Our last stop, Golden, CO. near Keefe (who lives in Denver) for some father-son bonding while I head north to a meditation retreat at the Rocky Mountain Ecodharma Center. I will have to rely on Brian for the retelling of their adventures as I wasn’t there!
Our first night, Keefe came & picked us up and took us to Boulder to enjoy a vegan food truck gathering. Lines were long, food was great but we had a bit of a rough start to our visit with a silly argument. These things happen and we repaired the falling out by the end of the evening. Keefe stayed with us in the camper even though he had to get up and off to Denver in the morning for work.
My 5 day retreat was called “Body as Mountain, Mind As Sky” — these frequently quoted phrases by the 13th Century Zen master Dogen evoke a feeling of embodied freedom, and form the basis of this retreat. So often we live as though we are separate from nature when, in fact, we are nature. It was a wonderful way to bring together all the experiences from the summer months in silent mediation practice (Silence is Golden; how apt). Much of our time was on the land at the Center, practicing creekside or on rockpiles atop the trails, listening to dharma talks around the campfire at night. I was fortunate my teacher, Jon Aaron, was one of our retreat leaders and it was a smaller, more intimate retreat than others I have been on-only about 15 of us. It was a beautiful center and a very special experience. Our last full day there we hiked up to Blue Lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area. I have no photos because in silent retreat, you give up your devices. It was an awesome hike – saw 2 bull moose on the way up, first time I have seen a bull, so cool, they are quite spectacular. There was still snow given the elevation and the trail was steep – we started at ~11,500 feet and ascended to 12,500 over 3 miles. TOTALLY worth it. We spent an hour or so up there before heading back down. I can share the trail from the All Trails app as well as some “borrowed” pictures.
While I was away, Keefe & Brian enjoyed time together – dinner with cousin Bailey who lives in Denver (and Keefe took her to the airport super early on Sat.!), haircut for B, Red Rocks hike, beers at Over Yonder Brewing Co. , tasting visit to Talnua Distillery, Impossible Whopper at Burger King, and a drive along the Mount Evans Scenic Byway, just 60 miles west of Denver – the highest paved road in North America. A day trip to the top is a journey that snakes and climbs through nearly 9,000 feet of elevation gain, from the high plains of Denver through five climate zones to the 14,264-foot summit of Mount Evans, one of 54 peaks in Colorado that soar to 14,000 feet and above – the famous “fourteeners.” They ran into a couple of goats on their travels in Mt. Evans as well. Sunday they did the Apex Trail near Golden and enjoyed dinner in town.
Waiting for Bailey in Denver 
Red Rocks 
Apex Trail 
Whiskey tasting 
Impossible, but it is vegan!
That’s pretty high up there! 
Mama goat & babe 
2 handsome gents at Mt. evans summit 
Geological marker – Mt. Evans elevation
The evening I returned from the retreat, we had dinner with Keefe in Golden at a place called Derive – Keefe had to tackle a massive sandwich as you can see below. We were hoping to enjoy their noted dessert “Best Snickerdoodle Yet” … but sadly, they were out. Reason to return!
The next day biked in to Golden, took in a yoga class at Kindness Yoga, walked around town, did a little shopping and had a delicious lunch. We were both too pooped to hike that afternoon and it was crazy hot and humid. Good thing we did since the thunder storms rolled in later in the day. Since the heat was a factor, we decided to get out early the next day and take in Red Rocks even though Brian had already been there with Keefe, he went with me anyway. I had long wanted to see the natural amphitheater – ever since U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky concert movie. Now that I’ve seen the venue, definitely want to return to see a live show there.
Tunnel into park 
more tunnel 
Cool slants to the red rocks 
great view! 
info on the Front Range 
Me & B 
Some day I’ll see a band here 
nature’s acoustics 
Amphitheater 
nature’s acoustics 
Front & Center 
outside on the trail 
as you leave the theater 
from the Red Rocks trail 
from the Red Rocks trail
We got to have one last dinner in Denver with Keefe at this amazing place called City, O City. SO delicious & Brian ran into someone who used to tend bar at Labrador Mountain, Rachel who was dining there with her visiting aunt & uncle and who lives blocks from Keefe. You never know! Before we headed back to Golden I got to see Keefe’s place and he snapped this photo of us.
We actually left Golden one day later than planned because we needed to stop at the Airstream Service Center in Jackson Center, OH before heading home. You may recall from the first stop, we were going to do the tour – but screwed up getting there in time. So we put it at the end of the trip which turned out great sine an issue popped up that we needed to get taken care of while there doing the tour. We’ll get to the trip home in the next post. It was adventurous.
Wanderlust In Silver 