No offense Ryland, but your recovery was atypical - the typical return to pre-injury activity timeline is 7 - 9 months and with or without a brace, depending on the surgeon. I had hamstring, was off crutches at 5 weeks, cleared to road-bike at 2 months, jog at 3 months and did Ingalls peak south ridge about 5 months post surgery with trekking poles and aleve. Feels great now, and pretty much full range and no soreness at 10 months. I'm climbing, AT skiing etc, and don't notice it being any more sore than the rest of me.
As far as docs, if you are truly splitting time between CO and PDX, the steadman clinic in Vail has some phenomenal surgeons... (See Bode Miller) I tore mine at vail, and considered staying for the surgery, but found a great doc in SEA.
The main thing is have an MRI, and see if it is fully torn.....if it is, have it surgically repaired as it's better to endure the short term suffering and have the long term stability.