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Patrick Byrnes is originally from NYC. At age nineteen he realized NYC was a good place to be from, so off to the U.S. Air Force he went. For five years, in the 1970’s, he defended the Republic, “from the sandy white beaches of Florida”, he is prone to boast! After a brief time working on the drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, the flip of a coin, “Heads it’s Colorado” led him to Golden, CO.
A career with the Department of Energy has taken him around a bit, from Golden and Lyons, CO to Boulder City, NV. Then to NW Iowa (yes, some people actually move "to" Iowa) and finally to Montrose.
“When I transferred to Montrose in 1999, after twenty-three years of wandering, I felt like I was home. The town was just the right size and folks were friendly to me and to my kids.” Things got even better, after a year or so Pat discovered Arrowhead. At first coming up to visit friends and cross-country ski, he bought a lot on Timber in 2004.
During the winter you can often see Pat xc skiing the filing road with his small brown dog, Kate. Don’t let Kate’s small size and friendly demeanor fool you, “She’s like a coiled spring, ready to leap into action at my command”.
Now that Pat’s four kids are raised and off on their own he finds more time to visit Arrowhead, mountain bike, hike and xc ski. Eight years ago, on his birthday he rode his bike from Pitkin up to the Alpine Tunnel, a pretty good haul and a great place to see. “On my way down, I pulled over to let jeeps come up, the driver stopped, looked at me and the bike and said, ‘You must be an ironman!’" Pat explains. “Hah, not quite, but just what I needed to hear on my 48th birthday. So, now I do the ride every year on August 1st, just for kicks."
The kids are kind of scattered: Jeremy, the youngest is in the Navy stationed on the frigate USS Ingraham, Everett, WA. Jessica is married to Jon Harper (USAF), with two toddlers and are stationed at Beale AFB, CA. Melissa is in Boulder City, NV and Jimmy is in Modesto, CA.
“I think Arrowhead has some of the nicest, friendliest people . . . and colorful locals in southwest Colorado.” And now, with Kathleen and James running the Inn, AND keeping eight different draft beers on tap, “Coming up to work/play the day and spend a night or two at Arrowhead is as close to heaven as I can get without having to die first”, he says.
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