Hike to a log cabin

In Snowmass, a trial brunch at The Cabin was such a hit that it will add more weekends in July and September. The Cabin is mid-mountain and boasts both indoor and outdoor seating, along with live music and views of the Elk Range. Since there is no lift access, guests can choose when they make reservations if they plan to hike, ride a mountain bike, or rent an e-bike (available at Four Mountain Sports and Aspen Collection) for the two-mile trek. Dogs can sit with you only at uncovered patio tables.

The Cabin will offer a weekend buffet brunch from July 4 to Aug. 9 and Sept. 4–27, running from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A sample menu is currently being finalized and will be available soon. Reservations will be available on  around June 15

In Steamboat Springs, it����ap just a one-mile guided hike to Hazie’s in the Thunderhead Lodge. The menu at Hazie’s is priced for a buffet, so you can start with the granola station, for example, before moving on to the eggs Benedict station or the potatoes, French toast, or biscuits and gravy trays.

You’ll be soaking up the views of the Yampa Valley along the hike and from the dining room’s generous windows.

The guided hike has added Sundays to this summer event. Make reservations for this family-friendly experience that starts at the base of the gondola, ride up to Thunderhead Lodge, and from there walk as a group to arrive for patio seating with views. For anyone looking to book, they may visit .

Dine with a llama

The Garden of the Gods Resort & Club in Colorado Springs has partnered with Luxy Llama so that people having brunch on select weekends can interact with these singular animals. Grand View Restaurant is aptly named because, whether you’re seated inside or on the patio, the views to the west open to the shapely Garden of the Gods red rock formations.

The llamas are brought onto the lawn — and sometimes given an accessory like a scarf to wear — where guests can take photos of them or with this against this scenic backdrop.

While the llamas are calm and friendly, and there is some food available for guests to offer them, this isn’t about hugging them or climbing on them for a ride. There are additional programs to go on guided hikes with the llamas, too.

The brunch here has an elevated menu of things like eggs Benedict, chilaquiles, salads and cinnamon rolls.

Call the resort for upcoming dates and reservations at 719-329-6901.

All aboard the breakfast train

In Canon City, the Royal Gorge Route Railroad offers a Breakfast Train, which boards at 9 a.m., so that by the time you are seated and being served, it����ap time for brunch. Your meal is made-to-order from the on-board 403 Grill while you sip on their “bottomless” coffee or a cocktail like a Mimosa or a bloody Mary.

No matter which train car you are booked in, all passengers are invited to stroll to the open observation car, where you can look up at the rocky canyon walls or down to the rushing Arkansas River below.

The hearty menu includes breakfast burritos or sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, and cinnamon rolls. When booking your ticket, you get to choose between the extra special ride with an engineer (these sell out way ahead of time), coach, deluxe, or observation class for different price points and then add on the meal and drinks when you check out.

Trains run daily throughout the summer. Breakfast costs $30-$35 in addition to the train fare.

Horses and hay wagons

Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch in Loveland offers “Chow Down” rides May through September for groups of six or more by reservation on specific days of the week. These breakfast/brunch rides are available to all, not just guests of the ranch. Will there be a cowboy cooking up a hot breakfast over an open fire for you? You bet!

The cost is $140 per person. Call 970-667-3915 or email ranch@sylvandale.com for days and information.

For those who prefer “soft adventure,” C Lazy U Ranch in Granby has a “Woodsie Cookout” where guests can opt for a hay wagon ride pulled by a tractor or walk the half mile to a scenic spot on the Reservoir Trail. This morning meal happens on Friday mornings in the summer and offers up fresh doughnuts, locally-caught trout, eggs, and pancakes sizzled on the outdoor grill.
Cowboy coffee, a roaring fire and a stunning view of the Indian Peaks make this a morning to remember.

Moniak entered the weekend on a tear that even the “Splendid Splinter” would admire. The Rockies outfielder/designated hitter entered a three-game series vs. the Mets riding an eight-game hitting streak in which he slashed .419/.455/.871 (1.326 OPS), with three home runs, five doubles, six RBIs, and a stolen base.

