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Colorado's 26th scenic and historic byways offer an opportunity to participate in the
America 250 Colorado 150 Anniversary's in 2026.
The routes highlight Colorado's shared history and celebrate the people, cultures and communities
that make the Centennial State unique. For a complimentary virtual visitor guide and more
information, visit coloradobyways.org.
The horizon is wide and the highway is calling. That means it's time for another episode of
American Road Trip Talk. I'm your host Gary Mance with a welcome and an invitation to travel
the byways and back roads of yesteryear, searching for America in every incomparable mile.
Welcome once again ladies and gentlemen, glad to have you along for the ride.
Glad to be working alongside Nathan Miller, our producer. This is American Road Trip Talk.
We'll be back with the interview right after this.
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Welcome to American Road Trip Talk. We're always happy to have you along for the ride.
Adam Disharm, thank you so much sir for joining us. You have such a great place to enjoy.
It's great. I'm honored to talk to you today. Yeah, so my name is Adam Disharm,
and I'm the Tourism and Economic Development Director for Lake County, which is a Leadville in Twin
Lakes. So I'm the Destination Marketing Organization representative for Visitor Leadville Twin
Lakes, and I'm the top of the rocky scenic byway coordinator and I have been for four years now.
Top of the Rockies. I'd like to hear more about that organization. Wow, what a great connection.
That would be some good people to work for. Yeah, yeah, it's a fun, it's a fun group.
Okay, so how extensive is your experience and how did you come upon this organization there
because I imagine those kinds of jobs don't grow on trees there and it's you know your qualifications,
your bone of feedays would be super important. Sure. Yeah, so my background is I was actually born
in roommate of the Silver Lake Motel in Falmouth, Massachusetts. So I've lived and worked in
hospitality kind of my entire life. I've done every job you can do in the hospitality industry
from bus boy to night auditor to running, you know, being a general manager of a resort in Lincoln
New Hampshire, which is a it's a small resort community that is pretty similar to Leadville, Colorado.
Then I had about a 20 year stint in filmmaking and was super fortunate to travel all over the
world that worked mostly in sort of travel and nature and food documentary filmmaking and then
when I started to have a family ended up in in Leadville, Colorado and I was still doing filmmaking
at the time, but you know, we have some pretty unique weather in Lake County. We have you know,
we average about 400 inches of snow this year has been a little different, but on general we
we get a lot of snow up there. So I got stuck on the wrong side of the Eisenhower tunnel.
One too many times coming back from Denver from a trip and I said I need to find some local work
and at that time now this is right sort of at the height of COVID and people were coming out of
quarantine and they wanted to get outside desperately. So we saw 46% increase in visitation
in 2022 and 2021 to Lead County to Leadville and Twin Lakes at the time. So the community actually
created the first ever tourism director position and yeah, given my background, I was I applied and
was chosen to become the first tourism director and with that I sort of I actually kind of inherited
the top of the rocky scenic byway role. At the time they're you know with COVID and everything
going on there was kind of a leadership vacuum sort of in that role and so I stepped into that role
and that was a little bit unique at the time because in the past or you know more traditionally
scenic byways tend to have sort of a stand-alone board or sort of stand-alone leadership, but
our top of the rocky scenic byway is a little different. If you're not that familiar with it,
it actually incorporates Lake County, well I'll name the places that incorporates because that's
easier, but basically it is Mintern, Red Cliff, Leadville, Twin Lakes all the way down the
copper all the way over to Aspen and and right over to the border with Chafee County. So rather than
being sort of a byway or a stretch of road that is sort of through one county or one jurisdiction,
there are multiple jurisdictions that sort of encompass the top of the rocky scenic byway and
you know it's one of the more beautiful drives I think in the country. I mean it criss-crosses the
continental divide three times. Anyone who's not familiar with Independence Pass, it's pretty stunning
drive and so it's a pretty massive asset for all of our communities and sort of have the
representation from my organization. Visit Leadville Twin Lakes was a great opportunity and you know
we have Independence Pass and sort of the village of Twin Lakes in Lake County so it was kind of a
no-brainer for me and pretty shortly after sort of I started my job in my role is when Camp Hale
was designated as a national monument and that is also along the top of the rocky scenic byway so
