A Colorado State of Mind: Brule

Oh what a lovely weekend it has been. Saturday we headed up Ute Pass for a second go around on the Catamount Trail, this time going all the way to Catamount Reservoir at 9200 feet for a picnic. It's pretty rare to be sporting shorts and tee shirts at that altitude in May, but the sun was warm and we were comfortable. After the rugged 6 mile trek we stopped in at the Silver Tongue Devil Saloon next to the trailhead in Green Mountain Falls for some cold refreshments and food.

Sunday was our pilgrimage to Territory Days in Old Colorado City, a festival paying homage to Colorado's native and wild west history. An estimated 150,000 people visit the festival over the 3 day weekend, so we decided it was best to walk the roughly 2.5 miles and avoid the traffic. The main draw for me was to see Brule- a sort of contemporary/ New Age Native American band from South Dakota. Watching them perform on the corner of 25th and Colorado was pretty incredible. A wild wind blew down the street during their last song, while a group of colorful and energetic native dancers came stomping out. After the show I bought one of their live CDs and had it signed by Nicole LaRoche, the flutist. Brule returns to Colorado Springs in December for a holiday show downtown which we are planning to buy tickets for.

Leaving the festival we decided to take the "scenic route" home and the 2.5 mile trip ended up turning into a 5 mile trek through broken up trails in desert-like terrain and some unintentional trespassing on private property. Realizing our only weapon was my recently purchased Brule CD Jerry picked up a large stick and a rock for the hike back in case we crossed paths with something bigger, stronger, and faster than us (aka, Bigfoot). We got back to our house about a half an hour after the sun had set, feeling pretty cold and extremely thirsty. All in all, a fantastic adventure!