The Not So Anventuresome Adventurer

One of my favorite things to do around here is to hike. Here, I am hiking Cataract Trail Gulch with one of our guests. It is a beautiful groomed trail where you tack back and forth near a stream, crossing it at times before coming to a large waterfall and eventually a lake.  On this day,  it was misting rain and I slipped off of a log into the stream...cutting short our hike!

Henson St.

Several of the streets in our little Colorado town are dirt. Henson St. for some reason, is a lot wider than the rest. I asked the locals why, and found out it was the old railroad bed. The trains finally laid track to Lake City 1889, which was very close to the end of the mining boom.The tracks followed along the South Fork of the Gunnison River from Sapinero to Lake City; turned around, at the end of this street, and started back....Service to Lake City ended in 1933.

Texas oil men discovered how cool the summer temperatures were here in the late forties and early fifties, and came in droves to fish. A lot of them had their own private planes...and decided since  they were in the wild west..to use Henson St. as an unauthorized landing strip!

* I traveled to Sapinero to try and locate their old train station (ours burned), only to find out that the Ghost Town of Sapinero was flooded in the 1960's to build the Blue Mesa Reservoir. 

Desert Golf

On our jaunt over to Grand Junction we took our clubs and stopped and played holes at this rather unusual golf course in Delta, Colorado.

I say unusual because you are in the desert there. I think you can see the contrast. Just beyond the greens and fairways, it's like a big sandbox.

There were actually antelope grazing on the course ,which seemed to be the only grass around. Several times I was afraid I would hit them with my ball, but they seemed adapt at dodging them.

The unusual rock formation sticking out of the sand is why the course is named Devil's Thumb. Fun day.

The Joys of Childhood

Along the main street of Grand Junction ,Co. They haven't forgotten the children.

They have small playgrounds every few blocks. This one a fun water park.

This little redheaded cutie wanted to pose for me!

Tracking Moose and bear report

We have had guests again this week. Texans love to come to Colorado to get out of the summer heat.
I suggested we ride up the mountain and see a moose. We had no sooner pulled up that this guy walked out. I of course put this picture on my Facebook page and the local Wild Life Photographer called ME to ask where I had seen it!

*Bear up-date.(Bear Caper Aug 20th) Word has it that the two roving bear cubs were re-united with Mom and they are safely back up the mtn. Please don't feed bears!
 I have been coming here nearly 30yrs...and heard of our first bear mauling near here this week. Camper, who had food in his tent, ended up with 150 stitches...that bear was destroyed. What is the answer?

Art on the Corner

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How could you miss this one?

Walk Don't Ride!

This is the first time I have seen a dismount sign. The one posted here is in downtown Grand Junction, Co. where they have installed beautiful wide sidewalks.

We noticed that there was a sculpture on every corner....many of them with a biking theme.

 

I especially liked this one, which seemed very life like.

Corn

 Worth waiting for! Olathe corn grown in an area that would be desert today, if it weren't for the building of the Gunnison Tunnel in 1909

Thousands (66,000 to be exact) of acres in western Colorado benefited from the building of this tunnel that re-directed water from the Gunnison River.

The warm days, cool nights, good soil (and much needed water) make for some of the sweetest most loved corn in the U.S.!

The Town Cats

I've never owned a cat. For one reason, I am allergic. Growing up, I thought it very strange that my Mother was deathly afraid of cats. So much so, that she would faint if one came near her.(not an exaggeration) She also changed the channel, if one showed up on television. So, you would think I would dislike them...not so. I am an animal lover through and through. Just an allergic one. Our tiny mountain town seems to have two interesting cats...that don't really belong to anyone. This little yellow guy is the Mocha Moose (coffee shop) cat. Although, he is not allowed inside. He is always out in front and will snuggle up next to you if you have a seat on the log bench .. Looks like they feed him too.

Then there is the Post Office Cat. Again, no one seems to claim him, but he has a comfortable bed on top of the package bins.

Lake City does not have mail delivery. So, we must all trek down to the post office to check our p.o.. boxes. Mail comes in around noon, and everyone heads that way. Hard to get out of there without visiting with three or more people. One guy tells the story about his wife going after the mail...and she was gone  so long, that he sent out search and rescue! But, the funniest thing that ever happened, involved this innocent looking sleepy cat.The p.o. boxes are open on the mail room side of the box. Some poor unsuspecting guy bent down to make sure he had collected all of his mail...and came face to face with this kitty who had crawled into his box for a nap.. I guess he let out a  blood curdling scream! Still makes me giggle just thinking about it! :)

The Guest Bath

On the top level of our summer cabin, we have a rather small guest bath that has to serve three bedrooms. 

