Reconstructive Surgery and Hiawatha

The last leg of our day’s travel took us past the large Ski Bum statue by the Big Powderhorn Mountain sign.



The poor dear was not only mummified in layers of ski gear under the beating sun, he was also hemmed in by scaffolding and orange safety netting. Our best guess was that he’d hit one mogul too many and needed some R&R (restoration and repainting?).

Chris wanted to stop by to say hello to an old friend: the statue of Hiawatha, the World’s Tallest and Largest Indian. He was erected in 1964 by the Chamber of Commerce, and we wondered aloud whether there was drinking going on at the meeting where that was decided. “How can we bring more tourist money to the town?” “I know! We’ll build an Indian! A big one!”

We also stopped for an impromptu photo opportunity with a Stormy Kromer hat—a big one, but not big enough to fit Hiawatha. At least, that’s what we think. Legislation against theft and vandalism kept us from conducting any experimentation on this point. Also, we were hungry.