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Pagosa Springs, Colorado

By Amy Maestas

Fred Harman Art Museum

Fred Harman: Drawer of the West America had Norman Rockwell to draw its stories; the West had Fred Harman. Where the two crossed paths in the realm of realism: The stories and pictures they created were intimate portraits of everyday life during their existence. Rockwell, of course, had Willie Gillis, the everyman. Harman's Willie was Red Ryder. Red Ryder was "America's famous fighting cowboy." His persona was representative of the West: a rough and tumble place where action was swift, the men were tough as grit and the ladies soft and precious. Harman's Ryder also was the cause of one of the most spoken and well-known movie phrases during the Christmas season: "You'll shoot yer eye out!" That phrase, of course, is from the epic movie "A Christmas Story," in which Ralphie Parker wants only one thing from Santa: "an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle." You know what Ralphie's parents told him. The BB gun was inspired by Harman's comic strip, which little spitfire Ralphie read religiously ? just like other kids in the 1940s. Harman, a native of Missouri, came to Colorado ? Pagosa Springs area, specifically ? after trying to find a place in the art world as a cartoonist in the early 1920s. Between moving to California, Colorado and Missouri, the now famous cartoon illustrator settled in the San Juans and landed a gig that made him known the world over. Harman drew the comic strip "Red Ryder and Little Beaver." Red Ryder was created by Stephen Slesinger, but Harman's drawings put the strip on the map. Harman knew about drawing comic strips. In 1993, he was author of Bronc Peeler, another fictional cowboy character that Harman created. Bronc was a red-headed kid who fought bandits and rustlers. He had help from Coyote Pete and later Little Beaver. After the Bronc comic strip, Harman found his place as illustrator of Red Ryder, and thus began a career that was responsible for characterizing the West and, at times, the massive, jagged San Juan Mountains that ringed Harman's home and ranch near Pagosa Springs. Media chain Scripps-Howard Newspapers picked up Harman's strip, and during its years in publication, the strip appeared in 750 newspapers and was translated into more than 10 languages. The strip ended its run in 1963. But today, Harman and his creations remain popular the world over. Nowhere is that more apparent than the Fred Harman Art Museum on the outskirts of downtown Pagosa Springs. The museum is a mix of Harman's paintings and his comic illustrations. It's one of the more prominent museums in Pagosa ? a testament to the town's efforts to preserve its past and honor its famous residents. Outside the museum are other relics of the past that have been plucked from their original locations and placed here to be preserved and visited. Harman's influence of representing the West is hard to overlook in Pagosa. It's a town that is proud of an illustrator who made cowpokes to be regarded as real characters for readers all over the world. And, with the addition of Little Beaver, was one of the first ways artistically that people learned about the Navajo Indians, their rightful place in history and their culture. Indeed, when Harman was still alive, the Navajo Nation adopted him into their tribe. He was only one of only 75 white men in history to receive the honor. - A.M.

Nancy Richmond

Pagosa Springs - A 12-hour day in Pagosa Springs Pagosa Springs has plenty of adventure to spend only a day there and get the flavor of what this little town is about. Here's a sample itinerary: 8 a.m. Swing by the Pagosa Baking Company for coffee and a sweet morning pastry. While there, make sure you buy a fresh loaf of challa bread, which you can save for another night or break into pieces and stuff in your hiking pack to munch on while on the trail. 8:30 a.m. Head west out of Pagosa Springs to Piedra Road. Go north on the road about 16 miles to the trailhead. Cross the Piedra River and park on the right. Cross Piedra Road and hike up the hill to the trail. The Piedra River trail is several miles long and is an easy or moderate level, depending on the section. At the start of the trailhead, sheer cliffs line the sides of the trail. Two miles in, the trail flattens and follows the Piedra River. For about 4 miles, the trail is an easy hike. After that, it begins to climb in elevation and hits a moderate level in the next 8 miles to the bridge on the First Fork of the Piedra Road. You can do and out and back for this trail, or leave a car at the other end to do shuttle. The trail is an amazing mix of cliffs, clear water and stunning box canyons. Alternate trail option: Head 8 miles south on U.S. Highway 84, turn left on Blanco Basin Road, go about 10 miles, go across the bridge and turn right to Road 666. A mile after that, turn right at the junction. You will see some beaver ponds, which is where the trail starts on the left. The hike to Opal Lake is a short and quick 1� miles. If you are in good shape, it'll take you about 45 minutes, maybe one hour, to get to the lake. There are groves of large aspen trees and an abundance of beaver dams. Still more trails for one-day hikes: Fourmile Falls, Quartz Lake, Williams Creek Trail, Treasure Mountain and Windy Pass and Lobo Overlook and Continental Divide. 3:30 p.m. After your long hike, you deserve a good soak (maybe even a massage) in the natural hot springs that are found throughout downtown Pagosa. Hot tub businesses range from shi shi to modest (The Springs Resort, where 18 pools range in temperature) and laidback (The Spa, where there are gender-restricted, clothing-optional pools). If you want to really treat yourself, book a massage appointment at one of the places. 6 p.m. Assuming you hydrated appropriately throughout the day of hiking and soaking, you deserve a beer. Head to Farago Caf�, where you can sip a cold Goofy Foot Ale (a brew not just for jibbers) as a happy hour treat. At Farago, they serve beer from Three Barrel Brewing Co., which is located in Del Norte, Colo. 7:30 p.m. Across the street is Farago's sister restaurant, Alley House Grille. Duck in there for a fine dinner. Post-dinner. Return to the hot springs. It's hard to put a limit on relaxation and healthful soaking. - A.M.

