The Lund Loop Daily Update: Colorado Edition -Day 3
A review of today's action and a look at the profit opportunities for the next trading day.
Note: I’m on vacation so the Daily Update this week will be (mostly) dispatches from Colorado. We’ll return to our normal program starting August 18th.
For a good chunk of my life, I viewed travel not unlike Speed Racer: get from one destination to another as fast as possible.
If I’d had a motto, it would have been: “Cram it all in.”
Take my honeymoon, for example. Excited to show my new bride as many sights as possible, we set a blistering pace through the continent, covering 872 countries in 10 days.
At least that’s what it felt like.
But that was a different Brian — an older version, somewhere in the v1.5 to v1.7 range. Now, after much evolvement and iteration, we’ve arrived at a more mature and thoughtful Brian, definitely somewhere in the high nines.
These days, I use a much higher ratio of time to places when planning a trip, and I build a ton of extra time into the schedule.
My guiding philosophy is that if we see a random road, river, or trail disappearing into the trees, and we’re curious where it goes, we have plenty of time to find out.
Thus, when we embarked on our trip from Denver to Breckenridge, Colorado — a trip that should take about 90 minutes — I blocked out almost an entire day, the way you might for a great meal you want to savor rather than rush through.
Of course, I didn’t build this itinerary myself. Instead, I called on a good friend of mine who has intimate knowledge of the area. And he did not disappoint.
Thanks, ChatGPT!
I’d like to pause here for a moment of silence for travel agents, publishers of guidebooks, and all the Orbitz/Travelocitys of the world, because I don’t see how AI doesn’t utterly destroy them — and their whole middleman-markup industry.
That’s because it took me a whole 30 seconds to tell ChatGPT where we were going, what we like to see and do, and to prioritize the more scenic routes — and boom, we had our itinerary. The highlight of which was the Guanella Pass.
This is one of those areas where you say to yourself, “Jesus Christ, Nature, I get it.”
The road to the pass starts in the small, nondescript town of Georgetown, and at a couple of points you think, “This can’t be right. I’m turning down the alley behind someone’s house.”
But then you start to climb. As you do, the vista behind you gets progressively more impressive — and just when you think it can’t get any more breathtaking, it does. Again and again.
If all this route consisted of was endless stands of pine and birch, it would be worth it. But when you throw in a new stream or lake around every corner, all set against the backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, it starts to get ridiculous.
Then, just when you can’t take it anymore, you hit the pass — a climax of sorts — and arrive at a breathtaking vista dotted with alpine lakes and mini-glaciers.
It’s too much. You can’t take it all in. And as you spend the next 30 minutes descending in a warm, buoyant haze, the streams and trees—and even the occasional moose—that would have seemed spectacular on the way up now feel like opening acts you politely clap for after the headliner leaves the stage.
ChatGPT was right — Guanella Pass was the showstopper.
Side note:
I’m not a very religious, spiritual, or mystical person. But when we entered Georgetown, I suddenly got the overwhelming sense that I had been there before, which persisted until we got back down the mountain.
It wasn’t déjà vu — it was familiarity.
Later that night, when I got to the hotel in Breckenridge, it hit me: we had done that exact same route as a family when I was about eight years old.
See you tomorrow for Day 4.
-B
It should go without saying - but I’ll say it anyway - all opinions expressed in The Lund Loop are my own personal opinions and don’t reflect the views of my employer, any associated entities, or other organizations I’m associated with.
Nothing written, expressed, or implied here should be looked at as investment advice or an admonition to buy, sell, or trade any security or financial instrument. As always, do your own diligence.