“I’m bursting with pride and joy,” said Bill Moniak, Mickey’s grandfather, whom Williams tutored back in Bill’s minor league days.

Bill, 86, lives in an assisted-living complex near San Diego. The TVs there don’t carry the Rockies games, but that doesn’t mean Bill hasn’t watched nearly every inning.

“Until they get this figured out for me, I’ll keep watching on my phone,” he said. “It’s a pain in the neck, but I keep watching on that little screen.”

On Thursday, he watched his grandson hit two home runs during a 4-for-5 performance in Colorado’s crushing, ninth-inning loss to the Padres at Coors Field.

“Mickey was a heck of an athlete, and he could have been a big-time quarterback, but he always loved baseball, just like I did,” Bill said. “I remember from the time he was about 3 years old, he would carry around a little Wiffle ball and bat, and he’d say, ‘Papa, Papa, throw it to me.’ ”

That 3-year-old kid blossomed into a baseball phenom that the Philadelphia Phillies selected No. 1 overall in the 2016 draft out of La Costa Canyon High School near San Diego. He received a $6.1 million signing bonus from the Phillies.

Mickey credits his grandfather and his father, Matt, who played briefly at San Diego State, for his love of the game.

“My granddad was at almost every tournament,” Mickey said. “He used to go with my dad and I to Arizona on baseball trips. I remember he was with us when we went to a tournament in Steamboat Springs when I was 10. He’d take me to batting cages wherever we could find them.”

Bill grew up in the tiny borough of Youngsville in Warren County, Penn. The winters were too cold and snowy for the local high school to field a baseball team, but Bill, who stood 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, was a gifted outfielder and honed his skills in sandlot games during the summer.

So gifted, in fact, that in the summer of 1958, he signed with the Boston Red Sox for the princely sum of $25,000. Coming straight out of high school, he was one of the first “bonus babies” the Red Sox ever signed. The left-handed hitter never made it to the majors, but played six minor league seasons. Bill finished with a .271 average and 26 career home runs.

During spring training in 1961-63,  Bill was instructed by Williams, who worked for the club as a special batting instructor after finishing his Hall of Fame career in 1960. Williams took a special interest in Carl Yastrzemski, who replaced him in left field and would one day join Williams in Cooperstown.

“Ted was a good guy, but you had to do it Ted’s way, ” Bill recalled. “There was no other way. And Ted was, shall we say, colorful, with his language.”

One morning during spring training, Williams brought out his fungo bat to hit fly balls to the Red Sox’s young outfielders. They started razzing Williams, even though they were quite aware of his greatness. Williams had a career batting average of .344 and hit 521 home runs. He hit .406 in 1941, the last player to hit .400 in a season.

“Hey, why don’t you hit the ball? You call that hitting the ball?” We thought you were the great Ted Williams!”

It turns out that “Teddy Ballgame” didn’t take too kindly to that.

“So Ted sticks his arm up in the air, like he always did, and waves everybody in,” Bill recalled. “He says, ‘OK, you smart-asses, we’re going to handle this.’ So he hit to us for probably an hour straight. I’d never seen so many 400-foot fungo shots before. He was just hitting BBs. He’d run us from one line to the other — left to right, right to left — over and over. We laughed so hard that day, I’ll tell you.”

But Bill’s most memorable Williams story took place in a spring training batting cage. It’s a story Mickey has heard, “about 100 times.”

“I was having a great spring, hitting over .400,” Bill recalled. “But Williams wanted me to hit his way. I told him, ‘Ted, I don’t feel good about this.’ He says, ‘Damn it, kid, try it my way.’

“I mean, I’m 21 years old, so what am I going to do, tell Ted Williams he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?”

Bill ended up striking out four times trying out Williams’ swing and stance. The next game, three more strikeouts.

