LA VETA – Tourism types and road signs call it the Highway of Legends. Locals call it the back road. Dave “Ham Bone” Hamilton calls it a journey into a little-known part of Colorado that just might soothe your soul.No matter what it’s called, Colorado Highway 12, a 67-mile section of two-lane that circles the Spanish Peaks, is a fascinating trip into the scenery and history that make Colorado special.And in a time of soaring gas prices and tight household budgets, it’s also a close getaway for serious climbers, casual hikers, families with a car full of antsy kids or young lovers looking for a secluded spot in the sun.The scenic byway starts in Walsenburg on U.S. 160, and includes a more recently added 35-mile section of dirt road from Aguilar, just off Interstate 25, west over Cordova Pass. But the most popular part of the byway begins in La Veta and runs south through the Cuchara and Purgatoire valleys, reportedly atop an old Indian trail. The road takes its name from the legends and lore of long-gone inhabitants that sought to explain the creation of the valleys’ peaks and strange, towering rock walls, called dikes.When Hamilton came to the Cuchara Valley 32 years ago, he wasn’t all that interested in local lore. He was angry and emotionally wounded from tours in the Vietnam War. He kept a handgun tucked in the small of his back and didn’t much give a damn.Leaning against a tree in a sun-dappled meadow recently, Hamilton said that, much to his surprise, he found solace, faith and healing in the Cuchara Valley and on the trails into the Spanish Peaks and the Sangre de Cristo range.”It was just a hidden little place,” said Hamilton, now 65. “It was all green. It was like an oasis. I came here to heal, but I didn’t know if that would happen. It did.”Hamilton has worked as a plumber, a caretaker for many of the cabins in the area and a chaplain at hospices in southeast Colorado. Every spare moment has been spent bent over wild flora in shimmering aspen meadows, scrambling up the rocky slopes of West Spanish Peak or cross-country skiing the teacup basins of the Sangre de Cristos.He’s not exactly sure what makes Cuchara Valley – and the Purgatoire Valley farther south – special. He thinks it may be the mix of prairie, mesa and mountain landscape. Despite the abundance of 13,000-foot peaks and the massive stone walls that snake across the land, the country feels open, gentle, unintimidating, unlike the often vertical, unforgiving backcountry in the interior of the state.Jeff Wingate was assigned to the Forest Service’s La Veta Work Center two years ago from Gunnison, not a shabby place itself. He’s found a new home.The agency, he said, “couldn’t pry me away.””The wildlife is abundant. The scenery is spectacular,” he said. “There’s a different feel down here.”He said his favorite trail is the Wahatoya. The trail, cut in 1999, climbs between the East and West Spanish Peaks and provides access to both summits and a stunning view from Pikes Peak to New Mexico.For those interested in the human landscape, the byway winds through a lot of private land, revealing evidence left by a successive wave of settlers. The byway can be as much a journey through the history of Coloradans as through the landscape of Colorado.Beautifully kept ranches, both hobby and working, stretch across the valley floor and up Cuchara Pass, a bulwark against recent development pressure and an influx of speculators, developers and real estate agents.The simple cabins that dot the landscape around Cuchara date to the turn of the 20th century. The newer ones farther up the pass are bigger, louder – and less charming.Topping the fairly gentle Cuchara Pass, the road winds through a gorgeous, unpopulated valley and into the rich ranchland around Stonewall, a village built in the shadow of a striking stone formation called the Dakota Wall.As the highway turns southeast toward Trinidad, the landscape begins to change, becoming drier, hinting at the high desert of New Mexico not far away.Small towns – or “plazas” – founded by Hispanic settlers in the 19th century and later occupied by coal miners in the early 20th century are coming back to life with a new wave of workers drawn to the area by natural gas exploration.Back at the lush end of the byway, Hamilton fears the next wave of development could mar land that has been thoughtfully preserved by private owners. He reckons now is the time to visit the valley that changed his life.Take a hike through aspens and meadows at the foot of the Sangre de Cristos, he said. Let the kids freeze their feet in North Lake. Look for rare lady’s slippers, or wild orchids, growing under the forest canopy along Spring Creek. Scramble up the loose rocks to summit West Spanish Peak, a fivehour round-trip hike.”You need to come and explore,” he said. “It’ll make a believer out of you.”

IF YOU GO: HIGHWAY OF LEGENDS

The Highway of Legends was designated a state scenic bypass in 1987 and a national bypass in 1988. A third section, 35 miles of mostly dirt road from Aguilar west over Cordova Pass, was added more recently. The byway designation begins at Walsenburg on U.S. Highway 160, then follows Colorado Highway 12 south to La Veta and continues on to Trinidad, a distance of about 80 miles. But the most popular and scenic portion of the byway is Highway 12 between La Veta and Vigil, about 39 miles. A Forest Service branch office on Main Street in La Veta has hiking information, maps and other brochures. The locally produced “La Veta and Cuchara Tour Map & Guide” is available at some shops in La Veta, including True Value Hardware at the south end of town on Highway 12.ON THE WEB

To learn more about the highway, the area and its attractions and lodging, visit:

www.fs.fed.us/r2/psiccwww.coloradobyways.org/Main.cfm www.lavetacucharachamber.comwww.trinidadchamber.comwww.sangres.comwww.coloradodirectory.com/cucharaareawww.colorado-bnb.com/city/la-veta

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