The annual count by CPW’s Southeast Region team seeks to provide “an accurate assessment of the current herd population and ratio of males to females,” according to a release by CPW. “The data is used to assess trends in the population size, make hunting license recommendations, and determine current herd health.”

The first recorded survey of Bighorn Sheep on Pikes Peak was in 1949 when 205 were counted. Annual counts have been conducted by CPW since 1988. The official count in 2024 was 82.

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The three-person climbing group was scaling the “Hasta la Vista Amichi” route near Officers Gulch at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, north of Copper Mountain on Interstate 70, according to a news release from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. That’s when one of them fell.

The fallen climber had most of the group’s climbing gear, leaving the other two stranded on the rock, sheriff’s officials said.

Rescuers said the climber died at the scene.

The climber’s identity and cause of death will be released by the Summit County Coroner’s Office.

“This is a tragic loss, and our hearts are with the climber’s family and loved ones,” Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons stated in the release. “I’m grateful to our deputies and the Summit County Rescue Group for safely evacuating the surviving climbers and recovering the victim.”

“Hasta la Vista Amichi” is a bolted sport climbing route rated 5.7, according to the Mountain Project. Class 5 is where hiking ends and climbing begins — ropes, belaying and fall protection are typically required.

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The signs went up on July 23 on a section of the Guanella Pass Scenic Byway at the 11,670-foot summit of the pass, 11 miles south of Georgetown. Trails on the east side of the pass lead to Mount Bierstadt and Mount Blue Sky. Trails on the west side lead to two scenic alpine lakes beneath Square Top Mountain, another prime hiking destination.

Clear Creek County officials want to prevent motorists from illegally parking on the shoulders because it could obstruct or prevent first responders from getting through in an emergency.

“We had two emergency incidents, one on our side, one on the Park County side,” said Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jenny Fulton, referring to last year’s leaf-peeping season.

“Emergency vehicles could not respond in a timely manner because of the vehicles on both sides of the roadway. They took a two-lane roadway and made it one lane,” she added. “That’s why we started doing some parking mitigation up there, and we’re going to do more this year for leaf-peeping to mitigate the traffic volume and parking issues.”

During two leaf-peeping weekends last year, Fulton said, the number of cars on the 22-mile byway, between Georgetown, off of Interstate 25, and Grant in Park County, hit 10,000 both days. Since then, officials from Clear Creek County, Park County, the Arapaho National Forest and the town of Georgetown have been meeting regularly in order to prevent “a disaster,” she added.

That will take the form of checkpoints on both sides of the pass in 2025, posted with sheriff’s deputies.

“If we need to, we’re going to end up closing the road temporarily just to ensure it’s not overcrowded during leaf-peeping,” Fulton said. “We’re also going to be towing vehicles that are parking illegally and are blocking the roadway. We can’t do what happened last year. We can’t risk people’s lives by not being able to respond to emergencies at the summit.”

Until then, hikers are warned not to park along the road at the summit where the no-parking signs have been posted. Violators will be fined $87.50. There are two lots near the summit, located on forest service land, but they tend to overflow during fourteener season.

“The parking lots are designed for the capacity of the trail system,” Fulton said. “When people are overflowing parking lots and parking on both sides of the roadway a mile down, then there’s too many people on the trails. The trails are not made for that volume of foot traffic. The forest service has designed their parking lots with the capacity of the trail system in mind.”

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But a potential move would hurt attendance, organizers said, at what they call both the largest dragon boat event in the country and the largest Asian Americans and Pacific Islander event in the Rocky Mountain region. The nonprofit festival draws 150,000 to 200,000 people each July with its colorful races and cultural offerings.

“It would be devastating for us to have to move, because Sloan’s Lake is such the perfect location for it,” said festival executive director Sara Moore. “No matter what, Sloan’s Lake moving forward is going to need some help financially and support from the community.”

This year’s 25th annual event has already been punted from its regular July dates to Sept. 5-6 over health and safety concerns raised by Denver Parks & Recreation, which manages the park and issues permits for its use, and other organizations.

Those concerns include dead fish, increasingly warm and shallow water, blue algae blooms, and a lack of filtration from untreated runoff pouring into the 177-acre lake. In addition to the Dragon Boat Festival, the city has nixed other permits for events at Sloan’s Lake until early fall, said parks department spokeswoman Stephanie Figueroa.

