Sometimes the best discoveries aren’t the ones you’re looking for.
After two nights camping at Big Creek Lake, I wasn’t searching for another adventure. I was searching for a hot shower, a comfortable bed, and a little time to catch up on work using reliable Wi-Fi.
Walden seemed like the perfect place to do exactly that.
The Antlers Inn checked every box. A spacious, spotless king room. Friendly hospitality. Exactly what I needed after a couple of nights in a tent.
I expected a place to rest. I didn’t expect the little town, of less than 700 residents, to become part of the trip itself.
After an outstanding breakfast of French toast at the inn and a bit of work, I spent the afternoon wandering through Walden without much of a plan. That’s usually when travel surprises me the most.
One stop led to another until I wandered into the Stockman Bar & Grill.
Nothing fancy. Just Walden.
Ranchers stopping in after work. Local business owners catching up over a beer. Conversations drifting from one end of the room to the other. I found a cold beer, settled in for a while, and listened.
Eventually, I found myself at the town cemetery. For me, it’s always the cemetery. My “history museum” of choice.
Perched on solid rock overlooking North Park, the Park Range, and the Continental Divide, it wasn’t only the view that stopped me.
It was the people.
Again and again, I noticed lives stretching well into their nineties. Ranching families. Pioneer names. Veterans. Generations of people who had chosen to build lives in this rugged high mountain valley.
Standing there, looking across the mountains, I couldn’t help wondering what those lives must have looked like through freezing winters, hard work, and a growing season measured in only a few short months.
On my way out of town, there was one final stop I couldn’t resist.
Just outside Walden, heading south toward Cameron Pass, the tiny community of Gould is home to the family-owned Howling Coyote Roadhouse. The family lives on the property and opens the restaurant only Thursday through Sunday. If your timing is right, order the smothered burrito. It’s the perfect stop along a drive through one of Colorado’s quietest corners.
Some trips are built around well-known destinations.
Others begin with nothing more than the need for a shower and a good night’s sleep.
Often, those are the journeys that stay with you the longest.
