Peaks and Rocky Mountain Eats

I decided to channel my inner Ansel Adams and snap a few mountain views in black and white. Pretty dramatic, no? These shots were taken on the way up to Echo Lake, not too far from Denver. Of course I had to take colored photos as well...this was a fall foliage outing, after all.

The Aspen leaves turn color in groups due to their single root system. Unlike the Northeast, there aren't tons of different hues. There are really just two colors-- yellow and orange.  But the way they are splattered in the midst of evergreen forests is nothing short of spectacular.  

                          

Once we finished circling Echo Lake, we decided to head to Idaho Springs for some food.  We found Beau Jo's which serves up pizza pies, 'mountain style'. It was good. It's nothing like New York style pizza. It's its own thing. And the custom is to drizzle the remaining very thick (sauce-free) crust in honey for dessert.  Done.

BeauJo's Colorado Mountain Pie

Since we only had a single pie for lunch (we split it three ways), I was pretty hungry by the time we got home around dinner time. I was toying with the idea of making a provencal vegetable pistou, but decided that would take too much time. (In addition to being hungry, I was tired too.) We decided to do take-out.  

We opted for Tocabe, an American Indian eatery. The menu includes Indian Tacos, Medicine Wheels Nachos, and Fry Breads. I got the fry bread. It was something like a zeppole, if I had to name something analogous. I got chili beans and black beans, topped with a chipotle sauce and hominy salsa. I must say, the hominy salsa was the real stand out. It was delicious. And I was happy to try a new cuisine. I can now check Native American off my list! 

A few days later we found ourselves up in the mountains again, this time near Georgetown. It's a really cute town with tons of Victorian architecture and, in our experience, a good deal of wildlife. We took a drive up the Guanella Pass and the views were magnificent.  I'm not sure what the official altitude was, but the air was thin and the peaks were amazing.