But even with a multimillion-dollar cleanup project looming, the chances of using Sloan’s Lake for future Dragon Boat events look dim. The cleanup planning currently includes a $5 million funding request in the latest version of the proposed $950 million Vibrant Denver bond — down from an initial ask of $40 million.

The bond request received initial approval Monday from the Denver City Council, but more changes could be on the way before it can be put in front of voters this November.

Whatever the amount, the lake needs to be drained and dredged to increase depth and water quality, as well as adding filtration to the water that flows into the lake from various cities and districts, ranging from Lakewood and Wheat Ridge to unincorporated Jefferson County — all of which need to approve the project due to their individual rights to the water, said Kurt Weaver, executive director of the Sloan’s Lake Park Foundation.

“Even if we had all the money in the bank today, it would still be at least one-and-a-half to two years simply for permits and approvals,” Weaver said. “And we don’t have the money.”

Weaver has worked to connect stakeholders in the lake, such as the Sloan’s Lake Watershed Alliance, with visitors, caretakers and commercial and nonprofit users, he said. But while he’s busy identifying EPA and USDA loans, grants and other funding sources to shore up resources, he’s worried the calm surface of Sloan’s Lake conceals the depth of the crisis to most visitors.

As the third most-visited park in the city’s system (behind City Park and Washington Park), Denver Parks & Recreation does a great job of keeping the grass and other features tended, he said. But with an average depth of 3.5 feet, along with steadily rising sediment, the lake is actually in terrible health. So much so that the dragon boats may start scraping the bottom of Sloan’s Lake in the next couple of years.

“Certainly Dragon Boat is our largest customer, and having to move their dates this year was a contentious couple of months trying to figure out what that looks like,” Weaver said. “Nobody wants to be moved because they love their spot. But unfortunately, it’s not going to be their option here soon. If we don’t do something, they literally won’t be able to paddle around the lake.”

He said there are numerous reasons as to why moving the festival would be bad for Denver, including lost revenue from visitors who travel from all over the country to participate. Any town that nabs it would see a financial and cultural boost, he said.

“But when 5,000 fish turn up dead, people tend to notice,” he added, referring to the mass aquatic die-off last summer at Sloan’s Lake. In a single weekend in July 2024, that included at least 400 fish floating belly-up or washing up on shore, according to the city. Algae drains the lake of oxygen, and its shallowness prevents cold, safe pockets for marine life to shelter during high-temperature days in the summer.

“We’ve treated the lake in the past, but stormwater drainage keeps bringing more debris and sand,” Figueroa said. “You can imagine what that does after years and years.”

For her part, Dragon Boat Festival director Moore said she’s “actually getting a lot of positive feedback from people who are glad it’s going to September, because it’s going to be cooler.”

And while she’s looking forward to another banner year for the event, she has also begun searching for new locations — although she declined to provide specifics on where.

“It’s an impending doom that is coming faster than everybody thinks,” Weaver said about the lake. “There are 100 ways this thing is going to go poorly, so we have to start now.”

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“In America, padel is just starting to get on the map,” said Colleen Campbell, coordinator of the padel program at Parker Racquet Club, which was the first place to introduce the sport to Colorado, in 2024. “Pickleball is saturated. Padel is the fastest-growing sport in the world.”

Padel originated in Mexico in the 1960s, and then became popular in Spain and around Europe. It’s taken hold in Florida, and is now expanding across the United States.  A June report by Playtomic, an app for racket sports, estimated that in 2024, about 30 million people played padel worldwide. This year, padel courts — both indoors and outdoors — are opening in Denver, Aspen and Boulder.

Similar to squash, padel is played with walls around the court, but these walls are made of thick tempered glass, creating a see-through roofless cube on outdoor courts. The floor of these courts is a combination of artificial turf covering silica sand, giving the ball (and your feet) a soft little bounce. And, as the name implies, the game is played with a thick paddle, not a racket. Padel is played over a net, uses tennis balls, and is scored like tennis. The game typically requires four people.

“I think the advantage of padel against tennis or pickleball is that it’s more athletic and more social,” said Manuel Quiroz, who coordinates padel at the Parker Racquet Club. “It’s easy to learn and hard to master. It’s fun and dynamic and another way to be competitive.” He also called the sport “addictive” and “hard not to like.”

