Boulder County The Book

Valentine’s Day, 2002

Juanita and I went to one of the cities down the mountain from us to find a dog for the lodge (our previous dog had died the December before and the lodge was just FAR too empty when we would come home).  Sophie was sitting in the back of her cage there at the humane society,  surrounded by maniacal barking dogs in the other cages.  She was just watching.  I checked the clipboard on her pen.

“So.  Your name is Sophie.”

She heard her name and walked up to the front of her kennel to introduce herself.  She went home with us.

Sophie had been returned a couple of times for “behavior problems”.  Well, she had been behaving like a puppy.  At 6-7 months, she was still very much a puppy.

We had a vacation planned starting several days after we took the dog home with us, so after spending a few days with us, we took her to our favorite kennel in Estes Park, so we could fly away.  When we got home, I returned to pick her up from the kennel.  Happy, bouncy young dog greeted me at the counter.  Happy, bouncy young dog rode home with me to the lodge.  The happy, bouncy young dog jumped out of the car and ran to the front door.  She stared at it for a moment.  Then she looked at me, then back to the door.  Then she LOST HER MIND!

“I’M HOME!  THEY BROUGHT ME BACK AGAIN!  IT’S HOME!”

Happy, bouncy young dog knew her place in the world.

Sophie has been greeting guests, playing with guests and being stroked by guests for the last 9 and a half years.  She has never met a stranger, just people who haven’t petted her yet.

She would join us in the fall on our trail rides, and had her own blaze orange t-shirt to wear during hunting season,  Washoe the horse taught her how to walk down the trail  WELL in front of the following horses.

We began buying pickup trucks with back seats so she could join us on vacations when we took the horses with us.  She would join us on trail rides when she could, and sleep in the truck or trailer when she wasn’t allowed.

Well, the old girl has slowed down noticeably this summer.  Wal-mart would have canned her for slacking on her greeting people as they come through the door.  Sometimes the newcomers rate no more than a raised eyebrow.

So, last weekend I changed the sign over the desk

I guess she is 70 in “dog years”.  Still, I’ve never seen that much hair on a slug.

Bill

We Have a contingency of “Brit’s” in the lodge, and before breakfast (AFTER catching Jesse and putting her back in the corral) one of them was talking about the howling dogs that woke them up at 4:30 this morning.

“No” I said, “Those were coyotes.”

Their eyes got big.

“I’m glad to hear them again.  It means the mountain lion across the highway has moved farther away.” I told them.

“”Now the coyotes can start eating the rabbits in our parking lot again.”

Their smiles were as big as there eyes by now.

Welcome to the American West.

Bill

All summer we spend our time answering questions from guests, or people that just walk in off the street, or random phone calls.  We try to answer all questions accurately and civilly.

  Late in the summer, accuracy is the easy part.

  No, the nearest gas station is in Estes Park, about 14 miles from here.

  No this time of night the nearest open grocery store is in Estes Park, about 14 miles from here.

  We have about 9 inches of snow on the ground right now.

  No, we are not a restaurant.  We are a Bed and Breakfast.  We can feed you tomorrow morning if you spend the night, but  you might be REALLY hungry by then.
 
  My favorite hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park are any of the trails leading out of the Wild Basin trail head.

  My favorite places to eat in Estes are  _____,_____&______.

  Yes.

  No.

  Sometimes.

But later in summer, sometimes the questions can catch me off guard, and sometimes I ALMOST say what I am thinking…

  “WOW!   Look at that chess set!  Does it work?”
  “Yes, it does (But not for you it won’t.)”

  “I see by your website you don’t take children under 14.  Would it be okay for us to bring our 6 week old infant?”
  “I’m sorry, but no.  But it doesn’t hurt to ask! (It doesn’t hurt ’cause I can’t reach through the phone line and DOPE SLAP you.)”

  “So where is this house again?”
  “Go out, turn right, go about 50 yards.  It’s the first house on your right. (Lady, that’s the 3rd time I’ve told you.  It’s not that  hard.  If you ask me again, I will stuff you in your car’s trunk and DRIVE you there.)”