Camp Hale of course has all of the history with the 10th Mountain Division in World War II so it's
a pretty special place and a pretty special part of the Colorado Rockies so you know it's been
it's been a pleasure to sort of be a part of the organizational pleasure and an honor I'm quite
sure yeah yeah and you know with the with Camp Hale you know again that World War II history and
sort of I mean the 10th Mountain Division was fairly critical in terms of sort of changing the
course and changing the history of World War II and we do actually every single year they do a
commemorative ski at ski Cooper which is also in Lake County and that is always an honor to go out
there and get a chance to ski with folks who are current and former 10th Mountain Division soldiers
and just sort of feel the reverence and sort of feel the history of and the importance of sort of
that landscape because that was the original training grounds for soldiers during World War II
who up to that point we did not have anything close to an Alpine Division and the US Army just
didn't really have the the training and the capacity to be able to deal with some of the harsh
mountainous environments that they experience in Italy when they when they finally went you know
onto the battlefield so it's it's yeah it's pretty special and pretty unique and has this mix of
sort of history and culture and natural beauty that makes it a pretty wonderful place.
I remember the legend of what was on legend with the the history of Tobruk
there and having to scale those cliffs. That's right. I mean war is hell you know no no enemy goes
out of the way to make it convenient unless they're blunt. Yeah that's right that's right that's right
and it's interesting to the uniforms because when you get up into those northerly climbs
well not I noticed that among the Germans particularly but I'm sure we had our own
way of adapting they started to wear a lot of white they don't want to be easy targets there so
you're blending into the atmosphere and I remember they would have these officers and they'd
have these white coats around when I'm sure we had our answer to that because you don't want to
make yourself an easy target obviously. Yeah yeah we have we actually have quite a few artifacts
in in our community and sort of commemorating 10th Mountain Division and that's a visitor center
which is right on Harrison Avenue which is right on our main street we actually have an exhibit
that commemorates the 10th Mountain Division in Camp Hale and you're 100% correct everything
it's all white all the equipment was white in fact the skis were white the snow shoes were painted
white everything was was that white color and yeah I think one of my favorite stories of
sort of that that time period and sort of the initiation or the initial attack that the 10th
Mountain Division was in gate when they engaged when the Allies engaged in in the war in Italy is
they planned to do to do a big push to do a big sort of mountain hike and they wanted to do it
in the cover darkness and they wanted to be as quiet as possible and be able to take out guards
and they're actually in Denver at History Colorado there was an exhibit that they had for quite
some time that commemorated Camp Hale in the 10th Mountain Division and they actually had the
original bow and arrow the first arrow that was shot and they and it's cracked you know because
they they it was actually a soldier from New Hampshire who is an excellent archer and in order to
not sort of alert the enemy that of their presence the first shot that rang out was actually
from a bow and arrow and from a skilled archer and they actually still have that original arrow
they had an on display at that exhibit and that collection has since been retired but pieces
of that collection are actually on display at another facility that History Colorado owns
currently and as well as in Denver they have a really a large exhibit right now commemorating
ledville's Irish heritage because ledville at one point during the mining peaks the mining
of the late 1800s the largest concentration of Irish immigrants other than Boston, Massachusetts
which is actually originally where I'm from the highest concentration of Irish immigrants
in the United States was in ledville Colorado sort of doing the mining up there so we have some
pretty deep ties to Ireland in our community and we actually have a sister city in Ireland
that you know we have a great relationship with and we have we actually have two St. Patrick's
state parades we have a St. Patrick's state parade and then we also have a you know halfway
through the year we do what we call a practice parade and it's remarkable it's right down Harrison
Avenue and we have bagpipes and just it's a big celebration of our Irish heritage so I didn't
hear anything about green beer but it must be there oh absolutely absolutely yeah yeah set the
the silver dollar saloon so yeah the silver dollar saloon which is actually one of the oldest
you know there's always sort of people who will die for the title but you know on paper
