Colorado has long been considered a sacred place, and every time I visit, I gain another layer complexity, or a sense of what makes it special. I have lived in Fort Collins before, nearly ten years ago, and much has changed, but much has remained steadfast as well. The whole front range offers a range of fantastic places to spend time when visiting, among my favorites is Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs. But, as with most people, it’s the mountains that draw my attention most of all. The Rockies have never left me filled without wonder, as I always have a feeling of arriving home when I begin to climb in elevation.
In October, I had the opportunity to attend the American Herbalist Guild symposium held at Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, Colorado. I flew into Denver International, fought through the crowds to get my rental car then I visited the Wild Animal Sanctuary before heading up into the mountains. It was a precarious drive at night through Berthoud Pass, as a snow storm had began raging in the mountains hours before my arrival. I nearly lost control twice as my rental car twisted and turned through the switchbacks of the pass, but as you can tell, I made it out alive!
For three days, I enjoyed learning from some of the greatest natural healers, doctors and herbalists. Snow Mountain Ranch offers a wonderful opportunity for guests to spend time in their expansive estate, with hikes to waterfalls and to mountain peaks with amazing views, as you can see from the photos below. After a wonderful symposium, I opted to spend my last day in Rocky Mountain National Park, where I had to drive three hours before sunrise, heading back down the pass, up and around to the Bear Lake entrance, since the Trail Ridge Road was closed by the snow storm. I spent the day exploring, hiking, and watching wildlife. As a travel and wildlife photographer, you can imagine how happy I was to enjoy moments with elk, stellar’s jays, chipmunks, trout, and more. No bears this time around.
For three days, I enjoyed learning from some of the greatest natural healers, doctors and herbalists. Snow Mountain Ranch offers a wonderful opportunity for guests to spend time in their expansive estate, with hikes to waterfalls and to mountain peaks with amazing views, as you can see from the photos below. After a wonderful symposium, I opted to spend my last day in Rocky Mountain National Park, where I had to drive three hours before sunrise, heading back down the pass, up and around to the Bear Lake entrance, since the Trail Ridge Road was closed by the snow storm. I spent the day exploring, hiking, and watching wildlife. As a travel and wildlife photographer, you can imagine how happy I was to enjoy moments with elk, stellar’s jays, chipmunks, trout, and more. No bears this time around.
After a wonderful day in the great outdoors, I wandered down the mountain to a favorite spot of mine in nearby Boulder. I stayed at the seriously impressive and unique Hotel Boulderado, which contains the Spruce Farm & Fish restaurant. After a gorgeous day in the mountains, there’s no better place to relax than along the front range, where luxury meets relaxation.
Hotel Boulderado is an upscale downtown hotel, originally built in 1909, and it hasn’t lost a single ounce of charm and beauty in all those years. It’s known for its fancy aesthetic and stained-glass ceiling. The hotel also boasts one of the oldest elevators in the state, which is a wonderful experience to have, as it takes you back to a time long gone yet much romanticized. The rooms and suites have a Victorian motif, each with a downtown for mountain foothill views.
I found Hotel Boulderado to be among the nicest hotels I’ve stayed at in my travels, not because it’s super fancy, or because everything looks and feels high end. But because it has character, style, and an old timey sort of transport your back in time feel. You can tell the management and/or designers of the hotel took great care, using their imagination at every turn and on each detail. For that, I loved it instantly when I walked in.
Hotel Boulderado is an upscale downtown hotel, originally built in 1909, and it hasn’t lost a single ounce of charm and beauty in all those years. It’s known for its fancy aesthetic and stained-glass ceiling. The hotel also boasts one of the oldest elevators in the state, which is a wonderful experience to have, as it takes you back to a time long gone yet much romanticized. The rooms and suites have a Victorian motif, each with a downtown for mountain foothill views.
I found Hotel Boulderado to be among the nicest hotels I’ve stayed at in my travels, not because it’s super fancy, or because everything looks and feels high end. But because it has character, style, and an old timey sort of transport your back in time feel. You can tell the management and/or designers of the hotel took great care, using their imagination at every turn and on each detail. For that, I loved it instantly when I walked in.
I had the opportunity to stay in the Historic King Suite, which offered two rooms, one being a lounge outfitted with couch, desk, mini bar, and TV, while the other room had a king bed and luxurious modernized bathroom. My room was spacious for a downtown hotel, reaching 600 square feet. It instantly felt like a vacation space the moment I entered. My excellent suite had WIFI available, a mini fridge, pull-out sofa, room service, and other hotel amenities like the restaurant, two bars with one being a speakeasy in the basement, fitness room, meeting and event spaces, as well as breakfast and valet parking. The valet was kind enough to bring my luggage up as well.
That night I ate at the hotel restaurant, Spruce Farm & Fish, which offered a range of various fresh local foods, seafood, burgers and steak. I started with a local beer and the wild mushroom toasts for appetizer, which boasted 4-5 locally grown wild mushrooms with a buttery herb blend over grilled French baguette, which was fabulous. I’m a huge mushroom fan, so I love when restaurants indulge the edible mycological sources of the area. For the main dish, I had the smoked mushroom and shallot linguine with salmon filet. Yep! More mushrooms… Woohoo. The taste of the salmon and mushrooms was heavenly. The flavor blend of chardonnay buttered noodles complimented both scrumptiously. My meal was expertly prepared, flavor-rich, healthy and quite filling. I topped off a great night and a wonderful day with rich and creamy key lime pie for desert. Everything I had went above and beyond my expectations. So when you find yourself heading to Colorado, get out of Denver and spend some time in the mountains before staying at Hotel Boulderado. You won’t be disappointed.
That night I ate at the hotel restaurant, Spruce Farm & Fish, which offered a range of various fresh local foods, seafood, burgers and steak. I started with a local beer and the wild mushroom toasts for appetizer, which boasted 4-5 locally grown wild mushrooms with a buttery herb blend over grilled French baguette, which was fabulous. I’m a huge mushroom fan, so I love when restaurants indulge the edible mycological sources of the area. For the main dish, I had the smoked mushroom and shallot linguine with salmon filet. Yep! More mushrooms… Woohoo. The taste of the salmon and mushrooms was heavenly. The flavor blend of chardonnay buttered noodles complimented both scrumptiously. My meal was expertly prepared, flavor-rich, healthy and quite filling. I topped off a great night and a wonderful day with rich and creamy key lime pie for desert. Everything I had went above and beyond my expectations. So when you find yourself heading to Colorado, get out of Denver and spend some time in the mountains before staying at Hotel Boulderado. You won’t be disappointed.
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