Wild Horse Mesa

After visiting the Fort we headed to Wild Horse Mesa to do some arrowhead hunting.  Once there we realized that all the land was privately owned and I'm a little gun shy about trespassing so we settled for driving around and looking for the wild horses.

The first herd we saw.

Once off the Mesa and back down in the San Luis Valley we came across another herd.

Just hanging out!

This little guy came to say hi!

Fort Garland part II

The Parade Grounds.

The Fort had 5 buildings still standing and in use.  Like Fort Laramie there were no walls.  The buildings were arranged around the Parade Grounds and with a few barricades thrown up could easily be defended.  However being on the valley floor and the land stretching away for miles there was little chance of anyone sneaking up on the Fort.

The Soldiers barracks.

Soldiers hanging out in the mess hall.

A Private catching a nap in the barracks. 

Of course it wouldn't be Colorado without a marijuana store next door.  Talk about a clash between the past and present! 

Fort Garland

After our hike we drove back to the cabin and took it easy for a day.  Susan and Elizabeth left for home.  

Fort Garland is the closest town to the cabin.  It is a 30 minute drive and really doesn't have much but a few restaurants, two hotels a gas station and a terrible grocery store.  It is better to drive an hour to get groceries than depend on this store having what you need.

After all these years of visiting we have never checked out the Fort.  I assumed that like the town there wasn't much to offer.  It turned out that I was wrong.

Fort Massachusetts was established 6 miles north of the current town on the side of Mt. Blanca.  After a short time it was decided to move the fort to the current location and rename it Fort Garland.  The Fort remained in use by the Colorado Volunteers and the US Government for 25 years.  Those 25 years were mostly uneventful.  After all their mission was to maintain peace between the settlers and the local Indians.  They must have done a good job.  The only battle related to Fort Garland is the Battle of Glorieta Pass in New Mexico against the Confederates during the Civil War.  Fort Garland is also known as being commanded by mountain man and guide Kit Carson for a short time and also for being home to the Buffalo Soldiers for 3 years.

After a short video explaining the fort's history the staff archeologist gave us more details before she had to leave to take a conference call.  After that we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

Unlike Fort Laramie in Wyoming, Fort Garland was much more kid friendly.  The kids were allowed to touch almost everything and also dress up.

The women of the Fort.

A lonely soldiers wife (Ella) waiting for her man to come home.

Private Timothy Baker

Private Nathaniel Baker

Private Wyatt Sipp

Cinnamon Pass and Lake City

After hiking down Handies we had to drive back on Cinnamon Pass.  On the way up it had been mostly in the dark and so Sandy didn't see the drop offs.  Going down there was no missing that we were high up in the mountains.

Sandy drove the Jeep and I drove the 4-Runner.  

Once down out of the mountains we drove passed this ranch for sale.  I can't imagine a more beautiful place to live.  The ranch house or cabin is above the sign and slightly to the right.

Back at Elkhorn RV we hooked back up with Susan, Elizabeth and the kids.  The kids had made friends with the other guests and were watching a game of Mexican Dominos.  The RV traveling retirees pretty much adopted them.

As we were leaving Lake City and heading back to the Cabin we passed this cabin built over a cave.

Going down

Going down gave us the chance to relax and enjoy the view.

A little bit passed this point we were passed by man heading down the mountain.  He told us that somewhere around this point in the picture above a bear was looking down on us from the mountain to the right.  How did I miss that!  It was so wide open I'm surprised we didn't notice.  But, I guess we were not looking up at that point, I was looking out over the basin and enjoying the view.  Don't worry, I was packing and prepared for bear.

Looking down into the American Basin.  Our cars are somewhere down there.

We made it back to the vehicles!  

Handies Peak

Once the sun came up and we got our rhythm (walk 50 yards and take a break to breathe in the high altitude) it got easier.  

After a while Nathaniel started complaining that his stomach was bothering him.  We had been acclimating over the last two weeks so it took me awhile to catch on to the fact that he had altitude sickness.  Once I did he and I chose to quit the climb and hike back to a lake we had passed and wait for the rest of the group to finish the last mile and come back.

The rest of the crew leaving us and and heading on to the summit.

I had brought a small bottle of oxygen (believe it or not, Walmat sells them!) just in case, after all I had just been sick two days before and still had a nasty cough.  I let Nathaniel have a few puffs and with a little rest we decided to keep going.  We could still see Sandy and the kids on the trail ahead of us.  Once we started walking they saw us and started waving and encouraging us on.  Nathaniel and I were pretty psyched at that point.  The top was in view, still a ways off, but in sight and we thought we could make it.  As we closed the gap with them we were getting pretty excited.

Once we got close we noticed that the kids had turned around an were coming back toward us.  Wyatt and Timothy had freaked out going around a rock, and looking down the steep mountain had been enough for them.  Sandy realized that the trail ahead was getting pretty steep and perhaps a bit to much for kids.

Plenty of other hikers had been passing us all day.  I nicknamed them EFCCs.  Extremely Fit Coloradan Coming.  My way of telling Sandy we needed to step to the side and let someone pass.  As various groups came back down the mountain we quizzed them on what the summit was like.  Several told us that we were wise to turn around.  The last bit of the trail was too steep for kids.  That made us feel a little better about our decision.  But, we did make it to 13,000 feet!

We hiked back to the lake and took a break.  Above is Timothy.

Just hanging out

Sloan Lake

Group selfie!

Nathaniel with Handies Peak behind him.

Time to head on down.

Mountain Climbing

After training for 8 months it was time to go mountain climbing!!

We got up at 4 am and were on the road by 5 with Timothy, Nathaniel, Titus, Wyatt and Ella.  The others stayed behind with Susan and Elizabeth. 

The beautiful American Basin as the sun rises.

A closer view as we are almost to the trailhead.

The start of our hike.

Everyone was cold and tired.  Not a good start.

Engineer Pass

From Animas Forks we drove over Engineer Pass and headed back to Lake City.

Just like last time there were herds of sheep in the mountains.  The shepherds live up there in the summer months riding around on their horses and managing herds in the thousands.

We stopped at Odom Point for pictures.

Susan, maybe perhaps a little bit scared to be up so high.

I enjoy this cabin overtime I see it.  It is only accessible by hanging bridge.

Animas Forks

Over the top of Cinnamon Pass and on the other side is Animas Forks, a historic ghost town.

Wyatt and Timothy.

Some of the old wallpaper in one of the houses.

There are some where around a dozen structures still standing that you can walk through.  Most of them have been restored by the local historical society.

Susan

My Jeep in the parking lot.  Don't be deceived, while this is in a remote location and only accessible

 4 months of the year by 4-wheel drive there were plenty of people around.  The surrounding towns thrive on tourism and rent all manner of transportation to get up there.  There are even pit toilets down the hill.

One of the old mines.

While I didn't go in (it didn't look safe even though some supporting beams had been replaced) I noticed that the beams were numbered.  I wonder if that means the place was built elsewhere and resembled here.