Sunday, September 21, 2008
August Adventures
First, right off the bat, I thank Sande, one of our campers here, for motivating me via her positive comments about the pictures and narrative to get off my duff and catch up! I've used my frustration at the difficulty I encounter when I upload pictures to the blog as a rationale for procrastination. Plus, Brad B, thanks for your positive comments, as well.
Alrighty.....one day in August a group of us set out on ATV's, traveled up and across Cinnamon Pass, on to the ghost town of Animas Forks, the setting of several deserted buildings, mining sites, and welcome outdoor toilet facilities. Animas Forks lies in a steep-walled valley and is home to the headwaters of the Animas River which flows onward to Silverton. Here, too, is where the trail forks, one direction follows the river to Silverton, the other heads up and over the mts. to Engineer Pass and back to Lake City.
Here the Neelys take a "rest your rear" break at the Animas Forks facility. Note this is in August, in the sunshine, all you hot weather folks, and the riders are wearing almost as much as we did for winter skiing, certainly for spring skiing!
At our lunch stop, just outside of Silverton, the Alpine Loop ATV and motorcycles summer trail routes are prominently displayed. In these parts, it's good to know where you're going, or to be following someone else who does! After our last summer's "shortcut" that turned out to be the Road to Hell, we can attest to that.
Our ride on this day was 62 mi. total, over Cinnamon Pass and back over Engineer Pass, the full Alpine Loop; this is the first time we'd actually done this whole route. It was a long ride on an ATV over very rough terrain that required the driver's full attention and skill, and everyone was well worn on return. But the next day we were all frisky again.
One day when the weather was sort of cranky, blustery, the two of us set out in our SUV for Deer Lakes Road to see for the first time in a while what this area looks like. We pulled into a ranch road adjacent to some corrals for our lunch stop, now the grasses have turned golden and russet and the air has a quality unique to the changing season. This type of scene is one of my personal favorites, lush valley meadows, infrequently used buildings and structures, so quiet you can hear the grass move in the dancing winds.
This scene made me think of Robert Frost's "The Road Less Traveled" (I think that's the accurate name). And that old song, "The Singing Hills".
Those aspen trees on the far hill will soon be bright gold, you can just barely see the evidence of turning at this point in time.
Here's one of our little town fawns....they're twins, Bambi I and II we call them.
Out of chronological order, but worth description I think, is this mine building, right up on the edge of the mountain, seen on our ATV ride between Animas Forks and Silverton,
on a side trip up a narrow valley where ghost mines are seen around every curve.
Alrighty.....one day in August a group of us set out on ATV's, traveled up and across Cinnamon Pass, on to the ghost town of Animas Forks, the setting of several deserted buildings, mining sites, and welcome outdoor toilet facilities. Animas Forks lies in a steep-walled valley and is home to the headwaters of the Animas River which flows onward to Silverton. Here, too, is where the trail forks, one direction follows the river to Silverton, the other heads up and over the mts. to Engineer Pass and back to Lake City.
Here the Neelys take a "rest your rear" break at the Animas Forks facility. Note this is in August, in the sunshine, all you hot weather folks, and the riders are wearing almost as much as we did for winter skiing, certainly for spring skiing!
At our lunch stop, just outside of Silverton, the Alpine Loop ATV and motorcycles summer trail routes are prominently displayed. In these parts, it's good to know where you're going, or to be following someone else who does! After our last summer's "shortcut" that turned out to be the Road to Hell, we can attest to that.Our ride on this day was 62 mi. total, over Cinnamon Pass and back over Engineer Pass, the full Alpine Loop; this is the first time we'd actually done this whole route. It was a long ride on an ATV over very rough terrain that required the driver's full attention and skill, and everyone was well worn on return. But the next day we were all frisky again.
One day when the weather was sort of cranky, blustery, the two of us set out in our SUV for Deer Lakes Road to see for the first time in a while what this area looks like. We pulled into a ranch road adjacent to some corrals for our lunch stop, now the grasses have turned golden and russet and the air has a quality unique to the changing season. This type of scene is one of my personal favorites, lush valley meadows, infrequently used buildings and structures, so quiet you can hear the grass move in the dancing winds.
