High Country Adventures: ATV tour with a dash of inspiration in Pike National Forest
TELLER COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - This week’s High Country Adventures follows a young entrepreneur who veered off the beaten career path. KRDO13 went on a guided ATV Tour in Pike National Forest and got some inspiration along the way!
“The previous owner really I think recognized that, for me, it was kind of this or nothing," Melissa told KRDO13 about how she acquired the successful ATV company at such a young age.
Growing up in New Jersey, Melissa Kraus never really knew what she wanted to do – but her purpose may have been staring her straight in the face from the very beginning.
“I got my first ATV when I was five,” she recalled.
Melissa eventually moved to Colorado in 2020 to become a guide at Rockhound ATV Tours.
"I didn’t know that this kind of job existed," she admitted. "And I just so happened to see a listing for it and never went back."
It was a huge move across the country for what seemed like a dead-end job – something you do for a season or two, then move on.
That obviously wasn’t the case for Melissa.
Five years later, she was still there.
Melissa was happy with her day-to-day but, once again, unsure of her next move.
That is - until the Rockhound ATV Tours owner decided to sell the company.
She asked to buy it.
“He encouraged me to do anything else,” she laughed.
Melissa told us it can be a tough industry to manage, and he was just looking out for her.
"But for me, there is nothing else," she reiterated.
After some convincing, the owner and the bank that provided her a loan saw her passion and gave in to the 28-year-old with a dream.
This ordeal wasn't just about the ATVs, and Melissa isn’t just someone who owns a bunch of them now.
"There are like hundreds, if not thousands, of miles of trails out here," she pointed out from an overlook.
When Melissa says there’s nothing else for her, she doesn't mean it in a self-deprecating way.
She means she found her 'everything.'
“Not everywhere is as awesome as the Pikes Peak Region,” Melissa told us.
Melissa spends hours upon hours in her favorite place, doing her favorite thing.
She's become a teacher, a creator of once-in-a-lifetime moments, and a protector.
“Everything from ‘oh someone got stung by a bee’ to ‘there's a forest fire, and we need to evacuate,’” She explained her duties.
Melissa is living proof that if you keep a steadfast focus on what you love and spread that joy with others, your purpose might just find you.
“I wouldn’t enjoy what I do so much if I didn’t think that it was the most amazing way to spend an afternoon. They (the people she brings out) have a great time every time,” Melissa smiled. “It is a point of pride for me.”
Click here for more information on Rockhound ATV Tours based in Cascade, Colorado.
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