“So I went back to my old way of hitting, and I hit a home run in my first at-bat and went 4 for 4,” Bill recalled with a laugh. “The next thing I know, I see Ted, his arm up in the air, and he waves me over. He puts his arm around me, and says, ‘If anybody ever tells you again how to hit a (blanking) baseball, you tell them to take it and shove it where the sun don’t shine.’ ”

Still, Bill hung on to the basic tenets of hitting that Williams imparted, and he passed those along to his grandson.

“The main thing that sticks out is what Ted Williams taught my grandfather about approach,” Mickey said. “The basic idea is to know strikes, and know that you own the pitcher. Hit your pitch; the pitch you want. If he throws you a strike on the corner, tip your cap. One strike, you still own him. Two strikes, you choke up a little bit and put the ball in play. I don’t choke up on the bat, but I get the idea.”

Mickey’s dad has been a huge influence, too, but in a different way than Bill.

“From a young age, he was the parent who never pushed me,” Mickey said. “He was a surfer and dirt biker — all of that Southern California stuff. But he was incredible. Any tournament I wanted to go to, he’d get me there on the weekends. I was always dragging him with me to go hit, and he did it.

“I’m not sitting here without him. I always tell people that when I got drafted first overall, and I told him I didn’t want to play baseball anymore, he’d have been good with it. He was going to support me no matter what. But I always wanted to play big-league baseball.”

Moniak needed support from both his dad and his grandpa during his up-and-down career with the Phillies. He spent parts of three seasons with the organization before being released. It was a similar story with the Angels, where a breakout 2023 campaign was followed by a subpar 2024 season. The Angels released him at the end of last year’s spring training, and the Rockies swooped in and signed him just before Opening Day to a one-year, $1.25 million contract. His .270/.306/.518 slash line with 24 home runs during his first season with Colorado earned him a one-year, $4 million contract to avoid arbitration.

Moniak has been essential to the Rockies’ rebuild, not just on the field but in the clubhouse.

“Behind closed doors … he’s part of what keeps everything around here loose and keeps everybody ready to play,” manager Warren Schaeffer said. “What he provides off the field is just as big as what he’s providing on the field, but he’s in a really good place offensively, too.”

And that’s not easy. As Williams famously said, “The hardest thing to do in baseball is to hit a round baseball with a round bat, squarely.”

As for Mickey’s baseball bond with his grandfather, it’s still going strong.

“He texts me after almost every game,” Mickey said. “He always tells me, ‘Grip it n’ Rip it,’ and he’s been telling me that since I was a little kid.”

And 10 years after the Phillies picked him No. 1 overall, Mickey is gripping and ripping as well as he ever has.

“Mickey’s turned out to be a pretty good ballplayer, don’t you think?” his grandfather said.

All of the wolves tracked by the state remained largely in the northwest quadrant of the state between March 24 and April 21, according to released Wednesday by Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Their territory stretched west from Vail and Walden to near the Utah border in Moffat County. Wolves also roamed near the Wyoming border, north of Steamboat Springs, and as far south as the Gunnison area.

The wolves have begun their denning season, CPW officials said Wednesday. Wolves breed in the winter and hunker down to have pups in the spring. After the pups are born, the female stays with them near the den while the male hunts in the surrounding area.

CPW biologists will monitor the wolves for denning activity and evidence of new pups.

Colorado has 18 wolves outfitted with collars, plus pups and others that wandered from neighboring states. The canines have established four named packs, though many wolves continue to wander solo.

As of Wednesday, more than 70 protests were scheduled across Colorado on Saturday and nearly 4,000 were expected to take place nationally, .

“This action is a collective stand against concentrated power, political intimidation, and systems that elevate the wealthy few over the many,” activists with the Denver No Kings Coalition . “We are gathering to reject the authoritarian politics of Donald Trump and his corrupt administration, as well as the broader rise of fascist movements in the United States.”

