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• Vanity Plates Colorado’s 200-plus license plate designs – and 78,000 personalized tags – reflect passions, humor and identity, all crafted by inmates at the Cañon City manufacturing plant. by Peter Moore
• Smaldone: Denver’s Family Mob Gaetano’s once served as headquarters for the Smaldone family mob. Though the empire no longer runs the city, the North Denver restaurant still stands. by Matt Masich
• A Wilderness Worth Keeping Among abandoned cabins and serrated peaks in Eagle’s Nest Wilderness, fleeting moments in the wild remind us why it’s worth preserving. story and photographs by Dean Allen
• Freedom in Full Color Hot air balloons fill Colorado Springs skies each Labor Day weekend, as 200,000 spectators join 75 pilots and their crews for this beloved high-flying tradition. by Tom Hess
• Bailey’s Bigfoot Believers Under a moonless Pike National Forest sky, Bigfoot believers join Jim Myers’ guided night hike to look for signs of the legendary creature. by Eric Peterson

On the Cover Snow Peak in Eagle’s Nest Wilderness near Vail rises to 13,024 feet. Its dramatic prominence and challenging climb are vivid reminders of why the wild is worth saving. photograph by Dean Allen