Tasting Excellent Local Beer in Ridgeway, Colorado

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This is the last of the three articles I wrote for the website Trazzler which is no longer. It's not a ride or hike, just a stop we made on a rest day between climbing 14ers. Photos are from a trip in 2009 For most, the town of Ridgeway is where your turn to go to Telluride or go straight to Ouray. Just off the main road, there’s the Colorado Boy Pub & Brewery. I had pints of the Stout and the IPA, and tasters of the rest. The stout and IPA were excellent. The Irish Red Ale was better than average. The Blonde Ale and Best Bitter were ok, but I wouldn’t get a pint of them. The food selection is simple, four different Paninis with chips, about $7 each. They also have free popcorn to go with the beer. The pints were $3.75 ($4.25 for the IPA) and tasters are about a dollar. They also had mini etch-a-sketches on all the tables. It's a small place, with only 5 tables and small bar, but has a great pub atmosphere. The Colorado Boy Brewery Ridgeway Has Some Nice Views of the
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Glacier Creek Snowshoeing (March 2009)

The area near the end of the road to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park is the most scenic area in the park. This day, we snowshoed from the Glacier Junction trailhead up into Glacier Gorge. It was perfect weather for snowshoeing; clear skies and warm. The first quarter to half mile didn't have enough snow to snowshoe. At Alberta Falls we started following the creek and stayed on it all the way to the lake. Above Alberta Falls to the bridge for North Longs Peak Trail the creek was in a mini gorge. We had to climb up at a couple of spots. After it curved to the west, it was wider and had trees around it. Most of the creek was covered with snow, but wasn't hard to follow.
This section has roaring water in the summer

One of the few sections of the creek that wasn't covered in snow

One bridge we passed only had a the rail sticking out of the snow; it looked like the horse hitch racks common in the park.
After the bridge most people that were on the trail began following the creek. The trail has some bare sections between here and the lake. The creek enters a narrow mini gorge again and had some breaks in the the snow, with flowing water exposed. Most of the lake was solid enough to walk on; we were able to get close area were the ice had melted. Attempts to slide on the didn't work too well. On a previous trip the ice was smoother and we were seeing who could slide the furthest.
Mills Lake

Then we walked across Mills Lake and up the creek about a quarter mile to Jewel Lake. Jewel was dry under the ice. Rocks were sticking up and there were some spots were the lake bed was exposed.
Jewel Lake
(The brown area near the top is the lake bed)

A little past Jewel, we turned around and went back. After sliding down Glacier Creek Falls we got on the trail and followed it the rest of the way back.
Glacier Creek Falls

Usually there is a long stretch in the section of the trail from the junction of Glacier Gorge, Lake Hiayaha and Icy Brook trails to a big curve at the top (a climb on the way back) is bare except right after a snowfall. This day it was bare past the curve, off and on the the North Longs Peak Junction (about 1/4 mile).
View from the Big Curve

The total distance for the route we took was 6.2 miles.

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