The wisdom of the universe seems to be available in southwest Colorado and I’m forging a new travel plan to absorb some.

I figured out how to have fun in my two-day visit in June to little towns in the shadow of one of the world’s largest flat top mountains, Grand Mesa, but I didn’t allow enough time to hang out on farms with families passionate about the way they grow and share their food.

Not preachy, the ones I met, but brimming with excitement for their land and its crops. Happy too about the results of hard work.

“If a plant is healthy, it produces better food, tastes better and is better for you,” says potato farmer John Cooley. Nine varieties of spuds, plus tomatoes.

“To achieve this you have to listen. Listen to the farm for it has received an intelligence from the universe,” Cooley believes.

Biodynamic is his way of farming, a style in tune with the universe he says, in harmony with the earth, the stars, the moon. He calls his land Rivendell Farms.

The way to visit this side of the Continental Divide, I think, is to alternate local food and drink with hikes along the North Rim of the Black Canyon, kayaking on the 13 miles of the Gunnison River that is calm enough to do so, driving the 204 miles of the West Elk Loop scenic byway and boating, fishing, camping, and hiking on the Grand Mesa. Simply staring too.

Elevation 11,300 at the top where 18 lakes are within walking distance of each other. Archeologists say people lived up here 8,000 years ago.

Sandhill cranes flock to a reservoir below Grand Mesa, in Eckert every March. Locals say 15,000 to 18,000 of them fly in, regroup overnight and head north to nest the next morning.   

Where to sleep on this holiday of seven little towns and spectacular big public lands?  Consider bed and breakfast inns, maybe even moving a few times for more innkeeper visits, and community personality.

Paonia is one, named for the peony flower. Population about 3,000 and a downtown bursting with activity the Friday night I had dinner on the Flying Fork Café patio.

Gazpacho with vegetables and herbs from local gardens and verdura lasagna with even more: cauliflower, broccoli, squash, tomato, garlic, ricotta and provolone cheeses.

Indy and foreign film house, live theater, three art centers, brewery, winery, bicycle shop, all on the main street.

I think it would be great fun to spend a night or two in a little community clearly loved by its residents.

Plus Sept. 23-26 will be the 10th Mountain Harvest Festival all about art and agriculture.

Everywhere I went in Delta County, I found people integrating gardening with wisdom, culture and health.

The National Park Service is in charge at Black Canyon and North Rim is the spot to access from these communities.

Plan to be breathing at 7,700 feet at lookouts with guard rails close to the road so easy access multiple places.

Less traveled this road than the South Rim access from Montrose and the Canyon is just as spectacularly deep. The 2,000 foot vertical walls drop to the Gunnison River.

This road’s closed in the winter but the South Rim road is open.

I like the way Joe Colwell suggested I consider the Rim when he pointed toward the National Park from his top floor picture window.  

“Go to the horizon and look down. You’ll feel like you want to fly.”

Colwell retired to 40 acres in southwest Colorado after a career with the Forest Service. He and textile artist wife Katherine extended their home to include modest overnight retreat rooms for small groups.

Sharing the land is part of their passion too, encouraging guests to merge nature and creativity.  Joe shaped four miles of trails for walking or hearing his stories of the land bouncing in a souped up golf cart.

 Rivendell Retreat they call it and Joe’s quick to say he’s read J. R. R. Tolkein’s “The Hobbit” dozens of times. Middle Earth was the location of Rivendell, a valley of the elves.

Families define many experiences here, some of them along the West Elks wine trail. With 16 wineries, two distilleries and 59 grape growers, Delta County’s high desert wines benefit from hot days and cool nights, says Lisa Fairbank of Liliputian Winery.

She’s also a trained nutritionist and knows lots about teas, herbs, juices and fresh produce.  Handy side-by-side shops she runs with her husband: wine tasting on one side, groceries and herbals next door.

On the North Fork of the Gunnison River I found Black Bridge Winery with Orchard Valley Farms.

Rob Kimball and his family raise peaches, cherries and grapes and delight in seeing more people in their 20s coming to U-pick.

He cooks pizza on Friday nights to serve with wine, Riesling and Pinot Noir being among the best, he thinks, growing at elevation 6,000 feet.

“Regionally wines differ so appreciate what’s happening wherever you are,” he advises.

At Black Bridge that can be in his traditional tasting room or leaning back in an Adirondack chair under a cottonwood tree in his yard along the Gunnison River.

There’s also a cabin to rent for $135 that sleeps six.

Camping would be the way to overnight at Delicious Orchards Farm where Jeff and Tracey Schwartz and their two young children grow organic fruits and vegetables that also shape a café.

Colorado wines are available but I guzzled Big B’s juices, the Schwartz family’s other operation eight miles down the road from their Paonia home and farm.

Only apples from this North Fork Valley of the Gunnison River are used, meeting the family goal of eating local and supporting local agriculture.

Permaculture is their farming technique, replenishing, repairing and making great use of everything local, Schwartz says.

“The point is paying attention.” That’s how Anna Hanson describes what she and husband Lance are doing at elevation 6,200 in Hotchkiss.

“We wanted to care for the soil when we moved here from California. And now we’ve closed the loop.

“Everything is from our farm; nothing is brought in,” she says. Local gin is part of that equation. Beer and wine too.

Jack Rabbit Hill is not a fruit and veggie place. Anna describes their products as “peak spirits, wine tapestry and mellow yellow hops.”

The tasting room is a shaded porch outside the kitchen door overlooking the farm and mountains.

Hope I’m back there some day for their five-course dinner with wine for $75.

The spectacular canyon, river and mesa, and the abundance of passionate family farmers in Delta County also make room for history.

Sept. 16-18 will be the 16th annual Council Tree PowWow and cultural festival with competitive song, dance and drumming.

Ute Indians honor a cottonwood tree in Delta believed to be at least 180 years old. Dedicated to the memory of Chief Ouray and his wife Chipeta, the tree stands 85 feet tall, easy to visit at the end of a neighborhood street.

Ute Indians and fur trappers traded goods at Fort Uncompahgre in the early 1800s and a well-stocked set of trading buildings; kitchen and sleeping quarters are recreated today to get an understanding of that trade economy.

Ken Reyher was dressed as an 1830s trader when I visited, clearly knowledgeable about the era. In fact, he drove the 1700 miles recreating the Dominguez Escalante route the traders would followed on horseback.

He’s written five books about the history of the region too. Easy again to discover passion, information and enthusiasm about this discovery of a destination.