According to local organizers, Saturday protests planned across the metro area include:

• Arvada on the at the Wadsworth Bypass, 7305 Grandview Ave., from 9 a.m. to noon
• Aurora at the intersection of from noon to 2 p.m.
• Brighton on the pedestrian bridge at from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Boulder at the Bandshell at Broadway and Canyon Boulevard from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
• Broomfield at from 10 a.m. to noon
• Centennial at the intersection of from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Commerce City at , 6015 Forest Drive, from 9 a.m. to noon
• Denver at the , 200 E. Colfax Ave., from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Denver at the , 9651 M.L.K. Jr Blvd., from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
• Denver at from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
• Golden along Washington Avenue, , from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• Highlands Ranch at , 9203 S. University Blvd., from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Larkspur at , 8850 Spruce Mountain Road, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Littleton at the intersection of from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Northglenn on the , 261 W. 104th Ave., from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
• Parker at , 10795 Victorian Drive, from 10 a.m. to noon
• Roxborough at the from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Westminster at the intersection of from noon to 2 p.m.

Denver’s largest crowd is expected to gather outside the Colorado State Capitol at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, according to the . The coalition, made up of roughly three dozen local activist organizations, estimated Wednesday that Saturday’s attendance would surpass 70,000.

Singing and chanting will start outside the Capitol at 11:30 a.m., followed by speakers at noon and a 90-minute march around downtown at 1 p.m., according to local organizers. More speakers and performers will take the stage between noon and 5 p.m., when the protest is scheduled to end.

“This is what democracy looks like!” organizers wrote on the .

Protests will not be limited to the Denver area. Events are planned as far north as Steamboat Springs and Fort Collins, and as far south as Trinidad. Western towns, including Aspen, Montrose, Fairplay and Telluride, and eastern Colorado communities, including La Junta and Fort Morgan, plan to host their own protests as well, according to the .

A heat dome that’s expected to hover over the state and the Mountain West through Saturday is forecast to bring temperatures into the 80s at lower elevations and into the 50s and 60s at higher elevations. The heat this week follows the warmest winter recorded in Colorado since records began in 1895.

“It’s possible that many areas of the state at high elevations have already seen peak snowpack,” Peter Goble, the assistant state climatologist, the Colorado Water Conservation Board’s Water Conditions Monitoring Committee on Tuesday.

The temperatures expected from the heat dome will be high enough to spur melting, said Brian Domonkos, a hydrologist with the Colorado office of the federal . Statewide, snowpack depth typically peaks around April 8.

The National Weather Service — at an elevation of 11,020 feet — shows overnight lows are not expected to drop below freezing until Sunday night. Daytime highs could hit 60 degrees.

, located at nearly 11,000 feet in southern Colorado, is also not forecast to reach freezing temperatures overnight this week.

The record heat is expected to shrink an already anemic snowpack. Statewide snowpack , the lowest recorded since records began in 1986. Some river basins in southern Colorado — including the Rio Grande, the San Juan, the Animas and the Arkansas — had less than half of normal snowpack on Wednesday.

“We have very little winter left,” Domonkos said. “There’s essentially no chance for us to get back to normal snowpack.”

Colorado’s mountains and streams will begin to see increased water flows from the melting this week, according to the .

in Steamboat Springs will likely more than double in the next seven days, from 124 cubic feet per second on Wednesday to more than 400 cfs late next week. The Animas River in Durango could hop from winter flows hovering around 300 cfs to .

Those flows are still far lower than peak runoff flows that will come later this spring and summer. But expected extended warm temperatures, paired with the “extremely grim” snowpack, mean those peak flows will also be lower than normal, said Cody Moser, a hydrologist with the Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, at a briefing Wednesday.

Across the Colorado River Basin — which includes a large swath of western Colorado — those flows are expected to be at or below 70% of the average recorded between 1991 and 2020, he said.

Across the Colorado River Basin, “I think it’s highly likely that we’ve already seen peak snowpack,” Moser said.

The vast majority of Colorado’s water supply comes from its winter snowpack. The lack of snow has water providers across the state enacting drought restrictions or preparing to do so.