This scene made me think of Robert Frost's "The Road Less Traveled" (I think that's the accurate name). And that old song, "The Singing Hills".
Those aspen trees on the far hill will soon be bright gold, you can just barely see the evidence of turning at this point in time.
Here's one of our little town fawns....they're twins, Bambi I and II we call them.
Out of chronological order, but worth description I think, is this mine building, right up on the edge of the mountain, seen on our ATV ride between Animas Forks and Silverton,
on a side trip up a narrow valley where ghost mines are seen around every curve.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Breckenridge
We left camp @ 9:30 am after our usual coffee on arising, then breakfast at Poker Alice. We gassed up in Gunnison, calculated that the price/gal. is 50 cents less than at The Sportsman in L.C. We haven't bought much gas there this summer.
We passed up our usual lunch stop at Buena Vista (Jan's Restaurant), knowing we'd hit right on schedule with the after church crowd, and motored on to Fairplay, where we ate at the Brown Burro on Highway 9. Very good. E had a buffalo burger; I had taco salad. Recommend it, despite the huge crowd it was a pleasant lunch stop. The help all appeared to be happy, and that says something.
We arrived in Breck @3 pm, were able to immediately check in to our well equipped, well furnished, studio accommodation (Marriott's Mountain Lodge). We had a good dinner at Eric's in the Basement, a place where we often ate during our skiing years. Prices these years later are higher, but still reasonable by today's standard.
We both felt tired and could hardly wait till what we like to consider our earliest allowed bedtime: 9 pm. Strangely, both of us had rather sleepless nights, "drifting", as we call it, not a sound sleep but going in and out of that twilight zone that isn't so restful. We know that altitude can cause sleep problems, but can 1000' more make a difference? Perhaps, since today we both have had loggy legs walking around town, and low energy. We're being kind to ourselves, really lazy today.
We've walked Main Street, did some nostalgia stuff talking about our good times, and the not so good (torn rotator cuff, E) times here. We had breakfast at a French cafe, outstanding! And a very late lunch of to-die-for New Eng. clam chowder at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Factory. We figure we'll gain 5 lb. this week, based on the first day's eating! Maybe we'll stay in for sliced turkey and cheese deli (walked to the market this morning, too) meat sandwiches this evening. We are still feeling lazy, and quite stuffed as well. And the weather's turned very cool and blustery outside, staying in is looking good.
Am adding this edit much later, on Sept. 21, as I realize we had more to say about our week in Breck. Let's see, I fell in love with wheat beer, something I tasted in Europe but sampled again throughout this week where there were sooooo many breweries and bar/restaurants. We spent many hours simply wandering the town, revisiting the many spots that became so familiar during our skiing days.
We made 2 trips to the magnetic Walmart Supercenter in Avon, west of Vail @ 10 mi. We stocked up on and froze @20 lb. of meat to take back to LC, plus all kinds of what seem like important incidentals when they're not available! We viewed the scene of E's "crash and burn" ski accident that tore his rotator cuff; the area sure looks different in the summer, even appears rather sweet and gentle now with no snow coverage.
We enjoyed the municipal golf club practice range, in a week's time, between the 2 of us, we hit umpty-ump buckets of bright yellow balls onto their lush, green practice area. The golf club is really a lovely place, 27 holes, and can be played rather reasonably (that's all relative, folks!) in the late afternoon. The clubhouse has a spacious patio overlooking a verdant view, with flowerbeds and flowerpots abloom everywhere you look. We enjoyed lunch and, in my case, some of that wheat beer (E opts for more traditional stuff) several times.
