Last year, I was in Denver, and drove to meet a friend in Aspen for a weekend. I went west on I-70, and at Glenwood Springs, I took route 82 south.
Just south of Glenwood Springs, I noticed a magnificent mountain in the distance to the west. It really stood out from the surrounding terrain. At the hotel in Aspen, I asked a bellhop the name of the mountain. He knew immediately which one I was talking about – he even pointed out a painting of it in the hotel lobby. And he told me the name. But I’ll be damned if I can remember it.
Does anyone here know? (My googling proved fruitless).
Without seeing the specific one, I’m thinking Snowmass Mtn. or one of the Maroon Peaks–those are widely commemorated in photos and paintings, and close to the area.
Disclaimer here, I have a bad sense of direction, and I always forget the name of the mountains myself, and there are a LOT of pretty mountains in that area (as you know).
I’d guess Snowmass, south of Carbondale. Maroon Peaks (Maroon Bells) are a bit farther south than Aspen, making it unlikely that they would feel “just south of Glenwood Springs” if one was heading for Aspen from Glenwood Springs.
My directions were a little imprecise – 82 south actually goes in a southeastern direction. This mountain was off to the right, so I guess it would actually have been south and west of Glenwood Springs.
The name wasn’t Snowmass. It was a single word, and IIRC, it was vaguely Latin-sounding. I think it ended in “ius”, or something like that. It may have begun with a ‘C’ or an ‘S’. (I know that makes Snowmass tantalizingly plausible, but that wasn’t it).
For all these details, you’d think I could recall a single word, but nooooo.
You may be thinking of Mount Sopris. The photo on the linked Wikipedia page was taken from Carbondale, which is on 82 between Glenwood Springs and Aspen.
There’s some mighty pretty scenery around those parts, indeed.
I’m a West Virginia native, so I harbor a prejudice against hyperbole about any non-Appalachian mountains.
But when I drove that route, I was bowled over. There were times I rounded curves and thought the mountains were 500 feet away, and then realized they were miles away.
It made me understand that line in “Rocky Mountain High”:
And they say that he got crazy once and tried to touch the sun…
This is getting a little touchy-feely for GQ, so I’ll shut up.