My Spanish Fort

After leaving the canyon Matt headed back to the condo and the rest of us headed back to the mountains.

Last winter while researching the local area I learned the Spanish history of the western US and their role in Colorado and New Mexico.  A part of that was a fort that they built on the Sangre De Cristo Pass.  There are several suggested sites, but no one knows for sure where the fort is nor does anyone seem to care.  I decided to try my hand at finding it and have been asking the landowners if I could have permission to look on their property.  There are two land owners I have been trying to contact.  One owns a 20 million dollar ranch and lives in New Jersey and hasn't returned my emails or phone calls.  The other lives in Denver and finally talked to me after I showed up on his door step this spring.  I sent him an email telling him I was going to be out this week and asked if I could have access to his property to take a look.  He never returned my email so the closest we got was the at a locked gate a mile from where I think the fort site sits.  The fire burned all the way up to the area and my hope was that with the vegetation gone we might be able to see more.  But I will have to keep asking in hope that some day they will let me take a look.  The arrow above points to the place I think the fort is.

Along the way we stopped to visit the Yellowstone Church, or what is left of it.

Behind the pulpit.  Don't worry, we didn't go inside.  This picture was taken through a crack in the wall.

On the way back to the condos we got to experience some of the flash flooding that follows a forest fire.  We made it through just fine, we asked a truck that passed through before us and they said it was ok.

Taking a day off

On Saturday the contractor was off and so we decided to enjoy some down time.  Last winter I had researched the local history and found a canyon that sits out on the plains that was known as a good place to look for arrowheads.

The canyon is quite long and a good 15 miles of dirt roads away from pavement.  It took some time to find an access point that was on public land and had a trail.  Above, Matt is scoping out the canyon and looking for a way down.

Once we found a trail we headed down.

Along the way there were several caves that the kids could explore.

Once down at the bottom we looked around for anything Indian.  The place is known as a meeting spot where several tribes would come together and trade.  There are supposed to be petroglyphs, but we didn't find anything.  No arrowheads or anything else of that nature was found.  

The river was mostly dry but the kids found a few crawdads to bring home.  One escaped that night and took a tour of our condo before collapsing on the kitchen floor.

Headed back up.  It was hot and buggy but we would love to do it again sometime.  It was a good distraction.

Demolition Day Two

The Sipps joined us on this trip.  Sandy to help with the kids and Matt to help out with the demolition. 

On day two the contractor beat us there and started clearing away the dirt from the walls in order to be able to take down the walls that were buried back into the mountain side.

Instead of nails and screws this time we picked up styrofoam that had been used as insulation around the foundation and basement walls.  The pile you see above is only about half of what we accumulated.

A PVC pipe that melted even while being underground due to the heat of the fire.

We got a head start on picking up styrofoam before the contractor fired up the backhoe.

Sandy brought the kids out to see the action around lunchtime.  For the Sipp kids this was the first time seeing the effects of the forest fire.

Phoebe and Moses kept a safe distance by hiding out in the backhoe scoop.  After a few minutes Sandy took off with the kids and the contractor took off to check on another job site.  Matt asked if he could run the backhoe while he was gone and James told him to go ahead.  We were all shocked!

So, Matt got to spent the next 45 minutes playing around with the backhoe.

Matt even mastered picking up cement blocks.  He was a kid in a candy store!  Once James returned Matt had to hand his new favorite toy back over.

Here the walls are down and the cement pad was being pulled up.

I had told James the contractor in advance that I wanted to participate in the demolition as much as possible.  I told him I had build a large portion of this cabin and I was going to be a part of tearing it apart, painful though it may be.  He understood and told me I was welcome to help out in any way I could.  I am thankful for that.  After lunch I was on my hands and knees in the dirt picking up trash while he fired up the backhoe next to me.  I asked if I should move and he reassured me I was safe so I went on with my work.  Next thing I know there is the massive backhoe bucket next to me picking up concrete.  I look up to see Chad and Matt who have stopped what they are doing to stare from a safe distance behind a pile of dirt.  I wish I had a picture of their faces!  That is when I decided I needed to move.  

Demolition Day One

Day one of demolition.  The debris has to be handled in a certain fashion.  The tin has to be removed and washed on site before being taken to a recycle pile in Forbes Park.  Then the metal has to be set aside for recycling.

The ash and debris has to be removed and hauled off and treated as if it has asbestos.  Only certain contractors were licensed to haul asbestos and of those there were only two in the area.  We could have taken the time to have the site tested for asbestos but that came with a $1,500 price tag.  In Colorado asbestos is still a legal building material and all sites have to be treated as if they have it or be tested and proven otherwise.

The contractor, James was skilled with his backhoe and could scrape it all into a heap. 

A sad sight.

When the contractor left to a break for lunch Matt checked to see if he left the keys behind in hopes of taking the Backhoe for a joyride.

With a little down time we drove to the back of the park to see the effect the firefighters had on Bonnet Park.  The area was completely unrecognizable, the quiet, secluded hike now looked like a 4 lane dirt highway.

At the very back of the park the firefighters had bulldozed a large path as a last line of defense but the fire never made it that far.  Instead the fire turned east and headed toward La Veta.

Back at the cabin the demolition continued.

We started cutting down trees leaving large swaths of naked land.

Every chance we got we used a magnet to pick up nails, screws and metal.  I am trying to avoid future flat tires.  The guys and the contractor might have thought I was little over the top and obsessed but hey, no one wants to get a flat tire so far from town.

Our collection.

The Start of Demolition

We left last Tuesday to travel to Colorado to oversee the demolition of what remains of the Cabin.

In a few short weeks the grass grew back nice and green.

This picture shows what the cabin should look like at this time of year.

It was the kid's first time to see it after the fire.

The fire was so hot it melted the street signs.  As a result the demolition contractor had a hard time finding the place and showed up late.

The fire burnt everything it could but the metal tin roof and the concrete wall of the basement.

There were still a few things to find in the rubble, such as a muffin tin and a baking sheet.