One of the week's highlights was our get-together with Signe Pedersen and her group of lifelong girlfriends, at the condo where they headquartered for a few days. We had a wonderful evening with the gals (we think of them now as the YaYa Sisterhood); following a riotous Happy Hour, they provided us a great dinner and more merriment as we all reminisced, told our "life stories", explored how everyone is connected, and discussed our future plans. Uppermost in the Plans category was Signe's impending wedding to Ray Anderson just after Labor Day. And, of course we talked with love about our dear departed Howard, it was so good to honor his memory with much laughter and joy instead of tears. Our memories of Howard now are centered around the many fun times, jokes and experiences we shared, rather than the months when we watched and waited for his inevitable death and shared Signe's grief.
Later in the week, on Thursday, we drove to Beaver Creek and met Flory and Joe Bourne for lunch, followed by a tour of the facilities where they own their timeshare, Post Montane. We enjoyed a leisurely visit with Joe and Flory; typically, when we see one another it's with a crowd of other people around, so on this occasion we were able to have more one-on-one conversation than usual....nice! The company, the food, the ambiance and the weather were all magnificent.
We had an uneventful trip back to LC, a trip that's becoming routine in a way, but is always beautifully different, nonetheless.
We passed up our usual lunch stop at Buena Vista (Jan's Restaurant), knowing we'd hit right on schedule with the after church crowd, and motored on to Fairplay, where we ate at the Brown Burro on Highway 9. Very good. E had a buffalo burger; I had taco salad. Recommend it, despite the huge crowd it was a pleasant lunch stop. The help all appeared to be happy, and that says something.
We arrived in Breck @3 pm, were able to immediately check in to our well equipped, well furnished, studio accommodation (Marriott's Mountain Lodge). We had a good dinner at Eric's in the Basement, a place where we often ate during our skiing years. Prices these years later are higher, but still reasonable by today's standard.
We both felt tired and could hardly wait till what we like to consider our earliest allowed bedtime: 9 pm. Strangely, both of us had rather sleepless nights, "drifting", as we call it, not a sound sleep but going in and out of that twilight zone that isn't so restful. We know that altitude can cause sleep problems, but can 1000' more make a difference? Perhaps, since today we both have had loggy legs walking around town, and low energy. We're being kind to ourselves, really lazy today.
We've walked Main Street, did some nostalgia stuff talking about our good times, and the not so good (torn rotator cuff, E) times here. We had breakfast at a French cafe, outstanding! And a very late lunch of to-die-for New Eng. clam chowder at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Factory. We figure we'll gain 5 lb. this week, based on the first day's eating! Maybe we'll stay in for sliced turkey and cheese deli (walked to the market this morning, too) meat sandwiches this evening. We are still feeling lazy, and quite stuffed as well. And the weather's turned very cool and blustery outside, staying in is looking good.
Am adding this edit much later, on Sept. 21, as I realize we had more to say about our week in Breck. Let's see, I fell in love with wheat beer, something I tasted in Europe but sampled again throughout this week where there were sooooo many breweries and bar/restaurants. We spent many hours simply wandering the town, revisiting the many spots that became so familiar during our skiing days.
We made 2 trips to the magnetic Walmart Supercenter in Avon, west of Vail @ 10 mi. We stocked up on and froze @20 lb. of meat to take back to LC, plus all kinds of what seem like important incidentals when they're not available! We viewed the scene of E's "crash and burn" ski accident that tore his rotator cuff; the area sure looks different in the summer, even appears rather sweet and gentle now with no snow coverage.
We enjoyed the municipal golf club practice range, in a week's time, between the 2 of us, we hit umpty-ump buckets of bright yellow balls onto their lush, green practice area. The golf club is really a lovely place, 27 holes, and can be played rather reasonably (that's all relative, folks!) in the late afternoon. The clubhouse has a spacious patio overlooking a verdant view, with flowerbeds and flowerpots abloom everywhere you look. We enjoyed lunch and, in my case, some of that wheat beer (E opts for more traditional stuff) several times.