Often, when you can smell a town before you enter it, the odor isn't a draw. In Pagosa Springs, Colo., it's different. That odor is responsible for the town's existence, not to mention its namesake.

Situated in the middle of the San Juan National Forest and bordering the western side of the Continental Divide, Pagosa Springs has an unmistakable aroma of sulfur that wafts through the summer and winter air. A constant uprising of minerals from the Earth, this small town of about 1,500 people - the population isn't even double that of the 1920s, when it was about 800 - is a place that has learned to capitalize on its natural landscape.
Throughout and surrounding Pagosa are natural mineral hot springs that bubble up from the ground surface and create hot-water pools that rise with steam and a somewhat unpleasant odor. The town was so named after the Ute Indians called the springs "Pahgosah," a native word meaning "healing waters." Then and now, these healing waters - some still in raw form and some in overly polished form - are known to provide health benefits for the heart, immune system, muscles and skin, to name a few. They draw locals and tourists alike to soak in pools. For many years, the pools were the biggest attraction that town had, even as it sat in a valley of rugged and rural mountains.
Hot springs are big business in Pagosa. The most noticeable of the built-up pools are at The Springs, a resort that sits on the banks of the San Juan River. The resort is Pagosa's answer to Rome's bathhouses. Large white columns dominate a round building that leads to 18 pools ranging in temperatures. Because of this, the resort - one of a few in town - is hard to miss. Its prominent placement on the river and next to the town's visitor center makes it one of the first landmarks in the center of town. It is near less-flashy hot springs centers, so visitors can choose where they soak away the soreness.
Whereas in Rome the hot pools were a place to be seen, Pagosa's hot pools draw a more health-oriented crowd. Little business is being discussed and more relaxation is being undertaken. But it doesn't dismiss that this little one-theater, two-movie-screen town is a geological wonder.
Geologists say hot springs are found where there has been geologically recent volcanism. In the San Juan Mountains, there are many places and instances of such activity, with Pagosa Springs being the largest. In this town, the water moves from deep in the earth to the surface, where it bubbles at 150 degrees. At that point, the various hot baths draw in the water to places where people sit, soak and sleep. The geology of the place also is the foundation for many other places that surround Pagosa.
Take, for example, Wolf Creek Pass. Some 30 miles to the north of Pagosa Springs, the high mountain pass tops out at almost 11,000 feet as it leads travelers to Wolf Creek Ski Area and beyond to the San Luis Valley. A steep pass becomes a white-knuckle drive in the winter. Its formidable winding roads and unpredictable weather make up for part of its fame. The other part comes from washed up country singer C. W. McCall. McCall recorded his song "Wolf Creek Pass" in 1975. In traditional country twang, McCall sings of two big-rig truck drivers careening down the highway toward Pagosa Springs in a 1948 Peterbilt.
Country music lovers in the '70s came to know Wolf Creek Pass through song. (For YouTube users, you can find McCall's song to listen to, minus the MTV-like video story; the image in the video is only a vinyl record on a player.) The song, as many point out, exaggerates a bit. But McCall gets the gist of it with these lyrics:

I looked at Earl and his eyes was wide
His lip was curled, and his leg was fried.
And his hand was froze to the wheel like a tongue to a sled in the middle of a blizzard.

I says, "Earl, I'm not the type to complain
But the time has come for me to explain
That if you don't apply some brake real soon, they're gonna have to pick us up with a stick and a spoon . . ."

The song is a classic. And it has served Pagosa well since it hit the airwaves more than 30 years ago. The reputation it built up for the pass was that it is an area of supreme beauty that can't be matched and shouldn't be marred. In recent years, the pass and Pagosa Springs has repeatedly been part of the news because a Texas billionaire, Red McCombs, wants to build a small village atop Wolf Creek Pass. The potential for 10,000 residents at a high altitude on a pristine mountaintop has caused much grief. Many Pagosa residents have undertaken a battle to, at the very least, scrutinize the project. It's one of the many natural treasures that envelopes Pagosa, and residents here are finding out how loudly money talks.
Money and Pagosa are an odd mix. Locals are often seasonal workers gainfully employed in the service sector. Tourism is Pagosa's major income generator. Skiers are frequent winter visitors; outdoor recreationalists are summer visitors. People come and go in Pagosa. Two years ago, statistics showed that about 60 percent of residents in Pagosa are there only part of the year. The town has a high rate of second-home owners, who live in the area for less time than their home base. It makes the town a more of a transient community that, even with having fits and starts over the years to make itself a real and permanent base, is growing with intent to cash in on its strengths. Recent visits reveal construction in progress - of a huge new resort hotel, multifamily residences and trendy office complexes.
Aside from the inevitable development, Pagosa remains a little town in a valley that can be and is used as a base for Wolf Creek skiers, Weminuche hikers and San Juan bikers, and those headed to see the ruins at Chimney Rock or Treasure Mountain, where the Spaniards hid their gold from the Native Americans. It has the ruggedness of the Old West, the innocence of Currier and Ives and the modernity of tomorrow.
It also has a draw of somewhere offering simple times. Magazine writer Hal Borland wrote about Pagosa Springs in an article for the New York Times in 1951. Borland was in search of a retreat, most notably solitude, peace and nature. He found it, if only briefly, in Pagosa. But he laments then that the world was more complex and a retreat, especially one so Elysian, was not practical. I wonder if Borland were able to see Pagosa today if he'd feel the same way.
Clearly, the healing waters have kept Pagosa Springs in good condition.

Amy Maestas is a contributing editor of Inside/Outside Southwest.