Ear to the ground

“We just gotta find our way to Ignacio. I wonder if it’s possible to drive there.”

-Recent victims of Sky Ute Casino advertising, plotting the next leg of their Durango adventure.

Equitrekking into Durango

Television exposure is once again trotting into the Durango area. “Equitrekking,” the first international travel television series to explore the world on horseback, is headed to La Plata County to complete the filming of its new, six-episode series. The episodes will eventually air in high definition for public television.

Host and producer. Darley Newman is an equestrian travel journalist who has combined her lifelong passion for horses and travel with a background in radio and television production. So far, “Equitrekking” has ridden through Spain, the Georgia coast, the Carolinas, Vermont and Cody, Wyo. After Wyoming, “Equitrekking” pointed it for Northern Colorado for Cutting Horse Dream Week at the Colorado Cattle Co.

This weekend, Aug. 12-15, Darley will bring viewers down to Durango to ride and learn horsemanship at Wilderness Trails Ranch, explore Mesa Verde National Park, take the trip on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and “discover historic downtown shopping.”

Apparently, the adventures will also continue after sunset. As Darley says, “After a day of riding, you spend the evening with the new friends you made on your journey – learning, laughing and planning your next day’s adventure in a new land.”

Interestingly, “Equitrekking” has elected to wrap up its Western odyssey in Albuquerque where Darley will examine “Spanish influence on American breeds.”  

More information is available at www.equitrekking.com.

An Olympic future

Gold could be in Colorado’s future. Denver has taken the first step toward becoming a candidate to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, according to a report in the Rocky Mountain News.

Denver has been named a “community partner city,” which is a critical step in the city becoming an Olympic candidate. Denver must explain how it has changed since 1972, when the city withdrew its sponsorship of the 1976 Olympics. Colorado voters had chosen to withdraw taxpayer funding because of concerns about poor administration, plus more over-arching concerns about runaway development.

Also reaching for the 2018 games are Reno/Lake Tahoe and veteran venues Salt Lake City and Lake Placid.