August 2008

August 2008
Back to Colorado again and the cabin. The hummingbirds are numerous and fight constantly over our feeder which is emptied regularly by their greed. We relaxed and started to deal with our extensive forestry tasks. A camping trip was a must and we managed to arrange to go to Turquoise Lake up by Leadville with Gail and Tom and Mark and Bridget with Aspen and Christopher. Gail’s sister Lois and her husband Billy came too. The lake is an excellent trout fishing place so there were added attractions for many.
We took the Jeep up the old railroad grade towards the route that the Midland Railway originally took to the Hagerman Tunnel and towns near Aspen and then walked up to a lake near the site of the tunnel and the collapsed ghost town of Douglass City. It was a great climb with splendid views back down the valley towards Turquoise Lake and Leadville. Some brought their fly fishing gear to the high lake but there had been a very hard winter and no fish were evident anywhere. The lake had probably frozen too hard for them to survive.
We tried to work out the route of the railroad from embankment to embankment and realised that immense lengths, curves and climbs had to have been on long vanished and immense trestles. Later research

confirmed that view. Back down to the Lake and more fishing - nobody seemed to be catching supper though...
Evenings centre around the camp fire and supper with the occasional beer or plastic cup of wine. Meals are eaten off paper plates which means very little washing up is needed. Its the Great American Way!
The only disadvantage with camping around Leadville is the altitude of over 10,000 feet so even in summer the nights get very cold.
The second day here we to another hike/climb to a lake in a different high valley. This was a very steep climb and all we pensioners made frequent stops in the thin air. We could see the layout of the railroad from above here and the feat of engineering was amazing. Life must have been very cheap and little work was done with explosives, mainly it was pick and shovel all the way. Work went on in winter despite all the ice and snow.

It was a great weekend and so good to be outdoors with our friends and family. The fishing was less successful though.
Back at our cabin we once again settled into the forestry and relaxation. We find it so peaceful there that it makes a great place to recharge personal batteries.
The deer are very much about at this this time of the year, usually as small groups of males or groups of females with young. Occasionally a complete family appears but it does not seem to be the norm. The stags have small antlers covered in velvet and are really fairly unconcerned about our proximity. The couple pictured on the left are about 20 feet from the front deck in the area where the dried up stream has left very green, lush grass. Their favourite food is young aspen leaves and all the small trees are pruned up to their grazing height. If we clear an area around a sapling they promptly eat it!