Apres Wolf Creek

By Carson Bennett, 1-27-08

	Caption: Courtesy: www.bearcreeksaloon.net

Congratulations. You’ve skied a full day at Wolf Creek. You caught the first chair and skied ten runs before noon. The snow was so good you didn’t even pause for lunch, preferring a frozen Clif Bar and an apple on the lift. After another dozen runs or so the lifts closed – just in time – the powder turned your legs to Jello. You are hungry. You are sore. You are ready for après ski, Pagosa Springs style.

First, food.

From the ski area, drive west on highway 160, over Wolf Creek Pass and into Pagosa Springs. Turn right at the traffic light on 4th street, then turn left onto Lewis Street. The Bear Creek Saloon is just up ahead on the left. The Bear Creek Saloon is the ultimate spot in Pagosa for good food, good beer, plasma-screen-sports-viewing enjoyment, and live music. They also have pinball and the 1981 Galaga arcade game, which is probably my favorite video game ever.

Once you step into the saloon, turn left if you want a table, or mosey up to the bar straight ahead. Either way, here’s what you’re going to eat. Trust me. For an appetizer, a basket of fried zucchini. Hot, breaded, fried, served with ranch…delicious. For the main course, order the jalapeno cream cheese burger. It sounds weird, I know, but this burger is the main reason I return, again and again, to the Bear Creek Saloon. It’s a half pound beef patty with fresh chopped jalapenos and a quarter inch slab of cream cheese all loaded onto a fresh roll. Spring for the seasoned curly fries, only a buck and a half extra. Of course, you’ll need a frosty beverage. This is Colorado, home of the local microbrew, so I recommend any of the beers from Durango’s Ska Brewery or the Breckenridge Brewing Company. If you must, you can order a Coors. You sissy.

Second, hot springs.

Now that you’re full of fried food, beef, cheese, and beer, it’s time to display your body in public. Just across the street, at the Springs Resort, eighteen soaking pools of “naturally hot therapeutic mineral water” await you. Each pool is a different temperature, the coolest being about 83 degrees, and the warmest a sore muscle minimizing 114. Visit just for a soak, enjoy the full spa, or stay the night at the attached hotel.

And that, my friends, is my Wolf Creek/Pagosa Springs après ski recipe. Please feel free to share your own favorite spots near Wolf Creek in the comments section.