Friday Night Rodeo and Sunday Drive

Last Friday I went to the Alamosa Round-up, while Leo stayed home and watched RFD-TV on our newly installed Direct TV. I'm sure he enjoyed Hee Haw, while I watched real live critters buck and run. Here are some highlights:


Opening Ceremony

Bareback Bronc Riding

Saddle Bronc Riding

Steer Wrestling

Calf Roping

Women's Barrel Racing

And, of course...BULL RIDING

With the rodeo behind us, the Leos joined our friends Ron and Sooky for a Sunday Jeep Trek "across the mountain" (Ron's words). Ron enjoys taking his Jeep and roaming along the Forest Service roads in the National Forest.

One of the interesting things about this activity is that the "roads" often look more like wagon trails and you can go for hours without seeing any indication that you are on the one you think you are on.

On Sunday, we picked up Forest Service road 107  near Osier. This took us west through the Rio Grande National Forest roughly parallel to Colorado Highway 17. According to the map, 107 connects to 108 near Spruce Hole, which would bring us out to Highway 17. So that was the plan.

Ron..."Now where is that intersection with 108?"

 The 35 mile run took us about four hours and included some rough stretches and fantastic views. 

Now just where is that intersection to 108?

And, Sooky and Leo enjoyed getting out into the wild.

As we headed further west, we reached an elevation that gave us a view of the area around Wolf Creek Pass where the West Forks Fire Complex is burning. This was Sunday afternoon and even from our remote location, we could tell the fire was growing by the steadily  increasing billow of smoke.

That is NOT a volcano.

As we worked our way along 107, our path was crossed by a herd of elk. There were about 40 of them, including several calves. Fortunately, I had a tight hold on Leo's leash, so he couldn't give chase out the window.  Unfortunately, the camera wasn't within reach.

Eventually, we came to an intersection that had potential. Fortunately, Ron had a field artillery FO along who knows how to read a map instead of smoke signals, so we turned left and found we were on 108.Twenty minutes later we were in Highway 17 about 8 miles from Chama, NM. Nice Sunday drive.

Time for lunch

On Thursday , Ron and I took a drive to Osier, Colorado. Osier consists of one main building on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad line and a few smaller out-buildings.

Osier, Colorado

Its significance is that it is the meeting point of the Eastbound train from Antonito, CO and the Westbound train from  Chama, NM. The trains meet here each day around noon and the Osier station serves a lunch buffet. From Mogote Meadow, it's about an hour long drive up a dusty gravel forest service road.

Inside Osier Lunch Stop Depot

 
 By driving up, we got there ahead of the trains and had completed lunch before they arrived. The buffet is a real good spread, all you can eat for $10, so I'm sure we'll be back a few more times this summer.

Outside Osier Lunch Stop Depot

On our way back, we came across a Mormon church youth group from Albuquerque, NM , performing a Trek. They were dressed in pioneer clothing and traveling along the dusty forest service road for a historical re-enactment of the Mormon Handcart Migration.

Mormon youth group on historical re-enactment

Not my photos

We didn't whip out our cameras and start snapping. It just seemed disrespectful. So the pictures above are off the web, but look exactly like the kids we met. Fortunately for them, their Trek had added features not enjoyed by the pioneers....port-a-potties and a water tanker.

Further on down the road we took a side cut-off to a site overlooking another station (now unused) on the railroad. 

Unused station on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad

This hilltop will be a great place to take a lounge chair to read a book and/or take a nap, assuming the bugs stay at bay.

Settlin' in

The Leos are getting settled into the Conejos River Valley for the summer, making new friends and finding the local fishing spots. One of my neighbors, Ron, is a retired Marine pilot who has been coming here for several years. He has been kind enough to load me up in his truck or Jeep and show me around the area. We have visited several streams in addition to the Conejos River.

He also introduced me to Jeremy Smith, the owner of the local fly shop, who I engaged as a fishing guide a few days ago. Jeremy took me to a private stretch of the Conejos and gave me pointers on the most effective techniques for this river. Of course, since this was a private access area, it was well stocked with large trout. It made for a good morning of fishing. 

 

Richard, another of my neighbors here in Mogote Meadow RV Park, has been coming here for the past few years and has purchased property in the Sheep Creek development. He has spent the past two summers here working on site preparation and plans to build a house in the next few years. His site is on the side of a mountain and is heavily forested. So, site prep means clearing dead and fallen trees and using the logs to fill in gullies on the property. Richard has chosen to do all of this work himself, by hand. This means he spend 5-6 hours each day cutting brush and trees and dragging them into the gullies to "compost" to fill in the low spots. Last year's compost pile was 30 feet long by 12 feet deep. Leo and I visited the site with him last week and can see he has done a lot of work, but has a long way to go. Here are some pictures of the area around Sheep Creek.

Richard's site is up on the mountainside in the left of the picture

   

Building sites are up in the trees

Today Ron and I took his Jeep up to La Jara Creek. This is a small stream that flows from La Jara Reservoir, which is south of Alamosa and west of La Jara. After turning off paved highway, we traveled 16 miles on rough forest service gravel roads to the Reservoir. Then we headed down two miles of tractor tracks (good thing we were in a Jeep) to reach the Creek. It was a beating, but worth it. From the time we turned off the paved road, we didn't see another vehicle or person.

La Jara Creek

 La Jara Creek is a high mountain stream that flows through meadows and canyons at about 8,000 feet above sea level. In route we saw pronghorn antelope and elk. No bears this trip, but I expected the see one at any time. We caught  brook and brown trout, ranging from 4 inches to 12 inches.

12 inch brown trout. I caught three like this.

Ron reported hooking one in excess of 18 inches and almost landed it until his dog, Sooky, pounced on it and it got away. Sooky is a black lab mix and had a blast running around the meadows and across the creek. Leo spent the day in the trailer relaxing and listening to classical music. I know he would have enjoyed going along, but then I wouldn't. It would be like fishing with a three year old. I may try him out when I'm not fishing with someone else, but I don't have high expectation for him as a fishing  companion.