one of the one of the oldest saloons in the United States the silver dollar saloon is still open
and operational right on Harrison Avenue and it's pretty remarkable they actually have the old
the original bar top and they also have the original glass that has real gold in it that came
imported from China that's behind the bar and if you haven't been to the silver dollar saloon it's
it's like a step back in time it's worth a visit I do I like those areas that preserve their past
and invite you to come and enjoy that's a lot of the appeal on this program we do a lot of shows
regarding Route 66 there so we have an admiration really a reverence if you will therefore the past
and a great deal of respect for the people who want to preserve it so that we can step back in time
otherwise it's lost forever and that's it's an experience that people should miss
particularly if you are parents and grandparents more especially taking the grandkids there to
experience something as a step back in time are heritage because that way it isn't lost you've got
the stories a lot of it's in the stories and the recollections so that it becomes part of the
collective memory through the generations absolutely yeah we're we're that's probably one of the
things about our scenic byway that I really appreciate the most is that there's a number of
interpretive panels along the byway that commemorate our mining history we have ghosts we have ghost
towns so we have the ghost town of independence that's straight up off the top of independence past
but we also in our community we have the National Mining Museum in Hall of Fame so that commemorates
the mining heritage of this area dating all the way back to 1860 when they actually found gold first
and they found a negative gold in California gulch that the original prospectors they claimed
that they held in their hands more gold than had been mined in an entire year in the state of California
and after that discovery seven thousand miners came up and over mosquito pass and into the Arkansas
River Valley to start mining that area and pretty quickly they realized that there were
as many deposits of gold as they thought but they had the good fortune of discovering that one of
the larger reserves of silver in the United States was discovered there and this was pivotal
and pretty critical when the US currency was silver backed so one of the largest concentrations
of wealth in the United States at one point was in the Arkansas River Valley and in in Leadville
so we had 40,000 people living in in the city of Leadville at its peak we currently have 2,500
so it's pretty wild to think about 40,000 people living on top of each other in essentially a one
square mile area but they made it happen and you know as I mentioned many of those folks were
of were Irish immigrants and we actually have a we actually have an Irish memorial that is in
Evergreen Cemetery and it actually names all of the immigrants because at the time many of the
immigrants you know they were day laborers so when they were buried they were buried in pine boxes
and Gallo graves and many of them were not named so there's actually indents kind of in the soil
where the boxes have actually decomposed and sort of honor those folks they've actually created a
memorial and named all of the immigrants and so we do get quite a few folks who travel along the
top of the rocky scenic by way to come to that memorial and honor their ancestors so yeah that's
very true in our community entirely they're entirely worthy of that recognition and to be part of
the collective memory no doubt about it on this program we love to talk about well ghosts certainly
but ghost towns absolutely just as much yeah but in terms of the the ghost towns at them tell us
about the ones that are best known and particularly those that are reachable because I mean if
they're not accessible it's going to be only the intrepid to go there and if they're too accessible
then you've got a big tourist trap you know yeah sure the idea sure what about those that retain
their authenticity through a natural preservation and decay Bodhi in California is an example of that
letting decay naturally and it's to whatever degree open to visit there how about the area
that you're talking about sure yeah so the top of the rocky scenic by way is actually a pretty
unique offering in that regard because independence the town of independence as I mentioned it's
actually it was a mining camp or a town that was constructed literally at the top of independence
pass so we're talking I think it's that 12,000 feet and it it it experiences pretty severe weather
and so to access the continental divide which is right there in the top of independence pass it's
actually only open from right around Memorial Day to right around Labor Day so that's a naturally
limiting factor but it's also up at such a high elevation and it's literally you know on the
side of a mountain so it doesn't actually you can see every aspect of it from your vehicle
but also you can park and you can go explore it but it does not have that sort of tourist