Use your brain

At the Aspen Meadows Racquet Sports Center, Jose Carlos Rubia, the head pro and general manager of Wynwood Padel in Miami, was giving lessons one day last month.

Players learn to let the ball hit the glass wall before hitting it — unlike tennis, where a ball past the line is out. This critical difference is a brain workout, too.

“You have to react backwards to go forwards,” Campbell explained. “It’s fun to play off the glass, and it’s good for my brain.”

Alex Rebeiz, owner/CEO of Cascades Tennis, LLC, the management company that runs the center, said, “As a racket sports management company, we are always looking to identify new and upcoming trends to provide to our clients.” Rebeiz noted that they are bringing padel pros from South Africa, Croatia and other locales to lead events on the court this summer.

One of the newest places to play padel is at Cloud 9 Park at 9+CO in Denver. You can rent the equipment on site, and make a reservation through the Aspen Padel Club website — and it’s free during off-peak hours. There is one court for four players outside; a vending machine to rent the rackets will soon be operational.

Evan Brown, founder of the Aspen Padel Club and the visionary behind the court at Cloud 9 Park, gets excited when he talks about it possibly being the first free padel court in the country.

“I want padel to be accessible, and I think it’s great that space was set aside here, rather than for another building, to let people come together to play,” Brown said.

If you want to try it

At the Parker Racquet Club, the padel court is outside. While it’s open year-round, Quiroz said that the courts are closed when it’s raining or snowing. The club is open to the public and offers memberships to play pickleball, tennis or padel. Costs vary for members or guests, and play can include a lesson. There are men’s, women’s and mixed shuttle plays, as well as leagues.

Other places to play:

• Padel Haus Denver is expected to open in the late summer or early fall with five indoor courts in the RiNo neighborhood, encouraging year-round play. There are already Padel Haus locations in New York, Atlanta and Nashville. The site will offer member and non-member court time.
• The Racket Social Club (which also has locations in Texas and Georgia) in Englewood has open play reservations that depend on skill level.
• Smash Padel in Boulder has a free introductory class, then member and non-member rates that fluctuate based on whether a lesson is included or it’s a peak court time.
• The Aspen Meadows Racquet Sports Center is open to the public for lessons and play time, May through early October, depending on the weather.

“I feel that clients who have played racquetball or squash in their past, with a complement of tennis, have been more eager to try padel,” said Rebeiz. “We also have a large international clientele who play it in their respective country, so it’s a bonus for them to see the sport available here in Aspen.”

Padel could be coming to a city near you soon: Olympus Padel is scheduled to open in Colorado Springs in September and Padel Haus in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood will be opening this year.

“The challenge for the padel community is to get the sport known,” said Quiroz. “Ninety percent of people in the United States don’t have any idea what padel is, and they need to get to know the sport. The wave is right now.”

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If you’ve got dogs lazing outside your storefront, chances are I’ll stop in.

Good thing I was going to Mike’s Bikes anyway. The East Denver location of the California-based chain is tucked behind an AMC Theatre, near the end of a nondescript block at Colorado Boulevard’s 9+Co. development. And yet biking enthusiasts pour in and out of the store every day, petting gentle sentries Scout (a labradoodle) and Peach (a bassett hound/lab/husky mix) as they rep the good vibes inside.

My 12-year-old son’s bike recently threw a gear, prompting not only a new bike search, but also new helmets for him, my daughter and me — of which Mike’s naturally carries various styles and price ranges. We opted for ones with Mips protection, a brain-safety layer that should be familiar to most cyclists, “designed to move slightly in the event of an impact (and) … redirect rotational motion away from the head,” according to Mips’ website.

Standard stuff at most bike shops, sure. And Colorado has no shortage of great ones (local chains, even!).

Non-standard, however, in my experience, was the kind, patient reception my 8-year-old daughter Lucy received. A friendly young employee walked her through bikes, helmets, gloves and more without the pressured sales pitch or superiority complex, giving my daughter space to envision herself speeding down the street on one of these many beautiful frames.

She learned to ride a little later than most kids, and the assumption she’s already totally confident is something I’ve felt from other bike shop employees (perhaps understandably, given the rabid cycling culture of the Front Range).

Mike’s Bikes East Denver made all of us feel welcome, despite our lack of experience, cycling jargon and, well, budget. We ended up buying a pair of new helmets, then returning for a tube next week when we needed it. I can’t help but want to go there next time I need anything cycling-related (and because it’s close to my Park Hill North home). Repairs, test rides, quickly answered questions, and free Tuesday tech clinics give me plenty of excuses to drop in. And the window shopping. Oh, the window shopping.

