Headed up to the Cabin for an evening after work to help kick off my weekend. It was a bit cooler up there, a nice change from the heat though things are still really dry. My Pal Dan and I woke up early Friday to catch the Sunrise in the Upper Meadows of the property. After words, we finished the drive to the Mt. Evans Wilderness Boundary followed by a short stroll through the Wilderness (probably hiked around 3miles). Not a bad way to kick off the weekend!
Morning light in the Upper Meadows.
Warmth.
Dan and his 80 series Land Cruiser.
Passing by my favorite tree.
Enjoying a nice stroll through Mt. Evans Wilderness.
This past weekend I was down in Buena Vista for a dear friends wedding. Sunday morning was free, so I decided to catch the sunrise on Hancock Pass. It’s been a little while since I’ve been down in the area, so it was nice to get out on the trail, even if for a little bit. After the sunrise, I planned to hike to the West Portal of the Alpine Tunnel via the Palisades but realized I forgot my backpack once there. So instead hiked to a nice Alpine Lake between Tomichi and Hancock passes. It was nice to have the place to myself for a few hours, especially on a busy holiday weekend. While leaving St. Elmo to get back to Buena Vista and the wedding festive’s, I watched a solid line of cars head up the road to St. Elmo….
Sunrise- Hancock Pass.
Dropping down Hancock Pass on the Pitkin side.
Tomichi Pass in the distance.
Sherrod Loop. So named for the big curve that helped keep the train on the sunnier, southern portion of the mountain to help keep the tracks clear of winter snow.
Along the old grade of the Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad.
Morning Aspens.
Old inscriptions on one of the water tanks used by the Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad.
Hiked up to a fine Alpine Lake between Tomichi and Hancock Pass. Believe this to be the headwaters of Middle Quartz Creek. A wonderful spot to enjoy a quiet morning before the crowds came.
Checking out an old mine near the start of Tomichi Pass.
Headed up for a solo night at the Cabin this past Friday. A most peacful evening especially with all the much needed rain that came down that evening. Enjoyed a relaxing drive around the property to the Wilderness Boundary to Mt. Evans before calling it a night. A quick but needed escape!
Mt. Evans somewhere behind the clouds.
Moisture! Was a wonderful thing to see after a few weeks of warm, dry and smokey conditions.
The rain started coming down as I got to the pond in the upper meadows.
Quiet the peaceful drive to the Wilderness Boundary that evening after getting some much needed rain.
Just about to the end of the road and the property- behind me is the Mt. Evans Wilderness.
Stopped to enjoy my favorite tree on the property.
Clearing storm.
Looking North.
Snuck up to the pond in the Upper Meadows one last time the next morning before heading back down.
Headed up to the cabin last Thursday after work with my Dad. With all the heat and smoke from the current fires, was nice to get up there. Thursday evening went for a walk with my Dad and Step-Mom, the smoke made a bit more intense… A bit scary to see how dry everything is. Feel like once August hit, the faucet was turned off. Rain would be a good thing! Friday morning, Dad and I got started early on a new firewood bin ( the old one was around 35 years old). We were able to get most of it built in 4hrs. A good productive Friday!
An evening stroll along the main road into the property. Was a nice evening, though surprisingly warm for that time in the evening…
For the first week of August, I had originally planned to be up in Seattle to visit Mom’s family (plane ticket was booked), but with the current state of things, we decided it was best to hold off for the time being. So instead, I hung out closer to home. First spending a night down at Rowdy Lake, then headed over to my friends shop in Delta, CO for the next two days. It’s always an enjoyable time hanging out with my pal Jeremiah, his wife Chandra and the rest of the crew at Proffitt’s Cruisers.
I was glad to see that they were continuing to do well despite Covid19. There was a lot of fun projects in the shop to check out. I even had a chance to have Bob and Jeremiah take a look at the paint on the 4runner- something i’d love to get done, but will be a bit down the road.
For my last night, had a enjoyable night at Jeremiah and Chandra’s place above Blue Mesa Reservoir. Watching baby Atlas and the Chickens play together was definitely a highlight.
Now to patiently wait for my Dual ARB Compressor to show up from Proffitt’s:)………
Fj40’s in the shop.
Electrical work on a FJ60. Electrical was never my favorite.
Lots of work in the Paint/Body shop.
The 2.8 seems to be a popular swap at Proffitt’s.
D. Miller for paint.
Bob doing some fiberglass work on a FJ40 top.
A really neat BJ70 from Italy. It has a 5 cylinder Italian motor installed at the factory in Japan. Spotted a lot of writing on it from Madrid, Spain.
Oh look, Jeremiahs on the phone:).
Still lots of work in the yard.
Spotted this image the last time I was at the shop. Still a fun scene.
Another solo evening in the shop.
Setting up a 8274 Warn Winch.
Clint doing some more work on the FJ40 top.
A happy differential is a good differential:).
Jeremiah and Chandra filming another episode for the YouTube series. #40 I think?
A fine evening above Sapinaro and Blue Mesa Reservoir. Light was perfect to re shoot this super clean FJ62.
