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.
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