SUMMER FUN IN A WINTER
DESTINATION
 |
| NO! |
Although admittedly I
look marvelous in a ski sweater sipping a hot toddy by the ski lodge’s
fireplace, don’t ever expect me to be out on the slopes. Nope! Skiing and
snowboarding are not in for me. Ice skating too. Even cross-country skiing,
which is basically running on skis is scary for me, especially if there are any
hills involved.
Heck, just riding a
chair lift is scary for me.
Double Heck… I don’t
even own a ski sweater.
So, it’s safe to say
that this travel blog will never give you inside information about winter
sports. Never.
 |
| YES! |
Why then come to Breckenridge
Colorado for a vacation during the summer?
Afterall, Breckenridge
is one of the most popular skiing
destinations in the western hemisphere, with ski runs on peaks 7, 8, 9 and 10 in
the Tenmile range which is part of the Rocky Mountains and averages 1,600,000 visitors
yearly during the skiing season. There’s also snowshoeing trails along the
peaks and snowmobiling excursions to sign up for in a season that stretches
from November through to March.
Breckenridge and nearby
Vail with its 1,600,000+ visitors make this area an extremely popular
destination, and it is just an hour and a half drive west of Denver.
ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE
 |
| MAIN ST, BRECK |
The first Breckenridge ski
trails were cut in 1961 on peak 8 whose elevation is at 12,998 and the area has
grown now to include peaks 7, 9 and 10 as well. The town of Breckenridge sits
at 9,600 feet in elevation and gets very crowded during skiing season.
Our recent extended
family visit to Breckenridge was split between two sister resorts. Ours was the
older Grand Timber Lodge nearer to town and the rest of the family was at the
newer Grand Lodge at Peak 7 on Ski Hill Road, which has a beautiful view of the
mountains still snow-capped in places in late July. Sitting on the balcony of
the Grand Lodge we had an unobstructed view of now-green ski runs and the thankfully
shuttered Independence SuperChair lift and where we would watch the afternoon
clouds gather into thunderstorms.
 |
| gathering storm |
Both resorts cater to families
with movie theaters and game rooms, fitness centers and plenty of pools, both
indoor and outdoor. In deference to the winter months, all the outdoor pools
are heated or actual hot tubs and at the Grand Lodge they hand out robes to keep
the chill off the bathers. Even in late July the temperatures at Breckenridge
never got much higher than 73, a welcome relief from the blistering heat of
Denver.
To store your ski
equipment both resorts have lots of lockers on the ground floor. (They don’t
want you dragging that stuff up to your room.)
YOU CAN GET THERE FROM
HERE
 |
| GONDOLAS BRECKENRIDGE |
There is plenty of
public transportation throughout the year with free buses up and down and
around the town and shuttles that are on a schedule and for on-call. Also, there
are gondolas that whisk tourists (and skiers) from the parking lot to the
SuperChairs. As we spent most of our time with the bulk of the family at the
Grand Lodge, we would drive up there, under 3 miles away, and then take the
gondola back into town.
In the summer Breckenridge
is a pretty town, its Main Street is festooned with hanging flowerpots and
tourist shops, restaurants and bars, including the Gold Pan Saloon which first
opened in 1879, and it makes for a pleasant stroll. In the winter the average
daytime temperature is 20° and the area averages 330 inches of snow per season.
Temperatures during our stay in Breckenridge rarely got much higher than the
mid-70s, but afternoon torrential thundershowers were a daily occurrence.
PIKE’S PEAK OR BUST
The town of Breckenridge
had its start as a mining town in 1859 when prospectors entered the valley
during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush when gold was discovered in the area. The
mines are closed now, although one can visit some of them and can even go on a gold
panning tour at the Country Boy Mine about 10 miles east of Breckenridge.
DUMB AND DUMBER EXPENSIVE
Don’t kid yourself.
Despite all the free public transportation, things just cost more here in Breckenridge.
It cost us $34 for a dozen donuts and two coffees at Daylight Donuts. It cost us
over $100 before the tip for lunch at the BBQ joint Kenosha one day. Great food
while sitting on the “best deck in Breck”. At Breckenridge Brewing Company a
light lunch between five of us was $186 before the tip. Good beers though. And,
speaking of tips, some places started their “recommended” tip at 20% and one
establishment, the Breckenridge Tap House had a recommended 30% on the receipt!
We cooked a lot of our
meals at our Grand Lodge efficiency, which was sensible, and spent a lot of our
time swimming and playing board games and cornhole, reserving one of the movie
theaters for a family night of watching kid films and hiking. We also did a fair amount of pub crawls up and down Main Street at several of the bars and brew pubs.
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| PEAKS TRAIL |
One hike was along the
Peaks Trail, which has its trailhead at the Grand Lodge and where it is
possible to hoof it all the way to Frisco and then take the bus back to
Breckenridge. We didn’t go that far, but hikers, coming from the other
direction, told us there was a moose about a mile ahead. Thankfully we didn’t
run into the moose or had a Bigfoot sighting during our time in the mountains
of Breckenridge.
Another shorter hike
was The Illinois Creek Trail that was great for the younger kids, as it leads
to Isak Heartstone the Troll, a massive wooden smiling troll with rocks for
toenails! That trailhead is at one end of the ice-skating rink at the south end
of town.
Other activities include
strolling along the Blue River where people wade in the flowing water, biking;
there are several bike rental establishments; and fly fishing. Mountain Angler offers
half and full day fly fishing trips and caters to all, from the novice to the
seasoned fisherman.
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| ISAK HEARTSTONE |
As for the “Dumb and
Dumber” reference, they filmed some of that wonderful movie along Main Street in
Breckenridge (standing in for Aspen). The scene where Harry got his tongue
frozen to the chair lift pole would be me if I were ever forced onto a chair
lift…that way I would never have to ski down.
Thanks for reading!
Love, Janet and greg
© 2022 by Gregory Dunaj
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