pastor Like many animal lovers, I was quite unsure about dogsledding. But the dogs at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA of the Rockies are well-loved and live to run. About 2,000 people a year attend a dogsledding presenta- tion at the Y, with 1,500 going on a short ride with a musher. Steve Peterson has one of the most intriguing slash careers I've encoun- tered: Chaplain/head musher. He's been a pastor for more than 30 years, and a musher for almost 20. He started with one dog, Fox, who accompanied him when he guided back country trips in Minnesota. He later adopted three dogs and acquired an old sled for winter camp- ing. " e bond that you develop with the dogs doing that together was a greater bond than I'd ever had with a dog before," he told me. When Peterson moved to Colora- do and became chaplain, the Y The Snowy Old-Time Charm of Colorado Winter's Wonderland! 24 wholelifetimes.com