Keystone Ski And Dillon Run Day

Here is a quick follow-up post on my ski day at Keystone, CO. This was my first day at this ski area this season, and was short but fun.

I was surprised to find they made improvements to the River Run base area: the gondola is now larger and closer to the village, and the lodge on the right as you face the hill has been rebuilt/remodeled. I like the changes.

Here is the view from the top deck of the lodge on Dercum Mountain (taken later after skiing):


That is Mount Guyot (left) and Bald Mountain in the back. It was only a short ski day, because Thanksgiving is one of the most crowded days of the season, especially with the limited terrain available. When the crowds became too much, I rode the gondola down:


I changed clothes and then took the gondola back up for the photos. I walked a little farther over to see how the mountain was shaping up with snow, and captured this image:


The next hill over is North Peak, and then past that (out of sight) is The Outback, which is where I usually head during mid season. There's some fun bowl and tree skiing to be had. Independence Bowl can be hiked on foot or you can take a snowcat for $5.

Then I stopped for Mexican food at Parrot Eyes, which was good, then grabbed a coffee at Inxpot. Although I regularly buy the excellent Starbucks Sumatra for brewing at home, when I buy brewed coffee on the run I tend to search out local shops that have good beans, simply because I don't care for Starbucks' Pike Place and some of the local roasters are very good. For example, Vail Mountain and Silver Canyon. Good local cafes usually seem to have interesting regional varieties of coffee already brewed.

It was such a beautiful sunny day that I went for a run later in Dillon. I parked near the Dillon marina and ran towards the southeast so I'd have sunshine the whole way. Even though it was only 45-50 degrees and breezy, the sun on the sand and the banks of the reservoir created a warming effect, and it almost felt like an evening run in California. The run was about 5 miles and here's the GPS track:


After the run, I was rewarded with the sighting of this cool black fox.