Despite its foot traffic, Mike’s Bikes East Denver still feels somewhat undiscovered, having changed over from Elevation Cycles in November 2022 after the latter sold its four Front Range locations to Mike’s (as of June, there’s now a fifth Mike’s in Boulder). And as for the dogs? They’re “an extremely integral part of the store,” according to manager Jack Lafleur, and they love the children who stop in. My kids and I would concur.

Mike’s Bikes East Denver, 821 Ash St., Denver. Open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays. Call 720-573-9988 or visit mikesbikes.com/pages/denver-east.

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To be sure, you’ll still need to leave Denver for a day or maybe plan a few nights away to get your change of scenery.

Explore Paint Mines Interpretive Park

Bryce Canyon National Park in southern Utah is known for having the world’s largest concentration of hoodoos, which are unusual rock formations.

In my non-scientific description, the rocks there look like someone was playing on a beach of pinkish sand and then dripped bits of wet sand into pillars. This 35,835-acre national park’s natural beauty attracts millions of visitors annually.

Bryce Canyon National Park is an eight-hour drive from Denver, a four-hour drive from Las Vegas, Nevada, or Salt Lake City, Utah, and a two-hour or 90-minute flight from Grand Junction, Colorado, or Reno, Nevada.

Paint Mines Interpretive Park in Calhan is 90 minutes southeast of Denver and 40 minutes from Colorado Springs.

Here, you can stroll four miles of trails through 750 acres of colorful hoodoos and spires.

The best time to see the subtle pink, orange, and whitish-blue in these geological formations is on a clear-sky day when the sun strikes the rocks.

Remember to bring water and a hat for shade because this area is exposed without trees. Dogs and other animals are not allowed, so leave them at home.

Check the El Paso County website for the schedule for guided hikes, during which local rangers provide detailed information on the area’s human, geologic, and ecological history.

Visit the inspiration for Disneyland’s Main Street USA

To go to Disneyland from Denver, you’ll need to fly about two and a half hours to Los Angeles, California, and then drive another 30 minutes to Disneyland in Anaheim.

Tickets to enter the “Happiest Place on Earth ” cost $98 to $206 per person, depending on age.

When you enter this quintessential American amusement park, you typically start on Main Street USA, where there are frequent parades, storefronts selling treats and souvenirs, and nostalgic entertainment.

There’s a railroad, a horse-pulled trolley, and other vintage vehicles to get around here, and people crowd the sidewalks, walking to go in and out of the storefronts.

Or, you can drive one hour north from Denver to Fort Collins to walk around downtown for free and experience a similar feel to Disneyland’s Main Street USA.

Here’s the connection: Harper Goff was born in Fort Collins in 1911 and later became an artist for Walt Disney.

Legend has it that when the team was designing Disneyland in the 1950s, Goff drew on his fond memories of Old Town Fort Collins and then returned to take photos so they could replicate some of this college town’s buildings.

Although Disney’s midwestern hometown also served as inspiration, some specific Colorado buildings look nearly identical to those at Disneyland, such as City Hall.

Like Main Street USA, in Fort Collins, you can walk between storefronts, get a bite to eat, and take a historic trolley for only $1 to $2.

Discover the Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Bandelier National Monument is about a six-hour drive from Denver, outside Los Alamos, New Mexico. According to the National Park Service, this site was home to Ancestral Puebloans for about 400 years, from 1100 to 1550 CE.

These homes are carved “cavates” in volcanic stone that requires wooden ladders to reach. Bandelier was established as a national monument in 1916, and in the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worked on making this place more accessible.

While this site is unique to its location, geology, and the people who lived here over time, if you’re interested in learning about Ancestral Puebloans and can’t drive the six hours to Bandelier, or even six hours to Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado, then head south an hour’s drive from Denver to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.

These former Ancestral Puebloan homes were relocated from McElmo Canyon outside of Dolores, Colorado, brick-by-brick in the early 1900s. According to the website, “Our three-story pueblo structure demonstrates the architecture of the Taos Pueblo Indians of New Mexico. These Pueblo Indians are descendants of the Cliff Dwelling Indians belonging to the Ancestral Puebloans cultural line.”

