Day 4 of my 22′ Rocky Mountain tour. I unpack my hiking gear instead of riding all day, and get to start flexing the DSLR with all this perfect scenery.
Frank and Natalie had two wonderful pupperinos that kept me company and stood watch as I slept on the couch. Silent, stoic, poised. What pups. I even woke up to a great view.
The plan for today:
- Vallecito Trail.
- Naps (required)
- Beer (not necessarily in this order, but also required)
- BBQ
- Hot Springs Resort to close it off
Sweet, I am definitely down to clown with this schedule! Love it when a plan comes together. Vallecito trail is about an hour northwest outside of Durango. It follows a creek up a mountain valley with some legit climbing involve (for a Texan).
Even the drive up was full of splendor.
The dream team was in full force. We had our water bottles. We had our snacks. We had some excellent moods.
Once again, this casual Colorado trail would easily blow a casual Texas trail out of the water. I mean look at this NATURE!
Frank and Nat are recently engaged. I just couldn’t tell at all.
Also sometimes shots exist of me doing all this other photo work.
This hiking team was just absolutely crushing it. The views were crushing it. There was a lot of crushing going on. We all had a crush on it too.
As much as we wanted to complete the entire 19 miles one way portion of this trail (oh you Colorado) we turned around and slammed our victory gatorades at the parking lot.
Back in town, naps and beers were had. I caught up on the Stranger Things finale which has excellent subtitles by the way. I think quietly watching with subtitles had more suspense than had I watched it in a movie theater.
Frank and Nat wanted to treat me right, so of course we literally went to Texas Barbeque in Durango, CO. That made me the defacto critic and opinions were wanted.
Here is my opinion on BBQ. In Austin, many a person has stated with absolute certainty that ‘…BBQ joint A is the best BBQ in the world, BBQ joint B is utter and complete garbage and should be avoided at all costs!’
Repeat this, only with A and B switched.
My opinion is that I have never had a BAD barbeque meal in Texas. BBQ is great! Time, heat, and delicious sauce, even the cheapest sausage satisfies a craving. All BBQ is good. SOME BBQ is great! They are all just pieces of meat trying to make their way in a picky world full of 1 and 5 start reviews.
Texas BBQ in Durango had some delicious ribs, definitely done right. Everything else was solid, including my required post BBQ cobbler. Hit it up.
A final tour of Durango:
After this we hit up the Durango Hot Springs Resort and Spa north of town. Once again, cue up ‘I should get a hot tub. Wait, I should just visit here more often’ thoughts. This resort had a few dozen tubs at different temperatures, plus bar, grassy area, and live music. If I lived in Durango I 100% would get a membership.
Durango was great. My 2023 plan is to visit just Colorado and explore even more. I’d be saying farewell to Frank and Nat in the morning, but I wasn’t expected to have to play Thunderstorms again so soon on my way to Kanab, UT…
Enjoy the gallery.
