EB- III mountain fun in SW Colorado

Camped next to us for a month were our new good friends, Denise and Leonard, both retired Forest Rangers.  They were a delight and getting to know them was one of this summer's treasures.  Here they have shared one of Leonard's favorite hikes between Dolores and Telluride, in the mountains.  (They are 'resting' so Ava and I can catch up:)








We had done a raft trip on the Animas River through Durango with Mild-to-Wild and enjoyed it when the owner found out we were Workampers and Ava worked in the office so we were offered a "comped' jeep ride into the San Juan's and were allowed to bring a fellow workamper couple, Bob and Kim, along.  We rode up to 11,200' on a beautiful day.  Great Trip.







Another '"comp'd" experence in Durango was the chuckwagon dinner and western fun nite put together for a group of us from Echo Basin Ranch.  We got in for about half price and had an intimate campfire dinner with about 800 others.  Food was good and the musical fun was better.










Here's my kind of free fun. Downtown Pagosa Springs has plenty of 'pay-n-play' hot springs sites but we scouted out this free pool right on the river where all the local river-rats soak. 

EB- Fun with Becky 8/12

 We picked up Becky in Albuquerque after a long flight from Tampa and had a whirlwind week of mountain adventures to end her summer break from school teaching.  Here we are at Molas Pass on the highway from Ouray to Silverton, an amazing (and scary) road.  Even early August is cold at this elevation.









 We also did the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge RR trip - everyone has to do it once, they say.  Beautiful trip up the river canyons - but lots of cinders if you're riding in one of these open cars!











On another day we drove up into the San Juan's from the west and into Telluride, one of Ava's very favorite places in these mountains.  The gondola ride is super, and the old mining town (shown below) is neat to visit - and a bargain!










One of the last things we did was take a horseback ride up mountain in our own backyard.  The owners of the BarD ranch do guided rides and are members of the church in Mancos.  Becky hit it off immediately with the owner - a real horse-lady - who 'gifted' Becky with a massive horse vertebrae for her science class.  (It is still "curing" in the bed of our truck!!:)

Mesa Verde, redux

Ava loved the view at Cliff Palace, the second tour -especially the opportunity  to see it from the overlook deck!  She took some great shots, here are a few of them.













I am somewhere down there in that tour group listening to an ancient Park Ranger that must be part mountain goat!













Here we are learning about a "kiva", those circular "meeting rooms/spiritual houses".  What really surprised me is these weren't dug out - they were circular rooms that they filled in around to insulate, make as though underground, and maybe add to the walk-around space in between them!








Once again, the exits are killers.  Note the natural wood log ladder putting you back on top of the mesa and







the entrance way down here!

Ava didn't miss this a bit.

Mesa Verde! a primer.

 About 10 miles away from Echo Basin Ranch to the SW lies an amazing NP - Mesa Verde.  We went there on our first day off and were in awe -first at the high, long, beautiful drive back into this lost land -then at the cliff dwellings and the efforts to preserve, and explain, this ancient place.









As the name 'cliff dwelling' suggests, there is nothing easy about getting to see these ruins.  They are, literally, stuck on the side of the cliffs.  We heard several Rangers offer differing opinions why the Indians chose to live here, and like this, but I still believe it was first and foremost for protection.








There were lots of people on the tours - all ages and sizes - so you can see anyone CAN do it.  It may not be for those with bad knees, a disaffection for heights and













anyone even a little claustrophobic!  As the symptoms tend to build as you add one to the other, this was the 'last straw' for Ava!  We made it fine because she was VERY brave - and this tunnel was the only way up and out - still, her last words were "WHAT WAS I THINKING!" 

She declined to take the next scheduled tour.






Seriously, she (we) loved experiencing it and learned a lot.  Made us thankful for the ease of modern life and, once again, thankful for those who fought to preserve a unique place for future generations.

Echo Basin Workamping - Weddings II

Here are some pictures of the weddings we worked on, and watched. 









 Some of the wedding parties hired this horse and wagon to either "deliver" the bride to the groom or take the newlywed couple on a "victory lap" around the park.  Note the rain threatening - but holding off!







Another smaller wedding (we workampers loved the small ones:) with an unusual assortment of guests.  Notice the dog on the front row - right.  Actually, he looked a lot better than his owner. We definitely saw 'all types' on this gig.











Lest you think it was all work, here is the workamper crew with the owner, Kathi (front left) and her essential chef beside her.  Others in the picture are some who had been coming here to work for years (across from Kathi and next to me) and two new couples: Kim & Bob next to Ava, and Wayne and Marveen at the end.  We helped find Wayne & Marveen - at church in Cortez! - and Bob and Kim came in mid July after we encouraged Kathi to re-advertise on Workamper News.  All together we made a great team and 'got it done'.

Echo Basin - Weddings I

This is what you see when you drive into Echo Basin Ranch - at the end of a three-mile climb to about 8,000' elevation backing up to the San Juan National Forest.  Pines and ponds, waterfalls and wildlife.  The owner, Kathi, has turned this into a Destination Wedding venue with a Southwest flavor and it is booked solid from late May through early September, virtually their whole season.




Here is a workamper setting up for the outdoor Saturday wedding.  Its a great view, kept green by rolls and rolls of artificial turf, and very well landscaped with stone and plantings.  Simple, but effective and appreciated.










Inside, the banquet room can seat about 200 and we often helped set that up, too.  I also did minor maintenance on the cabins and Ava worked mainly in the office.  Other workampers like Bob and Kim and Wayne and Marveen worked the other days.  Ava's people skills made Kathi want her in the office on the busy wedding weekends so she could deal with the bride and the bride's mother!







The Wedding Pavilion was a simple affair that was redecorated every weekend by the bridal party.  To my amazement it was never ruined by the ever-present afternoon rain showers.  Several times the rain held off for only a 15 or more minutes - but it always held off!  Made Ava and I surmise God truly loves weddings.

Workamping at Echo Basin Ranch -1

 June 29, 2012 we were just around the corner, E of Mancos, CO and almost to our workamping home for the next nine weeks and what do we find?  Smoke!  We thought we had left the fires behind on the Front Range but this one had been going on for a week and was far from out.










We decided to stay since we learned the Pre-Evac order had been lifted and the smoke was blowing away from the camp.  This is our view out the back window of the RV - looking NE into the San Juan mountains across a beautiful pasture on the EB Ranch.  Those bare peaks are fourteeners!








 We watched the fire on the mountain to our South grow slowly until the conditions were just right for the fire fighters to do a massive controlled burn.  It started in the late afternoon and was most impressive that night as they shot flaming rockets into the right spot and 'backfired' up the mountain, burning up all the "fuel" for the wild fire.  Wow!  This took place on the first few days of July.



This is what it looked like a couple of days later - and will for a while.  Thankfully, the summer rains arrived on July 4 and the undergrowth turned green and the threat of fire in our immediate area was over.  You can see one of the reasons they threw over 600 firefighters into this - those towers had to be saved as they were all the communications for the 4 Corners area: Cell/TV/Radio/Emergency.  The other reason was if the fire had jumped the highway it could have burned a fouth of Colorado as there is nothing but forests to our North: the San Juan National Forest, and others.