While these cliff dwellings are not authentic because they were moved and reconstructed, the move was motivated by the need to protect history from looters and vandals. Visitors can spend time in the museum to see historic pots and other items that tell the stories of these people.

Hike to Little Hawaii near Telluride

There’s an eight-hour flight between Denver and Hawaii, and hiking on the Hawaiian Islands varies between dense rainforests and striking ridgelines with ocean views. There are also a few popular paved trails to specific sites like lighthouses.

Telluride is a six-hour drive from Denver and offers a moderate hike of about one to two hours roundtrip to see a waterfall that can make some people feel as if they have traveled across the Pacific Ocean.

It is rare to use the word “lush” to describe natural places in Colorado, but this trail in the Uncompahgre National Forest is unique.

After hiking less than a mile through Bear Creek Preserve, you arrive at a waterfall-carved grotto where bright green plants drape from the curving and mossy rock features. The icy blue waters in the grotto pool might also evoke some ocean hues in Hawaii.

When hiking here, bring closed-toe footwear that can get wet and your bug spray.

Be sure to pack your sense of adventure.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s almost time for summer’s meteor shower duet.

The Southern Delta Aquariid and the Alpha Capricornid meteor showers peak at the same time — in the early morning of July 30.

Without too much interference from moonlight — the waxing moon will be only about a quarter full — the meteors should appear bright and clear in regions away from city lights.

With each shower expected to produce up to a dozen visible meteors per hour under dark skies, the doubleheader means the total number of meteors “do add up,” said Thaddeus LaCoursiere, planetarium program coordinator at the Bell Museum in St. Paul, Minnesota.

“Look for flashes of light in the night sky,” he said, adding that both are “very nice classic meteor showers.”

The Alpha Capricornids — produced by slower-moving meteors — may have tails that linger slightly longer in the sky, said Nick Moskovitz of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Viewing of each shower lasts through August 12.

What is a meteor shower?

As the Earth orbits the sun, several times a year it passes through debris left by passing comets and sometimes asteroids.

The source of the Delta Aquariids is debris from comet 96P/Machholz. The Alpha Capricornids stem from the comet 169P/NEAT.

When these fast-moving space rocks enter Earth’s atmosphere, the debris encounters new resistance from the air and becomes very hot, eventually burning up.

Sometimes the surrounding air glows briefly, leaving behind a fiery tail — the end of a “shooting star.”

You don’t need special equipment to see the various meteor showers that flash across annually, just a spot away from city lights.

How to view a meteor shower

The best time to watch a meteor shower is in the early predawn hours when the moon is low in the sky.

Competing sources of light — such as a bright moon or artificial glow — are the main obstacles to a clear view of meteors. Cloudless nights when the moon wanes smallest are optimal viewing opportunities.

And keep looking up, not down. Your eyes will be better adapted to spot shooting stars if you aren’t checking your phone.

When is the next meteor shower?

The next major meteor shower, the Perseids, peaks in mid August.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

All over 14 parking spaces.

In April, the town of Telluride added new paid diagonal parking on a section of its main street, called Colorado Avenue. The 14 spaces are part of an experiment to creatively address an increasing parking crunch, Deputy Town Manager Hayden Brodowsky told The Denver Post by email.

The pilot is expected to run through the fall in hopes of adding capacity during the height of summer tourism and improving safety downtown. The new spots also help offset parking spaces lost due to current construction projects on Telluride’s main thoroughfare.

“With limited public parking options and increasing demand, the town launched this initiative as part of a broader strategy to expand availability, enhance safety, and support local businesses,” Brodowsky said.

The angled spaces, located on West Colorado Avenue between Davis and Aspen streets, replace what was previously a parallel parking zone in front of residential housing. Parking will revert to parallel in the winter to accommodate snow plowing.

But many of the people who own or occupy the homes for part of the year along that stretch of Colorado Avenue have been highly critical of the change, citing safety concerns for drivers and bikers, traffic congestion and negative effects on the town’s aesthetic.

“The diagonal parking creates a negative visual impact as you arrive into town,” said resident Rosie Cusack, who has lived in Telluride for 29 years. Her home abuts the new parking spots and she has seen safety issues both on the road and the sidewalks, which now get crowded with people. “It’s like this terrible vibe,” she said.

Cusack’s primary qualm is that there was an apparent lack of transparency around building the spaces and installing their corresponding meters. She believes that the town is using pilot programs as an excuse to implement new things without community input.

