Finally, after 20 years of leaving it on the “I should do that” list, I went to Mission: Wolf, the educational and animal-rescue non-profit located outside Westcliffe, Colorado.
Rebel and Dominic traveled to Seattle for Grandpa Joe’s 75th birthday, leaving Luca and me to fend for ourselves in the July heat. Luca loves dogs, coyotes, and wolves…so we saddled up the van and headed south, psyched to check out the scene.
At just over 9000 feet, Mission: Wolf sits in the “Wet Mountains,” about 20 miles south of Westcliffe, on the east side of the Sangres. The Wets top out at 12,300 feet, on Greenhorn Mountain. They’re dwarfed by the Sangre de Cristos, just to the west, but nonetheless it’s a gorgeous, quiet valley–no ski area, no hip “mountain town,” not much to draw the millions from the Front Range. In short, it makes a beautiful road trip and Mission: Wolf’s work is worthwhile.
Kent Weber and his partner founded the organization in the mid-80s, eventually growing into a sustainable home for 30 or more wolves. The site spans 200 acres, 50 of which is set aside for the wolves and three for their human helpers/friends. Some of the animals are pure wolves, while others are wolf-dog mixes. There are even wolf-pit bull mixes. The animals come from all over North America, from private zoos, animal collectors, and dog breeders. Often people don’t realize wolves and wolf-dog mixes make terrible pets, as they’re usually unpredictable and skittish. Weber and his staff provide sanctuary to the animals and say their mission is to make themselves obsolete.
Mission: Wolf sends “ambassador” wolves around the country, meeting kids in schools and educating the public about wolves, their history, their place in the wild, and their unsuitability as pets. I met one of their animals sometime around 1990, when at CU and have always thought to travel south to visit. At last!
I told Luca about the wolves and he said he’d like to go (I didn’t mention the 4.5-hour drive). We gassed the van, threw in some food, called a buddy in Breck to invite him, and raced south. We arrived just in time to get an evening tour, check out the pups, most of whom were sleeping happily. We bailed, drove down the road to Forest Service land, and found a great spot on which to camp. We had a beautiful view of the Sangres (including the Crestones) and the long valley running towards Gardner to the south.
During the night we saw the most violent lightning storm I’ve ever witnessed. The storm cell must’ve been 40 miles, north to south, and it slid by to the east, over Pueblo. Lightning struck every two to three seconds, the length of the storm. Incredible. I fell asleep, woke up to take a leak an hour later, and it was still going. Crazy.
The following morning we returned to watched the crew feed the 38 wolves currently living at Mission: Wolf. They treated us to some nice howling after breakfast, then started heading for shade to sleep off the horse meat they’d been given. Pretty cool to watch and Luca loved it.
Mission: Wolf gladly accepts donations and you can volunteer there, too. They have plenty to do between upkeep and taking care of the animals. Drive south and pay them a visit; it’s a gorgeous, out-of-the-way spot less than five hours from Denver/Boulder. Worthy cause, too.
