Fascinating Colorado Outdoor Recreation Stories with OutThere Colorado's Spencer McKee (BPR #314)

In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic, we are joined by Spencer McKee, the Director of Content and Operations for OutThere Colorado. If you’ve been to Colorado and have Instagram, you’ve likely already come across Spencer’s videos - he’s mastered the art of packaging interesting Colorado news stories, culture, and fun facts into short form video content through OutThere’s social media channels. Spencer shares some of his favorite standout outdoor rec stories from the great state of Colorado with us, including what's underneath Cheeseman Park, the legend of Rattlesnake Kate, Colorado's active volcano, the most underrated mountain towns, best hidden gem restaurants, breweries, and the truth behind his obsession with flannels. We wrap the show with a call for the next host, editor, and producer of Trail Correspondents, some severe damage sustained by a beloved Appalachian Trail hostel, why thru-hiking is your next career power move, and we're joined by Elise for the segments, including the triple crown of things that make our lives easier. Topo Athletic: Use code “TREKSPRING15” at topoathletic.com. Gossamer Gear: Use code “BACKPACKER20” for 20% off packs at gossamergear.com. Shady Rays: Use code “TREK” for 35% off sunglasses at shadyrays.com. Betterment: Learn more at betterment.com/trek. Ka’Chava: Get 10% off at kachava.com/backpacker. [divider] Interview with Spencer McKee OutThere Colorado WebsiteOutThere Colorado InstagramSpencer's InstagramUpaDowna Website Time stamps & Questions 00:05:20 - Reminders: Sign up for the Trek’s newsletter, apply to blog for the Trek or to run Trail Correspondents, and listen to our episodes ad-free on Patreon! 00:09:07 - Introducing Spencer 00:12:06 - How’d you land in Colorado? 00:13:45 - What led you to OutThere? 00:16:50 - How do you reach Coloradans successfully? 00:17:25 - What’s up with the flannels? 00:18:50 - What did you do when you first joined OutThere? 00:22:10 - Do you like doing deeper dives or more new-style comments? 00:24:10 - What does your typical week look like now? 00:26:13 - Are you Colorado famous? 00:30:00 - What are some of the more outlandish stories you’ve covered? 00:33:29 - Tell us about Rattlesnake Kate 00:37:05 - Is there any competition between OutThere and other news outlets? 00:41:00 - What type of story frequently comes across your desk? 00:46:25 - What are some of your hidden gem restaurants in Colorado? 00:50:42 - Tell us about other fun festivals in Colorado 00:58:15 - True or False: There’s an active live volcano in Colorado 00:59:55 - Do you ever cover concerts for work? 01:07:40 - What’s up with the Denver airport? 01:15:05 - Are there any other good Colorado conspiracies? 01:19:00 - Discussion about the Big Thompson flood 01:20:40 - Does Colorado Springs deserve to be ranked as the 3rd best city in the country? 01:26:45 - What are the most underrated mountain towns? 01:28:26 - What Colorado animal are you most afraid of? 01:36:04 - Have you heard any wild cow stories? 01:43:50 - How have you not done all the 14ers yet? 01:48:25 - Rapid Fire Colorado Questions 02:05:00 - Discussion about OutThere feedback 02:07:30 - Back to Rapid Fire 02:21:00 - Discussion about animals, mainly racoons 02:23:20 - Rapid Fire Colorado Trivia 02:25:40 - Tell us about UpaDowna 02:28:25 - Peak Performance Question: What is your top performance-enhancing or backpacking hack? Segments Trek Propaganda Appalachian Trail Damaged, Standing Bear Hostel Evacuated Amid Flash Flooding by Katie JacksonWhy Thru-Hiking Is Your Next Career Power Move (Advice from an Ex-Amazon Recruiter) by Chloe “Chickpea” Jacobs QOTD: What’s a common phrase you recently learned you were saying incorrectly? Wedding Dress Thing of the Week Triple Crown of things that we do to make our lives easier Mail Bag 5 Star Review [divider] Check out our sound guy @my_boy_pauly/ and his coffee. Sign up for the Trek’s newsletter Leave us a voicemail! Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes (and please leave us a review)! Find us on Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play. Support us on Patreon to get bonus content. Advertise on Backpacker Radio Follow The Trek, Chaunce, Badger, and Trail Correspondents on Instagram. Follow Backpacker Radio, The Trek and Chaunce on YouTube. Follow Backpacker Radio on Tik Tok. Our theme song is Walking Slow by Animal Years. A super big thank you to our Chuck Norris Award winner(s) from Patreon: Alex and Misty with NavigatorsCrafting, Alex Kindle, Andrew, Austen McDaniel, Brad & Blair Thirteen Adventures, Bill Jensen, Brent Stenberg, Bryan Alsop, Carl Houde, Christopher Marshburn, Clever Innuendo, Coach from Marion Outdoors, Eric Casper, Erik Hofmann, Ethan Harwell, Gillian Daniels, Greg Knight, Greg Martin, Greg McDaniel may he bring honor to his name, Griffin Haywood, Hailey Buckingham, Minty Hikes Studio, Patrick Cianciolo, Rebecca Brave, Rural ...