MIRADOR ECO-RETREAT

*Tulips bloom around Lord Buddha in Mirador’s spring bulb garden*

CUSTOM RETREATS FOR INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL GROUPS

Visit our retreat website to learn more about facilities, courses, and retreat options.

Special COVID considerations: No in-person retreats are currently being offered. An eight-week online Mindfulness Foundations Course is offered quarterly every January, April, July, and October. A custom schedule for groups is available on request.

“*Mirador: a turret or tower attached to a building and providing an extensive outlook*“

Remote, peaceful, wild. Mirador is a handmade, solar-powered, adobe home in western Colorado open for occasional retreats for individuals or small groups. Rustic accommodations and camping are available onsite, with nearby hotels and inns available. Experience harmony with nature while you meditate, write, or rejuvenate in this small wildlife refuge and all-being sanctuary.

WHERE IS MIRADOR?

*The most common kind of traffic jam around Crawford is a cattle drive*

Mirador is located four miles south of Crawford, in the North Fork Valley of rural western Colorado, between the Rocky Mountains and the Uncompahgre Plateau. The area has a complex social history, and a fragile natural history in a high desert ecozone.

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Old-growth juniper forest surrounds Mirador, offering ample opportunity for solitude and contemplation in a high-desert forest where native wildlife can be encountered at any time. From songbirds and eagles to rabbits or mountain lions, many species large and small inhabit the woods and canyon. Discover wonders along trails that meander through this 105-acre wildlife refuge. You might spot a hummingbird nest, a bear track, or a rare wildflower. You might lose yourself among trees that sprouted a thousand years ago, but you’ll never be too far from the house.

ETHICARIAN MENUS

*Farm-fresh eggs from happy chickens at the Bad Dog Ranch exemplify the locally-sourced, organic, ethicarian ingredients in Mirador’s custom menus (photo courtesy of Bad Dog Ranch)*

Omnivore, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, keto and other custom menus created according to guests’ dietary needs, desires, restrictions and aversions. Locally-sourced meats include grass-fed beef, happy pork, organic free-range chicken, and wild-caught trout. Organic vegetables, fruits and herbs are grown in Mirador’s kitchen garden, or purchased in season from local sources whenever possible. Ethicarian cuisine respects and appreciates all the lives that feed us: we are mindful of the conditions under which plants and animals are raised and harvested, and serve only foods grown without added hormones, drugs, herbicides or pesticides.

Retreatants can request either two or three meals a day on a custom schedule. Refrigerator space is available in the house for medications, supplements, or special foods or beverages, upon advance request.

PEACE AND QUIET

*View of the West Elk Wilderness from Mirador*

Sometimes the most exciting thing at Mirador is the sky; or it could be a Bullock’s oriole nipping at an orange hung from the deck. Beauty abounds in the everyday. Whether you sleep in the yurt, camp in the woods, or take accommodations in town, you’ll spend your days at Mirador Retreat surrounded by the comforts of Mother Nature.

Silence

There are no truly silent places left on earth. Researchers have discovered only a handful of places that are free from human noise for more than fifteen minutes; the obvious culprit in remote areas is commercial airliners. But here at Mirador, silence can be felt for long moments, underneath skies infrequently traversed by jet planes.

There are occasional neighborhood sounds, but they’re farther away than in most neighborhoods. These sounds but punctuate the deep peace of Mirador’s garden, where birds, bees and other insects sing with the breath of life, leaves rustle in the breeze, a frog plops into the pond; these natural sounds weave an intricate, ever-changing tapestry on the velvet ground of quietude that permeates this place.

NEARBY

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park (North Rim) is a half-hour drive from Mirador, and offers views and trails to an amazing chasm, as well as basic campsites without electricity or hookups.

CONSIDERATIONS

Allergies

Many natural allergens such as pollen, bees, and dust mites are present at Mirador; this is also a home with pets, including dogs and cats. Any food allergies must be explicitly stated when reserving space.

Terrain

Stellar looks off the edge into Buck Canyon, with the last spring ice melting behind in Ice Canyon. The single-file trail to the canyon is easy but not groomed, lined with cactus and other fragile desert life, and tripping hazards such as sticks and stones still show up from the natural processes of a living forest.

Uneven terrain is the norm here, outside in the garden, and beyond in the woods. Even in the house, slight differences in floor or doorway levels can trip an unmindful guest. If you have serious balance or vision issues, please take extra caution when moving about.

Wildfire

Currently, Mirador is safe from hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters; however, wildfire is one big risk. Mirador lies in the high desert, surrounded by dry forest and fields. Since 1994, I have witnessed in the North Fork Valley three large wildfires begun by lightning strikes, and several smaller fires caused by escaped agricultural burns. None have come close enough to Mirador to require evacuation, but twice in that time we have been on standby. No smoking is allowed at Mirador, indoors or out. Grills and circle fires are restricted depending on weather. In this time of climate crisis, being mentally prepared to flee at a moment’s notice is a useful skill.

Contact

dukkaqueen@skybeam.com (“Mirador Retreat” in subject line)