A Mile High is Just the Beginning

Today is moving day! But my new location is only a few miles downstream from where I lived, so the change seems minimal. The scenery is almost new? Well, see for yourself!

It was Spring Break in Jefferson County last week, but here in Denver, the schools didn’t start their vacation until today. I’ll get to take some photos of Kennedy High School, seen to the right in the photo below, when the students and teachers take a break.

The area is called “Bear Valley” and is a few miles downstream from where I once went to school and lived previously. I grew up in the area, long before development filled every available space between US 285 and Bear Creek. I remember learning how to ride a dirt bike, as well as learning the hard lessons of falling off a dirt bike, in the empty fields next to the frontage roads, criss-crossed with trails.

This part of southwest Denver is home to Precinct 123 for the purpose of elections, but it has been redrawn from its older location and no longer contains Fort Logan National Cemetery and Pinehurst Country Club. After the last redistricting, the “new” 123 is now in Bear Valley, and it looks like I will be returning to that precinct. Previously, I was a precinct captain and volunteer, and it seems like I might be again?

The morning light reflected off of the clouds towering above the Foothills. By that afternoon, the clouds had rolled off the hills and onto the plains. It snowed only briefly in the northwest part of the city, when I was dropping my bike off in Arvada for some work on the brakes. Back home in Bear Valley, the clouds looked ominous but passed over without incident.

I’m not finished showing off the amazing Colorado HIGH SKY, as the light caught the edges of clouds leaving their western interiors shaded and dark. Using an Autel Evo Lite+ allowed me to use the full dynamic range of the camera drone’s aperture. Closing the aperture when facing the sun causes starbursts, while opening the aperture when viewing the subtle shades of color in the clouds allows for the most light to shine through to the sensors.

Just before dawn, the homes and shops along the creek were quiet. In the place of the old Bear Valley Mall that once existed in this area, a grocery store and hardware store anchor the remaining businesses. The City Councilman for the district maintains an office in the location of the old mall. This used to be home to Westwood College, once Denver Institute of Technology. Sadly, many for-profit colleges, including one where I used to teach, have been bankrupted due to scandalous mismanagement of student loans and fraudulent recruitment.

Bear Creek flows and meanders south of Dartmouth Avenue towards the South Platte River to the east, at the confluence seen previously in this edition. The river eventually flows through Denver from south to north, while the valleys on this side of town flow to the east. The sides of the valley block out the vista of downtown from the creek, but a short ascent into the Colorado HIGH SKY can overcome the obstacles.

Of course, this little neighborhood has it all, from my post office to shopping and from the precinct meetings to my city councilman, it’s good to be in the thick of things, even if it’s just on the edge of the city of Denver.

I could keep going, as I’ve taken many photos since my last visit. But for now, this will do, as I want to finish by thanking you for reading all the way to the end of this post!