trap field because you know there's an element of natural selection in terms of folks who are
willing to go along independence pass because you know it's the type of drive and the type of road
that no vehicle over 35 feet is allowed and you know you you kind of have to have your wits about
you as you're driving but it is again you know we talked about the million dollar highway and some
of these more well-known drives this independence passes a breathtaking drive in fact it's it's one
of the reasons why I ended up moving to Lake County is just doing that drive and when I was a
filmmaker I was there on a film shoot and it was just breathtaking so put that so you have
the town of independence and then if you go in if you travel into the village of Twin Lakes which
is part of unincorporated Lake County you have the interlock in hotel and the Dexter cabins and
the village itself is actually made up of sort of a collection of old mining cabins but also old
historic hotels and features that again there was so much wealth generation in Leadville sort of
during the mining boom that Twin Lakes was kind of the respite you know it's 20 minutes down the road
but again that's 20 minutes driving and at that time it was it was mostly transport was usually
through burrows and then eventually through freight you know trains so for in order to sort of
explore these artifacts you know you have to do I think it's a half a mile hike to the to the
interlock in hotel but it's one of the most popular hikes in central Colorado because it is flat
and it is accessible and then you could actually go into the old hotel and see how it was set up
but you know it's a few rooms and and pretty simple but the Dexter cabin is actually the Twin
Lakes visitor center so that's a pretty nice sort of you get to really experience history and kind
of be in the cabin and touch it see it feel it but it's right there and then the other one I'll
mention is the route of the silver tings so that actually is a drive that you can do it's on the
east side of Leadville and you can take your car and then you can get out and walk and it's connected
into the mineral belt trail which is a 12 mile paved trail that you can walk or bike or in the winter
you can ski and snowshoe it and there's interpretive signage all over the place that sort of lays out
the mining history and talks about the headbrains and talks about sort of each one of the mining
clings and who owned it and what you know where that wealth ended up and things like that so yeah
those those again the thing that I love the most and appreciate about the top of the rocky scenic
byway as well as sort of Leadville Twin Lakes is that the history is is not gated off it's not
behind a velvet rope it is something that you can touch and see and please don't take it with you
right because there's also that that harm of you know we we have we have a really really deep
connection in that in the Arkansas River Valley to the youth the southern youth Native American tribes
so we're always trying to inform folks that the history is there for you to enjoy and kind of
explore but just try and have as much respect and reverence for it as you can yes it will you
on one trip to Hawaii we went to my partner and I went to to Maui there and there if you go
to the right places you can get a black sand beach there and the tradition there with Madam
Paley according to legend is that you don't take anything away from her you don't you don't you
don't take your souvenirs because they will bring you misfortune there so you know call me
superstitious but I abided by the local custom absolutely shook the dust off the bottom of my shoe
so I wasn't taking anything and had an attitude of of respect so at the very least if you're there
you're on sacred ground and there are still sacred sites there where I forget the Hawaiian name but
they are around where rituals were performed these are hallowed grounds there and if you're
any kind of responsible citizen to say nothing of being a good tourist you're going to honor the
local customs and respect the land no matter what absolutely yeah that's a huge that's a huge
piece for us you know around 75% of the top of the rocky scenic byway is on Forest Service lands
and and or national monument land you know with the 10 10 mile wilderness so we really try and
impress upon people that you know this is really a fragile ecosystem it's a pretty it's a most of
the top of the rocky scenic byways is located on a pretty pretty critical wildlife habitat corridor
and we do have everything from boreal toads to bald eagles to you know foxes and links and bear
and now wolves so it's it's pretty important that people kind of number one from a safety standpoint
make sure that you know you're driving with sort of that heads up attitude to make sure that you're
not going to have an unfortunate interaction with wildlife but also just understanding that you're
very much in a wild space that is critical wilderness so it is a big part of the work that we do
at the top of the rocky scenic byway is to make sure that you know we're focused on destination