Denver Water — which serves 1.5 million people across the Front Range — will likely skip declaring a drought watch and instead skip to the next step by imposing Stage 1 water restrictions, Nathan Elder, the utility’s water supply manager, said Tuesday.

Those restrictions — last implemented in 2013 — in outdoor water use.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Tuesday activated the state Drought Task Force to address the dire conditions. The task force will monitor conditions across the state and recommend mitigation efforts to Polis. The governor last activated the task force in 2020.

If conditions continue to deteriorate, Polis could declare a drought emergency and seek federal disaster assistance.

“Colorado is experiencing the warmest year so far in our 131-year record, and one of the driest,” Polis said in a news release. “Activating the Drought Task Force will help ensure we are protecting one of our most precious resources by closely tracking impacts, supporting communities, and coordinating better as we prepare for the year ahead.”

The crash happened in the early hours of Feb. 13 when an Epic E1000 airplane carrying Tennessee residents Aaron Stokes, Jakson Stokes, Colin Stokes and Austin Huskey hit Emerald Mountain, 3 miles south of the Steamboat Springs Airport.

The flight departed from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville, Tennessee at 7:10 p.m. that evening and stopped for fuel at Kansas City Downtown Airport in Missouri at 11:03 p.m., the published Feb. 28.

Air traffic controllers gave the pilot approach information and then changed to a different radio frequency to communicate with him after he mentioned “RNAV 32,” an approach that is not authorized for night use.

The pilot acknowledged the frequency change but did not send out any other messages, NTSB officials said. Air traffic controllers then sent out an alert notice.

Federal investigators found an 80-foot crash scar at 8,175 feet elevation, 75 feet below the approximately 8,250-foot peak of Emerald Mountain.

Flight data showed the plane was operating normally at the time of the crash and was flying on autopilot, federal officials said. While the minimum descent altitude for that approach is 9,100 feet, the plane’s last recorded altitude was 8,221 feet, according to the NTSB.

Six days after the crash, the issued a notice that pilots are prohibited from taking the “RNAV 32” approach into Steamboat Springs used by the Epic E1000, agency records show.

The “Procedure NA,” which stands for not authorized, is in effect until October.

Federal officials will publish a final report for the crash, including the probable cause and contributing factors, within two years, according to the NTSB.

Parts of the Front Range, including Denver, are also forecast to see light snow.

Boulder and Evergreen could have up to an inch and Denver, Castle Rock, Greeley and Fort Collins could have about a half inch, forecasters say.

Temperatures will also be cold in the Denver area with an and a low of 18 degrees.

Snow will be possible in the Denver area between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. today, with the strongest chance between at 11 a.m. and 11 p.m., .

Rabbit Ears Pass could see up to six inches, the weather service predicts.

Light to moderate snow is expected across the mountains today and tonight, with slick travel possible across the mountain travel corridors. Scattered light snow showers possible across most of the I-25 corridor and plains this afternoon with an inch or less of accumulation.

— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder)

, 47; Jakson Stokes, 21; Colin Stokes, 21; and Austin Huskey, 37, were identified as the four people who died when a turboprop plane headed to Bob Adams Airport crashed on Emerald Mountain just outside of Steamboat Springs, the coroner’s office said in an email.

The crash happened early Friday under “unknown circumstances,” the National Transportation Safety Board said.

According to an obituary posted online, in Franklin, Tenn., and the organization helps small auto shops through professional development and coaching.

“Aaron was passionate about transforming the automotive sector, guiding shop owners to focus on strategic business development rather than just day-to-day operations,” his obituary states.

was the chief executive of Huskey Building Supply, also in Franklin, the company said in a post on Instagram.

“As part of the third-generation ownership of Huskey Building Supply, Austin Huskey continued his family’s legacy through generosity and ingenuity,” company officials wrote. “His faithful work saw Huskey continue to thrive in the midst of nationwide economic uncertainty.”

Both men were husbands and fathers, according to the statements.

Jakson Stokes was Aaron Stokes’ son, and Colin Stokes was his nephew, according to reporting from .

