Trying new things in South Fork

SOUTH FORK, Colo. (KRDO) - This week’s mountain beat report takes us to a small town on the eastern edge of the San Juans. KRDO 13’s Julia Donovan traveled to South Fork, where she met some people who might inspire you to step out of your comfort zone and persevere through the challenges life sends your way.

“Everybody describes it as an island bar in the mountains,” Rachel Davie explained the vibe of her Keep On Keepin’ On food truck, coffee and bar business.

Rachel is a fifth generation rancher who decided in her fifties to start a new business.

“It’s really expensive but it’s worth it,” she told KRDO about reselling her family’s grass-fed beef as part of her food truck menu. Rachel says the business has become its own segment of the community. “It’s just becoming its own little life force that brings everybody together.”

Rachel didn’t have her unique little spot for long before her daughter unexpectedly passed away.

“I cried every single day… for a long time,” she said.

The grief almost defeated her.

But, through her darkest days, her dream for her business and the community she was building there was her only source of solace.

“You just have to find your why – to get up every day,” she urges other people going through tremendous grief. 

Just down the road, Rick Mcguire recently took over Wolf Creek Anglers. He told KRDO it was an uphill battle making the business the success it is today.

I’ve made every mistake possible in business,” Rick explained. “but those are opportunities to improve.”

With that attitude, it’s no surprise Rick spent decades in the classroom and out on the football field teaching and coaching. Now, he uses his gift along the Rio Grande river.

“I feel like that’s what I was put on this earth to do,” Rick said about teaching people new skills. “You know it sounds cliché-ish but it’s not. I get more excited about when people catch fish than when I catch fish.”

Rick believes you have to commit to the process, whatever it is you want to accomplish. Meanwhile, Rachel says that commitment can save you -- it can be your silver lining when life sends a curveball your way.

Is there a dream, a goal, or something new you want to try that you just can’t get off your mind? Maybe you should give it a go!