Pitkin County’s Moore Open Space, roughly 64 acres on the edge of Aspen, was among the county’s first significant open space acquisitions. Heralded at the time of its purchase, in 1992, as a remnant of an ecosystem that was rapidly disappearing from the upper Roaring Fork Valley, Moore remains a special inholding of remarkable habitat.

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I don’t believe one can really know a river without getting in it, so it should not have been surprising that the Roaring Fork River as it flows through Aspen is full of surprises. I’ve looked at various in-town stretches for more than 20 years, but hadn’t set foot in any of them before this summer.

Armed with some intel on public water, thanks to the PitkinOutside Trailfinder, which offers info on recreational opportunities of all sorts in Pitkin County, I set out to give urban fishing a try. For city fishing, it was pretty wild.

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You know the gray-green leaves, you know the pungent smell on a warm summer day, but did you know that sagebrush is more closely related to tarragon than the sage we use to spice our food?

The distinct smell of sagebrush, an iconic plant in the American West and important to many Native American tribes, comes from chemical compounds that are thought to help protect the plants from herbivory (being eaten). (more…)