   “I know there is a ban on outdoor fires right now, but camping just isn’t the same without a fire.  Could you sell us some of your firewood for our campsite tonight?”
   “The outdoor fire ban is because of the extreme fire danger due to the excessively dry conditions in the forest.  Why in the name of Smokey’s buttocks do you think I will let you build a fire 1/2 mile UP WIND of me.  Are you out of your MIND?”
   (Oh dear.  Did I say that out loud?)

Sigh.

Yes.

No.

Sometimes.

Bill

We’ve been running on very little sleep and a lot of people for quite awhile now, and it finally took its toll on me today.   I went out to feed this morning; beautiful day, quiet, well-behaved horses.  Maybe too quiet.  They were being so good standing at their bowls eating….

I’ve been haltering Washoe and tying him lightly to the post by his bowl, to keep him from sneaking over to Estes’ bowl as soon as I would walk away to get their hay.  He’s been doing really well, as long as he has the halter on.  Today he stood so quietly, even after I got the hay and gave them each some apple chunks, that I forgot I had him tied and I walked back across the street to the Lodge.

Suddenly I hear Compass calling my name (she is on horseback getting ready to take a ride out) and yelling something about Jesse and the fence.  I turn back in time to see the whole side of the buck fence tip over.  Yep, ever seen eight sections of fence topple?  It’s quite a site!  Apparently Jesse had gone around to Washoe’s side of the feeder (which had slid way too far down the hill over the last few weeks), crowding him into thinking he was in too close of proximity to the picky mare.  They both got their feet tangled in the wooden portion of the feeder and in the melee to free their feet, the lead rope tangled in the fence, breaking as the fence toppled.  Horses were flying everywhere!!!

As luck would have it, one of our male guests and his 21 yo son were also out and came running to help.  While I calmed the horses down, got Washoe into the little side pen and convinced Jesse to NOT jump the whole contraption, they managed to upright a section of the fence.  The three of us were actually able to get the thing set back up, section by section and put the feeder back where it belonged.  Fortunately, our horses like their pen well enough that we didn’t have them scattered across the countryside.  A lot of Mustang snorting from Ranger, some huffing from Estes who wanted the hay laying under the fence, major bucking antics and racing around from Jesse, but that was the extent of the excitement.  I turned Washoe loose from his pen and they all went back to eating – from the monster feeder.

Tonight I go out to feed….and everyone lines up at the proper bowl at the fenceline…just like nothing had ever happened!  You gotta love a happy herd.
Juanita

Here in Allenspark, you learn the local vehicles fairly quickly.  They are the ones you see over and over mixed with the tourist trade cars you only see a time or two.

We noticed this truck cruising Main Street right away.

Kinda Stands Out

Saw the truck several more times, and then parked at our neighbors, just south of the lodge.
Next time, at the fire station.

Naw, it can’t be!?!

Yup.  That’s our local Fire Chief’s truck.

It’s like, camouflage.

Awesome.

Bill

The famous ‘hunters’ didn’t actually get to ride yesterday – family obligations popped up, so no, no moose were spotted.  However, now something has broken into the front of the corral:  BROKEN bottom pole pushed inward, more mangled wire and smaller hoof prints going IN.  I told Bill I don’t know why we even bother with a fence; our HORSES aren’t going anywhere!
Juanita

Just got word that a cowboy friend succumbed to throat and lung cancer after a long and painful battle.

He was diagnosed shortly after our (trip to South Dakota) last year.

If you smoke, stop.

Jack, you will be missed.

Ride on,
Bill

Just came in from feeding and yes, I checked the fence line, and yes, it was broken again.  This time I DID get the camera and a ruler to measure the foot print from last night.  I also collected a wrangler from the livery on the way, to get his ideas.  He agreed that it was a definitely large animal; the print was more than six inches across, a good six inches deep in the mud and had a split hoof.  His guess was moose, also, and to add to that, today a moose cow and two calves were spotted up at the pond by one of their rides.

