3 MORE WEEKS
SEPT 2013
Leaving Denver to return to the cabin, we were in terrific hail. Within a couple days we started hearing about the floods on the other side of the
divide. People that had planned to visit
could not get out of their towns or across Trailridge Pass Boulder
shut down and Lyons Denver
The river before we left
The river after the rains
Tonohutu is usually a stream – going pretty hard and fast now.
Amazing how much change occurred in just a
couple of weeks while we were gone. It
had been so hot before we left and now we were seeing frost on chilly mornings and
could work outside all day. The aspen
were in varying stages of changing color.
Chill before the sun cleared the mountain
Pleasant once it was up
The frost disappeared the minute the sun touched it
Strange to see the aspen in this variegated state
We saw our deer but they had shed their summer coats and
were sleek and brown. The fawns had shed
their spots.
Doe & fawn in winter coat
The yearling - a little shedding still needed
Only the big bull moose was around now, frequently close
to the cabin. Hikers spotted the female
occasionally but the younger bulls were gone.
All the velvet was off the bull’s rack.
We have watched moose through their velvet shedding season in the past
and it seemed impossible he could have bare antlers in such a short span of
time.
Gorgeous George
see previous post on cabin for the velvet antlers
We happened to catch him have a tantrum and his power and
speed were awesome in a literal sense.
He was rubbing his antlers in a willow and possibly got a branch in his
eye. He attacked the bush, stomped it,
jumped back and did a split second 180.
We felt the earth move as he jumped and stomped in frustration. There are ridiculous numbers of stories of
moose attacks and we felt it was all media hype blown out of proportion. We got some respect for distance in that
moment. While we were wary from then on,
he was never anything but docile as he nibbled and napped near the cabin and
just up and down the trail.
Directly behind the outhouse and shower
Audience
This guy was watching the moose intently as he wandered by
Gil continued working on sealing the exterior log siding
with grandpa’s secret recipe. He got the
entire cabin sealed before we left. It
was glowing once again.
I continued clearing slash from the mountainside until we
had some clear lines of sight from our main vantage points. We will never have it clear – the steeper
mountain sides look like someone played pick up sticks. But we made room for new growth around us. I also continued to spiff up the interior.
Living room looking into kitchen
Grandma's rocker on left, the victrola with Mom's painting over it,
the old ice box just inside the kitchen
We still stopped at the ice house on our way up in the 50s
The front bedroom, now the "ancestor room"
The back bedroom, now the "Indian room"
just off the kitchen, it is the first to get warm in the morning
just off the kitchen, it is the first to get warm in the morning
We spent a day at Hot Sulphur Springs to soak in the
mineral waters. On the way, we saw a
young osprey with its parent. These are
man-made platforms built near, but higher than a spot that is getting scouted
by the birds. They will choose the
platform over a utility pole and it is a preservation measure.
Osprey nest on man-made platform
Chick on right begging for food
We also happened to see a group of pronghorns on a ranch
and stopped to watch. Two groups, one
lying down and the other climbing the mountain behind. One rascal started chasing another (I’m guessing
imitation mating behavior). Pretty soon
they were all running – really fun to watch, too far away for pics.
Family / Memorial
We had lots of family during our last week. Gil’s brother and his wife – Dennis and
Darlene came in from Alaska (before returning
to Oregon Utah Denver plus friends from Grand Lake
Left to Right
Front: Jeff, Michelle, Chelsie & Jadyn
Middle: Courtney, Darlene, Laurie, Sharon
Back: Richard, Colin, Dennis, Gil
Colin and Jeff
Laurie with Jadyn pushing her
We all grew up on the swing (or another version of it)
Courtney contemplating the mysteries
Others in attendance
As a group effort we dug up blue spruce from the back of
our property and planted them where we had lost tall pines. Mom was distraught over the loss of trees, it
will be richly rewarding to watch them grow.
Chelsie and Gil digging up the largest of the spruce we moved
Probably 15 good sized rocks were removed to get it out
Three new blue spruce where two pines fell
Cross your fingers they will thrive
Darlene generously offered to cook up the fixings for
fajitas – great fun turning out food from the wood stove.
The last load of chicken and peppers, the platters were already full
Dennis and Darlene
D&D had a couple extra days with us after
everyone else headed out. We took of
advantage of their wonderful company playing cards at night and being outside
all day.
Warm & fuzzy (or blurry)
We didn't care
We drove over to Estes for lunch. Trailridge
Pass through Rocky Mountain
National Park
Near the Grand Lake entrance to Rocky Mtn. Nat'l Park
The visitor center was closed for the season
We were just glad they opened the road in time for us to use it
It is cold up here mid summer, even colder now with winds coming up the slopes
Geared up - I hadn't worn this jacket since the Alps
The big horn sheep that we often see up here must have already moved to lower elevations
Two magical glacial lakes
In Estes
Park
I'd seen the restaurant as we were driving through town, we were pretty pleased with it
Good food and pumpkin beer (for me)
We
started seeing elk as soon as we were on the eastern slope. By end of day we had probably seen 10 bulls
with their herds –on both sides of the divide.
Bull elk bugling to his herd
He followed them down this slope and across the hiway
Magnificent creature
Same guy with his herd (about 3 times this many females and calves)
He had a pretty good limp so he had paid for the privilege
This beauty was the only bull we saw that was solo
We stopped to watch every chance we got,
This one was coaxing his girls to follow him
And they did follow him between bites
Another bugling - gorgeous coloration
The day D&D left it was 22 degrees when we woke
up. We hiked to the falls and then went
to Grand Lake Lodge for lunch. Hard to
let them go.
The snow didn't disappear quite so fast this time
This is the same stand of aspens where I saw the moose laying in the tall green grass
(see previous cabin post)
Sun shining now on D&D
A lot more water than last time I was at the falls
Too fun
Time for alohas
Gil and I had only hours left and we couldn’t get
enough. Back to town I needed to launder linens before packing up; Gil went to the library to read and while he was there, a young bull decided to eat the bushes on the grounds and then nap a little.
Gil took this from inside the library
We planned to leave in the
afternoon but it alternately snowed and rained and we decided to spend one more night.
We woke up to snow but it didn’t last.
It was chilly locking up.
It's always hard to say goodbye, but we've committed to coming back next summer
Aspen confetti
Our buddy came by; we hadn’t seen him all week but he
harrumphed his way all around us while we got ready to go.
He was across the road from the cabin then wandered up the side past the well
and around behind the logs
We had seen him nap in this spot once before
Note downfall "pick up sticks"
The pump wrapped, the shutters shut, we left the mum for the deer to eat
The cabin is part of the family and it is hard to leave it to face the winter alone
We met Colin for breakfast and watched a female moose
with two calves lying on the boardwalk by the mini golf. When we were done, one of the calves was busy
eating the flowers of a restaurant.
Colin assured us the stories about moose attacks were real (when he is
not in N Dakota, he is on call at the firehouse in Grand Lake
Baldy or Mr. Craig with sun and snow
We got to Denver America
The Brown Palace is a Denver landmark
Upper center is now the entry to the spa but it was originally the fireplace with onyx pillars
Ornate and beautiful
We fast tracked acclimating to urban life. Next day dinner at PF Changs and the movie
Rush with Therese and we were ready for Denver International
Airport
On our way home
Gotta say I got my big animal fix on the mainland
