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Make North Park Your Creative Escape Destination
Are you an aspiring writer working on that passion project you feel like you never have time for? Do you keep telling yourself you wish you could just step out of the demands of everyday life, break free from the clutches of your phone for a long weekend, or just find somewhere quiet where you can work? One of the biggest problems you face as a creative is distraction. There’s always a chore to do, an errand to run, and that phone is always blowing up with notifications, phone calls, and hours of doomscrolling.
What if there was a place you could step away from it all? A couple hours drive away, you’ll find some of the most beautiful scenery in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. A place where you could finally put your butt in the chair and let your creativity really stretch its legs. A dark room with no distractions where you could lock yourself away until you finally got all the words down you’ve been dying to write for years.
The best place for a personal writer’s retreat is right here in North Park!
Take a hike to find that solitude and inspiration.
Treat Yourself with a Retreat
Rather than wait for a writer’s retreat (or dig through the couch cushions to be able to afford one) give yourself your own retreat! Be Inspired by the history and scenery of Jackson County. Its rustic charm has held creatives in thrall for generations. From writers and painters to sculptors, jewelry makers, and poets, North Park is a land that takes people back to simpler times, away from the noise and chaos of life in the city.
Though Walden is sometimes confused with Thoreau’s Walden Pond, we do offer something he would have appreciated. Stunning views, isolation from “civilization” and plenty of time to think and reflect. Things move slower in the mountains, and if you are looking for a place to sow those seeds of creativity in your next project, North Park makes one heckuva backdrop!
Walden has cellular service, a public library for printing, and a Post Office for mailing off that manuscript, hot off the press. What the surrounding area of North Park lacks in cellular service, police sirens, lawnmowers, and wifi more than makes up for these distractions in fresh air, peaceful solitude, and good vibes. Each morning you can open your door and breathe deep as the coffee brews. Feel the sun on your face and let your creativity flourish.
So grab your laptop, your notebooks, sharpen your pencils, and grab your favorite coffee mug and plan your next personal writer’s retreat! You’re bound to find something inspiring just from looking out the window. Plan a trip for a weekend or a couple weeks to really start knocking out those word counts!
Peruse the North Park Pioneer Museum for some inspiration on your writing journey.
Poetry is in the Fabric of the Colorado Landscape
Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? It’s strange to think a lot of people “don’t get” poetry, when it is all around us. Poetry is found in the lyrics of our favorite songs. Poetry reveals itself in prayers and oaths. It is found in the language of our documents that make up the framework for our nation. It can be subversive or inspiring. It is music without a tune, and a whisper that can become a shout.
Poetry is the stripped down version of what people feel, distilled from prose. It can rhyme or be sparse and haunting. It can be a few lines of thoughts or entire epics. It can be political or whimsical--sometimes both. What poetry always does is inspire an emotional response. Love it or hate it, poetry is strong in how we as people think. It has stood by us in times of revolution, in moments of ecstacy or heartbreak.
Colorado recently selected Mescalero & Chiricahua Apache and Diné poet Crisosto Apache as our 11th Colorado Poet Laureate.Crisosto Apache’s work continues to resonate with others, particularly an up and coming generation that so desperately needs a way to express themselves. If you would like to learn more about our 11th Poet Laureate of Colorado,follow the link here!
Poetry challenges. It asks hard questions and gives raw experience as answers. Poetry is not some antiquated artform, but rather something that continues to thrive in all of us, running through the warp and weft of the human experience. Poetry has existed since the beginning and can be found on clay steles of ancient sumeria, the oral traditions of indigenous people, and persisting through electronic media and will continue to do so well-beyond.
Celebrate Peggy Simson Curry Day
Born in Scotland in 1911 and emigrated to the US as a child, Peggy Simson Curry spent much of her adult life in Wyoming. Her time growing up was within sight of the mountains surrounding North Park. Many themes and images in her work resonate with the stark beauty and isolation of the area. In 1981 she was granted the title of Wyoming’s First Poet Laureate.
In 1983, the locals of Walden, CO selected April 13 to be Peggy Simson Curry Day to celebrate the accomplishments of this daughter of North Park. Her novel, So Far from Spring, took place in a fictionalized North Park. She continued to write novels, short stories, and of course poetry until her death in 1987 in Casper, WY.
Peggy Simson Curry’s legacy in North Park runs strong and deep, as many people who share her blood can still recall time spent with her. Anyone who has both read her work and experienced the raw beauty of North Park can recognize the spirit of this place and how it is reflected in her words.
North Park’s Own Poet Laureate
Jackson County is among a handful of towns and counties in Colorado who also have their own poet laureate. Beverly Andrus is starting her third two-year appointment as Jackson County’s poet laureate. Along with her ensemble of Wildflower Theatre, she usually marks the occasion of celebrating Peggy Simson Curry day with a reading to honor the work and achievements of one of our own.
Each year on the 4th of July, Beverly Andrus and the Wildflower Theatre Ensemble read the entirety of the Declaration of Independence on the Jackson County Courthouse steps in Walden. On the 250th Anniversary, it will be her seventh year of reading this historic document. Visitors are encouraged to stop by the courthouse for this annual experience. For more information, call 970-819-1634.
As we approach this milestone, it’s important to go deeper than the parades and fireworks at the surface. Words heavy with meaning were at the root of these beginnings. Philosophies and ideals that we continue to debate and struggle with, reinterpret, and reframe are just as relevant today as they were a quarter of a millenia ago. And thinking critically about their meaning and their impact are probably even more important.
Unconventional beauty can be found just about everywhere you look.
To be in one of the most remote places in Jackson County, book a reservation withYonder Yurts in the Colorado State Forest State Park. You won’t be able to beat the views at22 West at the foot of the Park Range via Rainbow Lakes Trails.
It’s never too early to start daydreaming about planning your next adventure in North Park. Jackson County is Colorado’s best kept secret when it comes to outdoor activities, fishing, and wildlife watching. Whether it is hiking, climbing, mountain biking, or just taking a long drive to pass the weekend away from the city, add the Walden, CO area to your itinerary of places to discover the real Colorado. And leave the crowds behind.
Make This Retreat Your Own
You don’t need a convention in some overpriced hotel with bored guest speakers and writers throwing lame criticism at your work in progress. What you need is some time out of your comfort zone. Shake your creativity up by stepping outside of the norm and finding yourself in the mountains. Reconnect with nature or close the blinds and start hammering away at that manuscript. It doesn’t matter, just so long as you are getting the words down. If you are looking for somewhere to really disappear for a few days and put in some serious writing time, we’ve got your place right here, ready to go.