The wrangler was able to track it further into the grass to see how it left the scene of its wreckage.  Tomorrow, Beel and GunDiva will be going riding and I bet everyone can guess where they will be headed!
Juanita

I don’t know what Jesse shooed out of the corral this time, but it was BIG!  Kyzzer and I were cleaning the ditch last night so the horses’ water source would run better and I noticed a lot of hot wire  ‘popped’ off the top rails, so I started walking the fence line and soon came to a broken spot in the fence.  We have a 4 ft. tall buck fence, so having the top rail missing is noticeable – when you look for it – it’s down in the middle of the aspens where only the horses go…usually.  The top rail had been knocked off with great force and there were HUGE footprints imbedded in very deep mud.  I am guessing it was an elk, even though none have been spotted here recently.  Bill thinks it could have possibly even been a moose.  Whatever, its feet were bigger than Jesse’s the bigfoot, and sunk a good eight inches into the mud at the creek edge there.  Don’t know where or how it got into the corral, but it wasn’t allowed to stay very long!!!
Juanita

August 5-7, 2011: our second annual High Country Rendezvous has come to end, with lots more smiles, giggles, sore muscles and most fantastic weather. The only sad points were not getting to see many friends made last year, due to family/work emergencies…but it has already been scheduled for next year, so there is a chance for redemption (hint, hint, HINT!!!)

Due to a lack of enough riding participants for horse games, Friday became a free day for sight-seeing in the area, then an afternoon and evening at the Larimer County Fair, where we enjoyed rounds of Cowboy Mounted Shooting, Splash Dogs, Fair food, tractors, small animals, big animals (I was taken by the Yaks!) and of course, the Draft Horse Pulls. (Killashandra, you need to post some of your most fabulous pictures from your free time and the Fair.)

Saturday, we awoke to beautiful weather and the rest of our riding contingency. GunDiva had arrived late evening from her stint at HorseMaster filming and a couple more ladies joined us from the Ft. Collins area, and we had Killashandra’s family from NM. Eight of us mounted up after breakfast to ride into Rocky Mt. National Park, namely Calypso Cascades in the Wild Basin region.

The easy part is over as we start up one of the staircases along the way; this is a long, steep span with all eight horses on it at the same time.

Autobot on Jesse, taking a rest while all the horses finished the stairs.

Finally, a view from the top of the world, looking across Wild Basin to Pagoda Mountain.

Renewed growth….a healthy forest awaits us.

Yes, W, it was a long way up!  You and Thunder did a GREAT job!

We had just gone two miles up, now we have to go back down one mile to get to Calypso Cascades, and our adventures aren’t over yet….

This log bridging on the side of the log slide is always good for taking your breath away, because if you looked over your right shoulder down that support, it’s a really loooong way down.

Then we come to the rock slide area, getting closer to the cascades; after all, water running over rocks creates cascades, right?

Finally, lunch break.  We had left the Lodge at 11:00 am and made it to the Cascades about 1:30 pm.  This big flat rock is a favorite eating place – and check out the view…. below our feet….

… and looking up the hill.

Now we had some decisions to make.  Just before getting to the cascades, GD’s horse, Estes, slipped a foot off the trail, getting some scratches and leaving her sore.  GunDiva had chosen to walk the rest of the way in and said she would walk Estes out, but going down the Wild Basin trail instead of the Allenspark Trail we had arrived by.  Upon further discussion, nobody really wanted to ride the same trail back – thinking about all those stairsteps – in reverse.  The WB trail is somewhat shorter, and less difficult, but it also meant some long stretches along the highway to get back to the Lodge.  Since all these horses are trained for riding along the highway and not bothered by speeding traffic, the decision was made.

Mounting up after lunch, rested horses, food fortified humans, the two youngest on the trip in great humor.

Since GunDiva refused all offers of a lift – most of these horses are trained to double – Bill chose to walk also.  GD kept saying something about her trainer was going to be so impressed with the “workout”.

On the pretense of giving the walkers a rest after a mile and a half – OK, so maybe some of our seatbones were wanting a rest, also – we stopped at Copeland Falls at the base of the Wild Basin trail.

That water looked good enough to jump in, except we all knew how cold it was!

This is about the last of the pics; we were all too tired to keep our camera hands up.  We rode another two miles of horse trail after leaving the trailhead to get to Wild Basin Lodge, a mile of paved road through Olive Ridge campground, and a mile along the main highway back to our lodge.  We spent six hours on horseback plus another half hour of lunch time.  The kids were the greatest of troopers; not a whine out of either of them!

We ended the night with southwest pork steaks and brownie sundaes.  You know, ice cream makes everything better!!!!