One of the week's highlights was our get-together with Signe Pedersen and her group of lifelong girlfriends, at the condo where they headquartered for a few days. We had a wonderful evening with the gals (we think of them now as the YaYa Sisterhood); following a riotous Happy Hour, they provided us a great dinner and more merriment as we all reminisced, told our "life stories", explored how everyone is connected, and discussed our future plans. Uppermost in the Plans category was Signe's impending wedding to Ray Anderson just after Labor Day. And, of course we talked with love about our dear departed Howard, it was so good to honor his memory with much laughter and joy instead of tears. Our memories of Howard now are centered around the many fun times, jokes and experiences we shared, rather than the months when we watched and waited for his inevitable death and shared Signe's grief.
Later in the week, on Thursday, we drove to Beaver Creek and met Flory and Joe Bourne for lunch, followed by a tour of the facilities where they own their timeshare, Post Montane. We enjoyed a leisurely visit with Joe and Flory; typically, when we see one another it's with a crowd of other people around, so on this occasion we were able to have more one-on-one conversation than usual....nice! The company, the food, the ambiance and the weather were all magnificent.
We had an uneventful trip back to LC, a trip that's becoming routine in a way, but is always beautifully different, nonetheless.
Friday, August 22, 2008
American Basin in Late August
This week we rather impetuously decided, late in the morning, to see what American Basin looks like in mid/late August. This is what we saw....a few hardy columbines survive, thistles are working their way up to a second blooming, and other varieties normally overshadowed by the earlier sumptuous columbine bloom take on more importance in the scenes.
Sunflowers are in their last throes, their faces uniformly turned to the sun like parading soldiers facing the honor stand; here a patch of the new and the old present a vivid picture of their cycle of life...
the tiny tundra blooms maintain their tenacious hold on the rocky terrain, and on life....
all of which are well worth the trip up the mountains to see.
Sunflowers are in their last throes, their faces uniformly turned to the sun like parading soldiers facing the honor stand; here a patch of the new and the old present a vivid picture of their cycle of life...
the tiny tundra blooms maintain their tenacious hold on the rocky terrain, and on life....
all of which are well worth the trip up the mountains to see.We did this trip on the ATV and plan to do it again when the aspens have turned golden to see yet another version of this lovely high country spot.
Fly Fishing
Edmund has more seriously done some fly fishing, in catch and release stream areas, this year. This beauty hit his line on the Lake Fork River north of L.C., where the river runs along the edge of Highway 149. It's a public lands area, has good access and parking, and several of the folks who enjoy flyfishing have had good luck in that area this year.
This fish got its reprieve, after the photo op (I was handy with the camera) it swam away to freedom and further growth. We didn't measure, but it was @ 16", for anyone who cares about statistics. Color on these stream rainbows is much more vivid than those we catch at the lake.
Plus they fight like tigers, so the experience is more exciting. This is the first time E has actually netted from the flyrod, previously he's just pulled them to the bank and released them.
He's going out again today to see if he can repeat.
This fish got its reprieve, after the photo op (I was handy with the camera) it swam away to freedom and further growth. We didn't measure, but it was @ 16", for anyone who cares about statistics. Color on these stream rainbows is much more vivid than those we catch at the lake.
Plus they fight like tigers, so the experience is more exciting. This is the first time E has actually netted from the flyrod, previously he's just pulled them to the bank and released them. He's going out again today to see if he can repeat.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Tepee Party & Fish Fry
Last Tues. evening we were treated to a grand evening when one of our RV park trailerites (Sue) hosted a "come one, come all" party at her family's tepee. Another rv'er took this picture of us (tepee in background) sitting on the deck.
Sue's family owns a mountain property out on Cinnamon Pass Road where they've built a huge wooden deck and on it have erected a big, big tepee. We are amazed at the comfort and amenities they've achieved, without benefit of electricity, of course. The tepee's diameter is probably 30' at the base, and is proportionately tall, is structured of heavy canvas, rope and poles. The deck, beyond what holds the tepee, extends another 20 or so feet on one side, making a sorta rectangle 20x50 for outdoor living, plenty of room for @40 of us to be comfortably seated in lawn chairs with walk-around room left over.