For people who work downtown, however, the spaces have made life easier. Currie Parnell is a guitar tech and sales associate at Telluride Music Company, located less than a block from the new parking spots. He lives outside of downtown Telluride, so he knows just how difficult it can be to find a place to park in the box canyon. The angled spots have been great in bringing customers to the music store, he said, because they are convenient and large enough to fit the kinds of trucks and 4×4 vehicles that typically roll through Telluride in the summer.

“We see a huge influx of business around festivals and July 4th,” Parnell said. “Foot traffic and car traffic picks up this time of year, so it really satisfies that demand.”

In July, an anonymous person or persons posted yellow signs near the spaces admonishing critics and implying that there is a wealth gap between them and those who are in favor of the parking. Homes in downtown Telluride are worth many millions of dollars. Property records show some on the 400 and 500 blocks of West Colorado ranging from $2.1 million to $6.6 million.

“Sorry your generational wealth can’t protect you from angled Toyotas,” read one yard sign. “Diagonal parking isn’t a bad idea, but letting wealth dictate urban planning is,” read another.

Telluride built a parking garage a few years ago to help meet the growing need for parking. Parnell thinks that was a good idea, but also called the angled spots “a quickly implemented solution, which is more straightforward.”

Plus, they generate revenue for the town because the spots are metered, he added.

On Tuesday, critics showed up in force at the town council meeting to express their concerns. One suggested the council members have a “premanufactured positive bias” of the pilot intended to strongarm it into a permanent change. Several said they felt their concerns weren’t being heard.

“Ninety percent of my residential neighborhood – which is two blocks, it’s small – is against this. I don’t know what more we can do to show you guys this,” said resident Erik Dalton during the public comment period.

One attendee accused council member Geneva Shaunette of ethical misconduct for submitting her own – notably positive – feedback of how she thinks the experiment is going so far. Shaunette, who lives on one of the blocks where the new parking spots reside, stated via the town’s feedback form, “I love the diagonal parking because I have only had to park on a side street once this entire summer. Otherwise, I’m able to park within 5 spaces of my front door. As a G permit holder, I have really felt the increase in space.”

The town attorney said Shaunette had not committed any ethical breach, but nonetheless the parking discussion ended with a heated exchange between the council and attendees.

“I identified myself, I made a comment, I don’t think that it’s less valid. I’m not financially benefiting from this in any way,” Shaunette said in the meeting. “We’re obviously having different experiences of the parking, and that’s part of making policy is everyone having different experiences coming together and sharing their opinions.”

Brodowsky, the deputy town manager, said he will continue to collect data throughout the summer regarding usage of the spots, the parking meters and any incidents reported. So far, the Telluride Marshal’s Office hasn’t observed any significant safety issues.

“Additionally, [the marshal’s office] has not received any formal complaints regarding close calls between vehicles and bicycles. The only observed traffic impacts have been brief pauses as drivers reverse out of angled spaces — none of which have led to congestion or documented safety issues,” he said.

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The Evergreen-based Alpine Rescue Team, which covers Clear Creek, Gilpin and Jefferson counties, performed a record 172 missions last year, a 43% jump over the previous year. As of July 18, they stood at 72 for 2025. They hit 72 on July 19, 2024.

“We seem to be right on pace to match last year,” said Steve Wilson, a public information officer for the team.

On the other side of the Continental Divide, the Summit County Rescue Group surpassed 120 missions for the year last week. Their record is 220, which came in 2021.

“We are just about on pace with our record-breaking year,” said the group’s public information officer Ben Butler. “Generally we have been in the 180-190 range since then.”

But those rescue numbers aren’t the same everywhere in the state, said Anna DeBattiste, spokeswoman for the Colorado Search and Rescue Association.

“Some teams are telling me they are down, that things have been very quiet,” DeBattiste said. “I don’t think teams overall are busier. Anecdotally — I’m speculating — I do think when it’s really hot in the Front Range, more people are coming up into the high country. That could be a factor for Alpine, and it could be a factor for Summit.”

Boulder County’s Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, in fact, is running “well below average” this year, according to spokesman Page Weil.

Statewide, DeBattiste said there have been 14 helicopter hoist rescues performed by the Colorado Air National Guard this year, as compared to 11 for the same period last year. That doesn’t include medi-vac helicopters that transport injured hikers to hospitals after victims have been carried off the mountain.

