Spanish Peaks leave much to the imagination.(The Gazette)

ALSENBURG, Colo. _ In the shadow of the Spanish Peaks, the question seemed reasonable. Indeed, prudent. Not unlike some Transylvania villager discreetly cautioning a visitor about strange things said to occur on certain dark and stormy nights.

"You goin' out there, man?" a local young man asked, eyeing the float tube being readied on the tailgate of the pickup. "You know what's in there?"

I answered I did, but that I intended to venture out anyway.

"Well, it's still pretty cold," he replied. "It might still be too early for them.

"But a friend of mine went out there in a tube like that and had one attack his leg. I know, it sounds crazy, but I saw the tooth marks in his waders. I have a tube, too, but I don't go out there in it."

Such admonitions should not be dismissed. The Spanish Peaks, dominating the horizon for miles around, are fertile ground for the imagination. The Peaks - Wahaotoya or The Twins - are said to be home to the gods of lost Indian tribes, but also to demons. They inspire legend ... tales of lost gold mines, two Indian chiefs turned to stone, the Urona - the woman wailing in the night - even Paul Bunyan's spoon.

The officially scenic and historic Highway of Legends winds around the Spanish Peaks and happens to pass right by Lathrop State Park, Colorado's first, with its Horseshoe and Martin reservoirs. And so, when locals speak of toothy monsters swimming in the water ...