Inside, Sue had 2 huge pots of chili going, various libations, desserts (everyone brought food galore to augment the hostess' chili); outside were more libations, appetizers, and grilled hotdogs/condiments.
We always say we look best in hats and sunglasses; this pic is proof positive! The atmosphere was very relaxed and a good time was had by all.
Sue and her family left the tepee up all last winter; heavy snow caused some pole breakage and they may take it down this fall. They use the retreat for various gatherings and family reunions, and though Sue maintains a trailer in our park, she enjoys time at the tepee with her little doggies.
The next evening the RV park residents all joined in a fish fry potluck, always a good food event. Several people who're professionally involved in the Texas schools system were on the move by the next day, heading for home and another school year, so the potluck was scheduled to bid them farewell for the season. Two additional rigs left the next morning for Oklahoma, retirees who were ready to move on for the rest of the season. All in all, we lost 4 "regulars" this week, a sure sign that the season is winding down.
We've made a decision to leave in time to be home Sept 24 and have so advised our caretaker and neighbors. The local wine festival is the 20th, and fall colors will be in their full glory, so after the 20th we're pretty ready to head home and take up life back in Oro Valley.
We miss our friends and our life there, but are contentedly looking forward to the rest of the summer here, as well.
Sue's family owns a mountain property out on Cinnamon Pass Road where they've built a huge wooden deck and on it have erected a big, big tepee. We are amazed at the comfort and amenities they've achieved, without benefit of electricity, of course. The tepee's diameter is probably 30' at the base, and is proportionately tall, is structured of heavy canvas, rope and poles. The deck, beyond what holds the tepee, extends another 20 or so feet on one side, making a sorta rectangle 20x50 for outdoor living, plenty of room for @40 of us to be comfortably seated in lawn chairs with walk-around room left over.
Inside, Sue had 2 huge pots of chili going, various libations, desserts (everyone brought food galore to augment the hostess' chili); outside were more libations, appetizers, and grilled hotdogs/condiments.We always say we look best in hats and sunglasses; this pic is proof positive! The atmosphere was very relaxed and a good time was had by all.
Sue and her family left the tepee up all last winter; heavy snow caused some pole breakage and they may take it down this fall. They use the retreat for various gatherings and family reunions, and though Sue maintains a trailer in our park, she enjoys time at the tepee with her little doggies.
The next evening the RV park residents all joined in a fish fry potluck, always a good food event. Several people who're professionally involved in the Texas schools system were on the move by the next day, heading for home and another school year, so the potluck was scheduled to bid them farewell for the season. Two additional rigs left the next morning for Oklahoma, retirees who were ready to move on for the rest of the season. All in all, we lost 4 "regulars" this week, a sure sign that the season is winding down.
We've made a decision to leave in time to be home Sept 24 and have so advised our caretaker and neighbors. The local wine festival is the 20th, and fall colors will be in their full glory, so after the 20th we're pretty ready to head home and take up life back in Oro Valley.
We miss our friends and our life there, but are contentedly looking forward to the rest of the summer here, as well.
Bucks, Ducks and Fawns
Yesterday was the local Ducky Derby, and since we had 3 little duckies in the race with $1200 first prize at stake, we turned out, after doing the laundry in the a.m., for the 1 pm race start. While we waited for the big event, these 3 bucks (we call them the "townies") chose to join the Derby audience alongside Henson Creek.
We quickly turned our attention from the duckies drifting down the creek to the Lake Fork River to the close-up view of these bucks calmly grazing along the adjacent ballfield.
A morning walk through the RV park gave us the opportunity to catch these twin fawns grazing with their mom just above the trailers parked opposite ours.
Mom stayed deep in the shadows, but I was able to capture the spots on these twin babies when they sallied into a sunnier spot.
The load of duckies was dumped into the rushing creek just outside the RV park, but since we haven't received that desired phone call....guess we didn't win, again this year.
Meanwhile, we enjoyed getting up close and personal with the largest of the 3 bucks. They are a bit nervous, but fairly tame till a sharp noise spooks them.