I’ve been wanting to get back to Rowdy Lake ever since my pal Treeroot and I stumbled upon it after picking up my current 3rd Gen 4runner from Proffitt’s back in 2017. With my original plans of being up in Seattle to visit Mom’s family during the first week of August postponed for the year, I decided to head back to Rowdy Lake for a night. The weather was perfect and other than a few folks fishing the lake in the afternoon, I had the place to myself- just what I needed. To top things off, Tuesday morning as I was heading back out to Highway 50, saw a Brown Bear about a mile down the road for the turn off for the lake. Looked to be a teenager. Unfortunately I was to slow with the thinking to grab the camera for a pic. Felt really good to get back to this spot.
Some of my favorite pics.
After a five hour drive, it was nice to get to camp at a decent hour and relax for the rest of the day.
Rowdy Lake
The road into the lake and camp.
Enjoying an afternoon walk around the lake.
Back at the lake for Sunset.
Yeah, I was enjoying the sunset:).
One last walk around the lake the next morning for sunrise before heading out.
Another fun Ghost Town Run in the Books. For this years run, we headed down to the Spanish Peaks and Westcliff area. Driven by the Spanish Peaks many times, though never explored, Westcliff would also be new to me. The main attraction for this years Ghost Town Run was the Cloverdale mine- started in the 1920’s and operated till the ’60’s, the Cloverdale Mine is located in a fine valley outside Hillside, CO.
For some time now, i’ve been wanting to get back up to Black Hawk & Central City. Growing up, my Brother and I would visit Mom on the weekend when she lived up there. First in the Gilpin Hotel, then other parts of the towns after the fire. It was some wonderful memories not only of the Gilpin Hotel, but of Black Hawk and Central City. Remember there would be live music on the weekends ( Ron Berg was my Brothers favorite musician) at the hotel and my Brother and I had the run of the mill of the place. I had never been back to the Gilpin Hotel after it burned down (we were there the night of the fire) and after Mom left town, I never really spent much time in either towns. Sure, the Snow Pizza Run we have with the club is in the hills above Central City, but we always seem to cruse on through town and never stop.
Ever since Mom passed, the urge to get back up to these towns for a visit has seem to get stronger. Earlier in the year I thought it might be fun to go up to Black Hawk for a night with friends from the club for old times sake. Then Covid hit.
But thanks to a good pal from the club, I was able to get up there Friday for a fun day visit to both towns. We first stopped at the Gilpin Hotel for Lunch, then, through his efforts, got a tour of the Hotel. It has changed a lot since I was there last, main floor filled with slot machines and the hotel rooms on the second and third floors now a restaurant and office rooms for the staff. But I was glad to here that Lucille, the resident Ghost was still there (I tried to have a personal moment with Lucille and give her an update on Moms passing but the place was just to busy to do so).
After the tour of the Hotel, we drove up to Central City, as my friend had it set for us to meet the current Mayor of the town. It was fun to remissness about the time growing up in Black Hawk and Central City over a few beers with the Mayor. After, he gave us a personal tour of some of the vacant building in town. A real special treat for me and flattered my pal from the club took all the time to put this together.
Some absolute wonderful memories of the Gilpin Hotel as kids. Even the night it burned down is a strong memory- never did get to thank the fire fighter for saving our cat Bob.
Didn’t even now this existed, but a Submarine came out of these towns. A pretty cool story.
An absolute wonderful museum in Central City. Worth the visit.
A fun time hanging out with the Mayor of Central City while talking about the time spent growing up in both towns.
Getting a personal tour from the mayor of some of the vacant buildings. The red square in the roof was known as a “Glory Hole”. These two buldings were pretty dang awesome.
Apparently, per the Mayor, Bob Dylan played his first payed gig outside of the Twin Cities on this stage.
So my Dad and I just recently finished putting together a fun little book about my recent daily walks in Downtown Denver during the Stay at Home orders. For fifty days, from the time I was furloughed/let go from Enterprise to being brought back, I went out for a daily walk, camera in hand.
The front cover is a five color hand printed serigraph image.
Pretty dang flattered that the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library just bought a copy:)!
Hard to believe that it’s been ten years ( to the date) since i’ve gotten back into the wonderful Henry Mountains in SE Utah. Outside of Hanksville, the Henry’s were the last mountain range to be discovered and placed on a map of the US by Major Powell in 1869. Back in 2009/2010 I headed out to the Henry’s for the 4th of July weekend ( my pal Sean would join me in 2010). A great spot to ring in the holiday. Ten years later we headed back out to the Henry’s for another long 4th of July weekend. A most enjoyable time filled with great company. Hopefully it won’t be another ten years for my next visit:).
Jackson checking out the ford for the Fremont River. Back in 2007 this crossing fought us. Paul would end up burning out a power steering pump and had to use two winches to get out.
Definitely one of my top campsites.
Back at the magic bus.
Butch Cassidy:).
Some fantastic vistas from the Henry’s!
Felt great to be back in these mountains.
Passing through an old burn on Pennell Pass.
Enjoying a great sunset from one of my favorite perches.
Paul May always seems to be well setup:).
Almost to the summit of Mt. Ellen. One of three prominent peaks in Utah. Daniel and Anna stayed back to care for a tired pup.
Shadow of Mt. Ellen across the desert.
My pal Matt celebrating at the top of Mt. Ellen. We crested the summit right as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.
Moon rise group selfie. On the hike back to the rigs, we’d stop along the ridge line to watch the fireworks show from Hanksville.