Concerned about the lack of space...I was successful in talking  a local tin artist (and new friend)  into making these fronts (below) for a locker system that a cabinet maker had agreed to build.. Carol used rusted tin from a roof of a barn, that she found in New Mexico.  She pounded out the ripples and made them flat. Then she punched holes so that there would be air flow.
 
Guests get to choose from a Tree, Moose, Bear, or Elk. For some reason the bear is the most popular.

A close up to show the tree design that she punched in the panel.

This way guests, sharing this tiny bath, have a place to leave their personal belongings.

* Sadly Carol, the local artist, died at a young age the following year.... from ovarian cancer.:(
She left us a one of a kind memory...

Opening Night

Last night a group from Lake City headed over the mountain with a car load of food to put on the opening night reception for the play Ghost-Writer, playing at the award winning Creede Repertory Theater. There were one hundred fifty guests invited and we had twenty four feet of table.. laden with food! 

The play, written by Michael Hollinger, is about a famous writer Franklin Woolsey who dies, and his secretary (who was in love with him), seems to continue typing his words. Is she channeling his spirit or deceiving everyone? The acting was superior! A great evening....but a long drive home over two passes on one of the steepest paved highways in the U.S.!

* remember the picture of the famous artist I captured on July 30th? Yes, Stephen Quiller did the mural on this wall.

The Bear Caper

I was trying to print the last of my Home Tour maps (with an uncooperative printer), when I got a call from an excited neighbor, that there was some bear excitement going on down in town. Seems a Momma bear had treed herself out in front of Mean Jean's (she not really very mean) coffee shop...and her cubs were running all over town. I simply couldn't run down there, so I called another friend...who took these pictures. Poor momma she had gotten separated from her cubs, and this tree was the last place she had seen them;

but, those inquisitive twins were having a ball touring Lake City. Here they are strolling through the yard of the museum....where we had The Victorian Tea earlier in the week. The DOW Officer was chasing them, with a tranquilizer gun, trying to unite them with their Mom and send them back up the mountain; which meant that they would have to capture all three. From what I last heard, the score was Dow Officer 0, Bears 3.  Sorry folks, we left town right after the excitement and will have to wait to find out the outcome.. Hopefully, the three of them were united...and are back where they are supposed to be!

Doing what I do

I spend the summer volunteering, when I am not hiking, fishing or entertaining guests. One of my volunteer jobs is to help host the interior home tours. In the pictures above we are touring a darling cabin that was actually featured this year in a national log magazine.Since they were right up against the mountain; I like the way they built this clever little deck.

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Common Sight

                                  
Although they have become a common sight around here. I never tire of seeing wildlife,,,and especially a doe with a fawn .

The Beautyshop Appointment

One of the reasons that we drive all the way to Gunnison (60 mi)  is for me to go to the beauty shop. Tom dropped me off and was to return in two hours. Problem is, my hairdresser was ill. They had tried to call me, but, we had already gotten on the road...and there is no cell service between our two towns. Okay, I would call Tom to return and pick me  up...but Tom is famous for not keeping his cell on. My choice was to sit there  for two hours, or strike out on foot and find him. It was not an easy decision, since I had on sandals that were 80% cute 20% comfortable...and his errands were a mile away.

Not wanting to sit for so long...off I went. Saw this darling old car along the way.

and I was surprised to see a food truck setting up...reminded me of New York City.

Don't think I had ever noticed this pretty mural on the side of the Western Clothing store,

and every corner downtown had a beautiful pot of blooming flowers.
I didn't snap a picture of The Toggery...but their sale lured me in, and I bought a blouse.

Finally found Tom at the Wal-Mart...so there was a happy ending...except my feet were sore and my roots are showing! Hopfully you enjoyed the walk :).

Sleep in a Tepee

These Tepees, out in front of an RV Park, caught my eye on the edge of Gunnison. We drive the sixty miles to Gunnison once a week (60 miles) to the grocery store.....and to run necessary errands. So, as were leaving town, I asked Tom to pull in so I could take a picture.

To my surprise I found out that they actually rent these to sleep in!

Each Tepee has a queen sized bed, and fold out Fouton, lamp and heater. They rent for $26.00 a night. Shower and toilet across the parking lot! I asked if anyone actually rents them? To my surprise he said they stay full almost all summer!

Fire Department

I've mentioned our neighboring town of Creede several times. Bet you didn't know, that their fire station is in a cave! Next door to the fire station is a mine that you can tour.....and even an event space...all under ground (or in the mountain.)I have been to several functions there and it's always cool without any air conditioning.