NTSB officials are investigating the crash, and a preliminary report will be released within 30 days, according to the agency.

An Epic Aircraft E1000 headed to Steamboat Springs crashed in a remote area on the south side of Emerald Mountain just after midnight Friday, Routt County Sheriff Doug Scherar and the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed.

County officials are working to notify next of kin before releasing the names of those who died, but believe three of the people who died belonged to the same family, Routt County Coroner Mitch Locke said.

In a statement, Scherar said the plane crashed as it was approaching the Bob Adams Airport in Steamboat Springs from the south. The crash site is near the top of Emerald Mountain in a remote area.

The area near the crash site is marked with yellow tape, and access is restricted. Scherar asked the public to respect the closure.

The circumstances around the crash are unknown and an NTSB investigator is headed to the scene and expected to arrive shortly, federal officials said Friday evening. The investigator will document the scene and examine the aircraft, which will then be moved to a secure facility to be evaluated further.

Federal flight data shows the turboprop plane was owned by ALS Aviation LLC in Franklin, Tenn., and was purchased in 2024, while the company was formed on Dec. 7, 2021.

Franklin is located about 20 minutes from the Nashville International Airport and 30 minutes from the John C. Tune Airport, which handles private jet and turboprop flights and is popular with musicians in the area. Information on the plane’s flight history is blocked on public tracking sites, a strategy some celebrities use to maintain privacy. The Epic E1000 is a higher-end single-engine turboprop.

Anyone who witnessed or has information about the crash can contact the NTSB at witness@ntsb.gov.

, the first bill introduced in that chamber this year, cleared a final vote 35-24 on Friday. Most Democrats supported it, against total Republican — and some Democratic — opposition.

The bill now heads to the Senate, where a similar version of the proposal bled out in the 2025 session’s final days.

The bill would allow school districts, institutions of higher education, housing authorities and transit agencies to build housing on their own property by right. It would also allow other nonprofits to partner with a peer organization that has a “demonstrated history of providing affordable housing” to do so on the nonprofit’s land.

Dubbed the HOME Act — short for Housing Opportunities Made Easier — the bill, if passed, would take effect Dec. 31, 2027.

HB-1001 “is about streamlining the process and making sure that overly strict zoning laws do not prevent nonprofits who have a history of providing affordability housing — schools, organizations like RTD — from building housing if they want to, if they have a good plan,” Rep. Javier Mabrey, a Denver Democrat, told fellow lawmakers last week. He’s sponsoring the bill with Rep. Andy Boesenecker, of Fort Collins.

The proposal is both a continuation and a remix. It builds upon three years of land-use reforms backed by most Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jared Polis. They have viewed measures easing the development of housing — achieved by leapfrogging local zoning rules and planning boards — as a primary solution to Colorado’s housing supply challenges.

Supporters of the approach have argued that local intransigence has slowed and blocked housing development across a state starved for more units of all types. They’ve pointed to reform- and development-stopping votes in places like Steamboat Springs, Littleton and Fort Collins.

This year, Democrats are also bringing established in many jurisdictions for single-family homes.

The HOME Act resurrects the bill that died last year. That version had focused more on allowing religious organizations to build housing on their land.

Like last year, Republicans and local government groups — chief among them the Colorado Municipal League — oppose the bill, arguing that it would violate locals’ ability to dictate rules for their own communities. In the bill’s committee vote last week, Rep. Max Brooks invoked the fundamental issue at the heart of that opposition: local control.

“I’m really not entirely sure that we’re talking about the same thing here, are we?” the Castle Rock Republican asked. “To where the public truly has an opportunity to come out and sit down, through those traditional processes, and voice the concern of what’s happening in their own neighborhood?

Mabrey replied that there was a “philosophical disagreement about this piece.”

“Across the country, people showing up at public comment to complain about housing being built in their backyard is part of the problem,” he said. “We are trying to streamline this process and make it easier to build housing.”

After crossing over to the Senate, the bill needs another committee vote before it can reach the floor.