Mount Sopris and Carbondale

Last weekend, we went to Carbondale. Friday night, we took a bus into Aspen to see Michal Menert at the Belly Up. The music venue was easily one of the nicest I've been to. My jaw about dropped when a girl with an "X" on her hand walked in wearing her finest white fur coat. The stage was equipped with a full length LED screen. My friend Tom, aka VJ Ghost Pixel, was thrilled. He impressed us all with his carefully designed and tactfully orchestrated visuals. However, I will not get too much into this part as I will delve deeper into it later.

   On Saturday, we went for a drive around the area and did some sight seeing. The most dominating feature of the landscape is easily Mount Sopris. It has twin peaks, both with an elevation of 12,965ft and an impressive 6,250ft gain from the valley below. We admired the gargantuan beauty from a hill outside of town. After, we left the expansive valley and drove south along the Crystal River. We stopped in Redstone, a tiny and picturesque mountain town. We continued past Redstone into Marble, which is a particularly interesting town. A great deal of the nation's and world's marble came from this isolated mountain community. It is a strange sight to see large chunks of unfinished marble lying around casually.
   Of course, I should not overlook Carbondale. It was easy to fall in love with this small historic community. Resting in the valley along the Roaring Fork River, the town used to be largely agricultural. Likewise, it has been a large resource for coal. Today, however, it has developed into a tourist's dream. Much less ritzy and well-to-do than neighboring Aspen, the town has its own vibrant music and arts scene and would never disappoint an avid outdoors man or woman. The citizens have over time protested the development of large chain stores, and it is dominated by locally owned businesses. I could easily see myself ending up there.
    Reluctantly, we returned to Denver on Sunday, eagerly planning our next trip back.