colorado – Kirsten Dobroth

These Young Colorado Farmers Are Changing the Future of Agriculture

Published on 5280.com Standing atop a wind-whipped hill that cuts through his 14 acres outside of Lyons, Nick DiDomenico points to a barren brown patch visible just across Highway 36. That’s how his land looked when he bought the parcel—a plot he named Elk Run Farm—back in 2015. “Nobody had farmed here for the last […]

by Kirsten Dobroth

These Legislative Initiatives Could Help Colorado’s Young Farmers

Published on 5280.com In July, Longmont resident and farm manager Meri Lillia Mullins testified before the House Subcommittee on Rural Development, Agriculture, Trade, and Entrepreneurship in Washington, D.C. about the financial dilemmas she faces today as a young farmer: “I have a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Environmental Engineering from the University of Toledo … Following college, I […]

by Kirsten Dobroth

When in Vail Village, Don’t Miss La Nonna Ristorante

Published on 5280.com I don’t have an Italian nonna to cook homemade pasta and Sunday gravy for me, but if I did, I imagine she’d also load the table with heaping plates of antipasti, crispy calamari, and the like. There’d be ink-colored bottles of Nebbiolo, chilled shots of her homemade limoncello, and delicate tiramisu sprinkled […]

by Kirsten Dobroth

A Public Art Project Banksy Would Love

Published in the Summer/Fall issue of Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine As wildflowers return to alpine meadows during the fleeting summer months, seasonal visitors flocking to Vail Village might notice another colorful display emerging around town: a new crop of larger-than-life murals spreading like wisteria over concrete walls of parking structures in Lionshead Village and at the Vail Transportation Center. The […]

by Kirsten Dobroth

Who Are Colorado’s Next Generation of Farmers?

Published on 5280.com Ben Gillespie isn’t like most 28-year-olds who call Colorado home. He lives on a farm owned and leased by his family west of the Continental Divide, where he spends his days tending to more than 200 acres. At the Living Farm, four generations of his family have raised sheep, cows, poultry, and pigs. […]

by Kirsten Dobroth

How to Hitch a Ride to Hanging Lake

Published in the Summer/Fall issue of Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine | Photography by Zach Mahone On the first morning of May in the middle of mud season 60 miles west of Vail Village, a small crowd gathered by the trailhead at Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon and made history. As the last wisps of clouds from a late-spring snowstorm […]

by Kirsten Dobroth

First-Timer’s Guide: Leadville

Published on 5280.com The first thing you notice as you approach Leadville from either the north or the south on Highway 24 is the two enormous silhouettes of Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive—the state’s two tallest fourteeners—prominently visible from any angle. That goes for the view from town, too, as you stroll Harrison Avenue, Leadville’s […]

by Kirsten Dobroth

An Off-the-Grid Escape Opens Near Red Mountain Pass

Published on 5280.com If you’ve ever had the luxury of experiencing a European backcountry vacation—where a resident host of the high alpine not only wines and dines you, but stokes the cabin’s communal fire throughout your stay, too—boot-packing to one of Colorado’s primitive huts might seem rather unrefined in comparison. That is, unless you’re staying at […]