No, we didn’t ski at Mount Sunflower. 🤣
Three of us headed back to Colorado for this year’s Spring Break. Kid 1’s Spring Break was the next week and he was going to Florida with some friends anyway. We did miss having him along.
I did not ski this year. #BeenThereDoneThat
Driving out, we played the oldest operating disc golf course in Kansas, and the fourth one created in the state, Flyin’ Bison Disc Golf Course, part of Frontier Park in Hays, KS.
We played seven holes (I walked the course) and then realized there was a tournament that day when crowds of disc golfers arrived after the lunch break. We quickly played through hole nine and decided to finish the last half of the course on the way home.
Frontier Park is also home to a historic bison herd which began in 1953 with a bull named Wild Bill and a cow named Calamity Jane.
After lunch, I convinced the others to take an hour detour to visit Mount Sunflower, the highest point in Kansas. I’d been wanting to visit this “off the beaten path” attraction for several years, but we could never fit it into our schedule.
Mount Sunflower is mere minutes from the Colorado border. Designated in 1961 as the highest point in Kansas, it sits 4,039 feet above sea level and is an “8 wonders of Kansas geography” finalist. Ninety-nine Google travelers gave Mount Sunflower a 4.6 our of 5 stars.
It’s located on privately owned land, but the owners welcome visitors. It’s a good 30 minutes of gravel roads, some unmarked. As you can see from this Google satellite map screenshot, Mount Sunflower is in the middle of nowhere.
At the entrance, you drive over a cattle grate, but we didn’t see any cattle. One other family was just leaving as we arrived. There is a picnic table, Free Little Library and guest book to sign.
Signing the guest book and checking for recent visitors. Five other families had visited that day.
It was eerily quiet (as it is in the Kansas plains). A wind farm can be seen in the distance.
I love how blue the sky is on “this side” of Mount Sunflower, facing east.
The boys decided to throw a few discs “for bragging rights.”
To be funny, they got out their skis and posed for a “Skiing Mount Sunflower” photo op.
Off to Denver to spend the night. This was skiing year #12 (not consecutively) since we started in 2010. We did not ski in 2020 or 2023.
It’s been five years since we last stayed with my friend and her family. The last time was Spring Break 2019.
The original plan was to play a disc golf course called Ghost Town in Central City, CO. But it was closed because of snow. Instead, we played Camenisch Park. The weather was a perfect Colorado day – sunny, 60 degrees, no wind.
A quick stop at Beau Jo’s in Idaho Springs for lunch and then on to Eagle, CO.
The boys skied Beaver Creek – this is the only photo proof.
I went into the office with my friend on Monday and worked. On Tuesday, we indulged in lunch, a facial and massage. We were closely watching the weather, as meteorologists were predicting a snowstorm to rival the #snowmaggedon2021.
Tuesday afternoon, the boys played disc golf at a course nearby, Hole In the Sky. This trip they added three new courses to their lists!
Our original plan was to leave Thursday morning and drive all the way home. We didn’t want to risk getting stuck in Colorado, so the boys skied until noon on Wednesday, and then we headed out to spend the night in Colby, KS. We hit a little bit of weather, but after Denver it was clear.
As predicted, I-70 from Denver west to Frisco closed. Denver didn’t get as much snow, but the foothills and mountain towns along I-70 did report record snowfall.
We made a quick pit stop in Hays to play the remaining nine holes at Frontier Park. For a change of scenery we took the “backroads” home, which only added 8 minutes to our trip.
One Kansas Girl 