They banqueted on the creekside foliage while the camera snapped away for a good 10 minutes. Very cooperative wildlife models!
We quickly turned our attention from the duckies drifting down the creek to the Lake Fork River to the close-up view of these bucks calmly grazing along the adjacent ballfield.
A morning walk through the RV park gave us the opportunity to catch these twin fawns grazing with their mom just above the trailers parked opposite ours.
Mom stayed deep in the shadows, but I was able to capture the spots on these twin babies when they sallied into a sunnier spot.
The load of duckies was dumped into the rushing creek just outside the RV park, but since we haven't received that desired phone call....guess we didn't win, again this year.
Meanwhile, we enjoyed getting up close and personal with the largest of the 3 bucks. They are a bit nervous, but fairly tame till a sharp noise spooks them.
They banqueted on the creekside foliage while the camera snapped away for a good 10 minutes. Very cooperative wildlife models!
Engineer Pass at Another Season
Early in the summer we did an ATV ride to Engineer Pass, when there was still 10 ft. of snow at the roadside in one spot. We did a repeat of this ride in early August to see the scenery in a different summer decor. Where once dandelions bloomed in a riot of yellow, we see only their windblown seedheads spread in drifts and awaiting their chance at life next June. The predominant flower now are these wild daisies, their color more and more intensely purple as we gain altitude. 
In June we saw surreal snowscapes all along the road-to-mountains expanses; these slopes are blanketed now with alpine tundra wildflowers.
The temperature at 12000+ ft. was cool enough to demand hat and jacket; clouds of flies and other insects followed us to our every stop, making lunch a challenge. Bugs tried to beat us to our sandwiches. We battled them, unsuccessfully, and finally bolted down what we could and beat an early retreat.
The new growth on the blue spruce is indeed blue; the cones are healthy and thick this year.
Giant waterfalls still course down the mountainsides, testament to the continuing snowmelt at the top elevations.
Young aspens remain bowed from the large winter snowfall (200" down in town at L.C.) and this particular area obviously suffered an avalanche; on the opposite side of the road a grove of young aspens lie broken off at about 3-4 ft. from the ground.
At the top we see remnants of last winter's snowfall, and new snow is not far behind.
Town temperatures are in the 30's at night now; people who know tell me some of the flowers at American Basin show signs of freeze.
The clouds, tundra flowers and changing colors make a feast for the eyes,
and the mountains seem even more rugged and intimidating at this season. We expected snow last night (Aug. 16) on the visible mts., but we didn't get the moisture that blanketed the areas more northeast of us. Today's been blustery and cold, and we saw wild canaries along the creekside early this morning, a first sighting. Appears that the birds are migrating through on the way south!
In June we saw surreal snowscapes all along the road-to-mountains expanses; these slopes are blanketed now with alpine tundra wildflowers.
The temperature at 12000+ ft. was cool enough to demand hat and jacket; clouds of flies and other insects followed us to our every stop, making lunch a challenge. Bugs tried to beat us to our sandwiches. We battled them, unsuccessfully, and finally bolted down what we could and beat an early retreat.
The new growth on the blue spruce is indeed blue; the cones are healthy and thick this year.
Giant waterfalls still course down the mountainsides, testament to the continuing snowmelt at the top elevations. 
Young aspens remain bowed from the large winter snowfall (200" down in town at L.C.) and this particular area obviously suffered an avalanche; on the opposite side of the road a grove of young aspens lie broken off at about 3-4 ft. from the ground.
At the top we see remnants of last winter's snowfall, and new snow is not far behind.
Town temperatures are in the 30's at night now; people who know tell me some of the flowers at American Basin show signs of freeze.
The clouds, tundra flowers and changing colors make a feast for the eyes,
and the mountains seem even more rugged and intimidating at this season. We expected snow last night (Aug. 16) on the visible mts., but we didn't get the moisture that blanketed the areas more northeast of us. Today's been blustery and cold, and we saw wild canaries along the creekside early this morning, a first sighting. Appears that the birds are migrating through on the way south!
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