Last month, there was a flurry of helicopter hoist rescues performed by the Air National Guard in coordination with local search and rescue teams. One, which was led by the Alpine Rescue Team, was from the summit of 14,270-foot Torreys Peak after two men were struck by lightning. It is believed to be the state’s highest-ever helicopter rescue.

Also last month, two hikers were rescued by helicopter hoist near the summit of Quandary Peak. There were two helicopter rescues in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness on the same day.

Colorado search and rescue teams are volunteer operations that work in concert with county sheriffs. They don’t charge a fee for their services. Purchase and upkeep of gear is funded by the Keep Colorado Wild state parks pass, sales of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Search and Rescue Card (CORSAR) and donations.

The Alpine Rescue Team used to be funded by proceeds from the Evergreen Town Race, a once-popular road race on Upper Bear Creek Road to Evergreen Lake that has been canceled the past two years.

These days, search and rescue is more rescue than search. Rescue teams say the proliferation of cellphones, improved mountain cellphone coverage, two-way satellite communication devices, Apple emergency SOS via satellite and other tech tools helps lost, stranded or injured hikers communicate their predicaments and locations.

“We don’t have as many searches as we used to, for people that are lost, because a lot of people can get themselves out with the help of their cellphone,” Wilson said. “We still have some, but they’re definitely reduced.

“But there are a lot more people who go out and twist their ankle, and help is merely a phone call away,” he added. “We don’t hesitate to go out there.”

The Summit County Rescue Group has seen the trend involving backcountry communications, too.

“It has decreased the number of pure searches we have,” Butler said, “where someone is overdue and we don’t have a good starting point.”

And, if technology makes it easier for hikers in distress to contact rescuers, that’s fine with Butler.

“I’d much rather have somebody who feels like they’re in a precarious situation call 911 for search and rescue services than push themselves beyond their limit,” Butler said.

The Alpine Rescue Team had a particularly busy day last month that involved a rescue on Torreys Peak and two separate calls at St. Mary’s Glacier, all within a two-hour period, according to public information officer Dawn Wilson.

“We had dozens of members spread out on three different missions at the same time,” she said.

She is reluctant to speculate on why the ART has seen a spike in numbers the past two years. Rescuers focus on helping hikers in distress, not questioning them about their credentials.

“We don’t have statistics on how much experience these people have,” she said. “We do realize people without experience are going out there. People get hurt, and we’re there to protect them. We’re the lifeguards of the backcountry. We’re there to help out, whether it’s by accident or bad planning.”

Recognizing that inexperience can be a factor in some rescues, though, the Colorado Search and Rescue Association is releasing a series of informational videos they hope will educate novices before they try something they aren’t ready to handle. Called Trailblazers & Lifesavers, the first two cover backcountry skiing on Vail Pass and rafting on the Arkansas River near Buena Vista. They can be found on the association’s blog and YouTube.

Still to come are videos on climbing the Third Flatiron in Boulder and fall hiking in Pagosa Springs. In the future, they hope to add videos on snowmobiling in Routt County and mountain biking on the Western Slope.

“Nobody goes out looking for a safety video online,” DeBattiste said. “The videos are very short, three-minute videos promoting a specific activity in a specific location. Like, are you thinking about getting into backcountry skiing? Vail Pass is a good place (for novices) to do it. Are you thinking about getting into whitewater rafting? The Milk Run on the Arkansas is a good place to start. When a person comes across the video by searching the activity or the location, it gets into how to do it safely.”

Butler reminds backcountry users hiking with dogs that canines have limitations their masters need to keep in mind. Dog rescues in the backcountry aren’t that common, but they do happen. The Summit County Rescue Group has a litter specially made for evacuating dogs.

“We will go out a couple of times a summer and assist pet owners whose dogs have become exhausted or injured,” Butler said. “It’s important for folks not only to recognize their limitations, but also think really hard about what adventures you’re bringing your dog on. Most dogs I have encountered are happy-go-lucky; they’re going to follow their owner to the ends of the earth. The dog has a hard time saying, ‘I’m tired, my legs are starting to hurt, my (paw) pads are starting to hurt.’

“The canines we’ve rescued,” Butler added, “they go and go and go until they can’t go any longer. They’re not going to be able to give you warning signs that they’re starting to get tired or dehydrated.”

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