Looking for an escape from the Texas heat for a weekend. Denver airfares are cheap and we would be happy with Estes Park, but we've been there several times. I want to wet a flyfishing line a litle less than being with my wife listening to a river. Thoughts? Been to Aspen and Vail and have no need for the perceived glamor over the tube sock wearing and coming from Arkansas crowd as long as we can sit on a porch without listening to them. Colorado is not a condition. Mountain streams or rivers are a condition.
Breckenridge and Steamboat are good summer options. Farther away, Pagosa Springs, particularly Williams Creek Resavoir and Lake City are wonderful, but a prohibitive drive for a weekend. How about Taos?
Thank you for the suggestions. I've been to Santa Fe at least 25 times and have been to Taos a couple. Went to fish with some guy, Ed Adams?, who helped build the stage for Woodstock and then got on Wavy Gravy's bus and never went back. He's located in some small ******** North of Taos close to the confluence of the Red and Rio Grande rivers. I had a good time, but the fishing is too arduous for me now (STEEP climbing) and the wife doesn't want to be that, hmmm, "austere? rustic?" How long are the drives for the other suggestions. Guesstimate?
A little further afield but Bozeman & Missoula are really nice; flights connect through Denver. Bozeman is close to Yellowstone, and Missoula is about 2-1/2 hours from glacier NP. I can recommend nice places to stay in both.
If you can get a decent price, fly to Montrose, drive to Telluride (not a long drive). It is absolutely beautiful.
Breckenridge & Stemboat are about equal distance from Denver. Both tourist bureaus will say 45 minutes to an hour. In actuality probably and hour & half from the new airport in non rushhour traffic. You can fly to Durango or Montrose and drive to Telluride, Pagosa, Lake City, but airfare is liekly a lot more expensive. From ABQ, Pagosa is a four hour drive. Form what you've said, I think Breckenridge may be your best choice. All amenities, and pretty central to a lot of activities and good places. Gives you the most choices out of Denver.
We got SAT to DEN RT's for under $200 apiece. That's freaking insanely cheap. I'm sure we'd have to pay a fee for baggage, but still... AND the flights get us to DEN by breakfast time and back home after a full day out of this heat.
Forest is closed in/around the Red Rive, NM area. We were up there last weekend and unfortunately you couldn't do anything outside the city limits in the forest. No hiking, fishing, ATV's, etc.
We leave before daylight on Friday and will have temps about 25-30 degrees cooler. For the fishermen, I found some really cool and cheap polarized bifocal/cheater wraparound sunglasses from Duluth Trading Company. I think they were under $20. Bifocals are new territory for me, but at least I will be able to tie on a fly without taking off my sunglasses. Hey, don't laugh. We all are going to need cheaters at some point and none of us want to have them in our pockets to advertise our aging eyes.