stewardship and and sort of trying to preserve this place because you know as I always say if you
don't preserve the area that you're visiting then there's no place for you to come back and visit
so you know some of these more remote locations yeah we really try and impress that upon our visitors
were the wolves reintroduced yeah that's correct yeah the Colorado Parks and Wildlife started the
wolf reintroduction program two years ago now and they started obviously they started in a pretty
small footprint but they've expanded their range at this point they meaning the wolves themselves
and they're they're most of the wool all of the wolves are fixed with trackers and at this point
I would say every you know every inch of the top of the rocky scenic byway off off of the road
obviously has been sort of explored by the wolves at this point I love the sound of that but at night
you must hear some wonderful cries yeah but yeah we do have we we have a healthy coyote population as
well in our area in the Arkansas River Valley not as much obviously up in the mountains but
you know in in the valley itself so yeah you you certainly can you know I myself have seen
links with prints I haven't seen a wolf but I've heard you know you hear anecdotes from community
members who have who have at a distance seen wolves but we definitely have interactions with black
bears and and you know obviously elk and moose and deer and we have we have you know pretty healthy
populations of wildlife it's in documentaries and you're a documentarian I admire you and envy you
for that there's I'm one of those people that loves a good documentary I'll take that over a good
movie most of the time as a matter of fact drama has its place comedy certainly they're in that's
wonderful but I love documentaries if they are well made now Ken Burns is the Sankhanol
of their master there however there are many others who put together some flying documentaries
there and there you're you're seeing I'm using a fancy term cinema very David you're not really
trying to simulate reality you're offering reality it's a raw slice that you know I think back
in for example I'm sure you've seen it the grizzly man yes there yeah and that was oh my goodness
yeah well yeah he found out the hard way you could get that's right and you go in there because
if you go into a space like that make your energy positive I took away from that program and
I'm sure it's good advice for anyone visiting your area they're don't go in with a bad attitude
animals are remarkably sensitive to energies in other creatures humans are no exception
yeah absolutely no I think we you know the the thing that I always try and press upon anyone
you know whether you're in your car or on a hiking trail etc is that you know we have to have
a deep sense of reverence for these places these wild spaces and the the quote that I love from a
a local guide in our community is that sometimes when people get into wild spaces they let their guard
down because I think a lot of time people come from suburban or met more metropolitan areas where
they're always on guard and then they get into these wild spaces and they kind of assume like okay
there's nothing else to no one else around so I can kind of let my guard down but the reality is
that in these you know sort of more pristine especially fragile ecosystems right we're up we're
ledville is the highest incorporated city at 10,200 feet and we have the two highest 14ers that's
a 14,000-foot peak we have Mount Alberta about massive which are the two two highest 14,000-foot
peaks they're in our community so they are home to some of the most fragile ecosystems we have
cryptobiotic soil where if you take one step on cryptobiotic soil you will actually destroy soil
that has been developing for thousands of years and there's a fragile ecosystem of
living things that rely on that soil so I always say that you know please don't let your guard down
and that doesn't well I'm not when I say don't let your guard down it just means have respect and
have reverence for the fact that you you know even though you don't see any trash around you or
even though you don't see you know other fire rings just recognize the impact that you're having
on the environment Adam Disharm thank you so much sir for joining us very illuminating I learned
a whole bunch during this episode I'm grateful to you and it'd be nice to be out there some
diet someday and meet you personally don't know whether that will ever happen but my envy will
persist that you have such a great place to enjoy and from which you can make a pretty decent living
it's great yeah an honor to talk to you today thanks so much yeah please come out and visit us and
yeah thank you so much for the opportunity you're welcome and thank you ladies and gentlemen
for tuning into American Road Trip Talk along with Thomas and Becky Rep co-founders of American
Road magazine we remind you to visit our website americanroadmagazine.com to preview the current
issue until next time dream well and drive safely on the American Road
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