June 4, 2012, Molly Brown Campground, again. To bed early last night, up late today - ah, the life of a camper. It is hard to beat. We are still in the Leadville area on Turquoise Lake. Today’s pictures combine some from yesterday and others taken today on walks around the lake. Yesterday, we did a 3-mile walk to the north end of the lake.
Today, we walked to the dam on the south end. The walk to the dam was along a nature trail. There were a gazillion mosquitoes along the trail. When I stopped and look skyward, I could see literally thousands of them swarming above. They put off a high-pitched hum that could be heard as we walked along the trail. Amazingly, I had not a single mosquito bite. I don’t think any even landed on me. I must emit a manly aura that frightens creatures of the woods. Yes, I think that’s it.
Annie needs some of that aura. Then she could leave her ever-present and deadly bear repellant at home. When we started our walk today, she stopped fifty yards from the camp site. “I forgot my bear spray,” she said in an alarmed tone of voice.
“You don’t need it. You’ve got me to protect you,” I responded. She turned around and walked toward Harvey. Moments later she returned with her bear repellant in her shirt pocket. You’ll see me pointing to the repellant in one of today’s pictures.
“You must not have heard me, I said you don’t need it, you’ve got me to protect you,” I said again.
“I heard you, I just don’t like the odds of you against a 400-pound bear,” she said.
“Hummpf,” I snappily retorted. That is one of my best come-back lines. It is hard to believe that I graduated high school, finished seven years of college and “hummpf” is the best I can do. I could do better if Annie would let me use cuss words.
But, back to my story; after finishing the nature trail portion of the walk, we were faced with a decision to return the way we came, or walk back along the road. Annie saw a sign that said it was two miles back to camp along the road. We had just walked two miles along the trail, so we (read, she) decided we would avoid the mosquitoes in the woods and walk along the road. The walk along the road seemed much longer than two miles. Walking with Annie is like walking with a pre-schooler. “How much longer is it? Why do they put all these hills in the road? I wish I had some water? Why didn’t you bring water? How much further is it? Stupid sign maker; if it is longer than 2 miles, why did the sign say 2 miles? Are we getting near? Stop getting behind me! Stop getting ahead of me! Talk to me!! Are we almost there? Oh, why do I ask you, you don‘t know any more than that stupid sign maker.”
So, it was a delightful walk in the woods today. Wish you could have been with us.
June 3, 2012, Leadville and Molly Brown Campground. We have struggled with deciding whether to stay in the west or drive back to Lake Michigan, particularly Door County. We didn’t quite get enough while we were there and were forced to leave so I could get to a meeting in Estes Park. The meeting in Estes was cancelled, but I had told Judge Wright I would bring him pictures from Haigler, so we felt committed to come west. Annie is afraid that she will grow tired of the mountains. When we come back in July, it will be our third trip in three months.
I was ambivalent about staying or going east. She was, too. So, we vacillated one way, then the other. We even flipped a coin. The coin toss came up in favor of gong back east. However, this morning, we left our camp site in loop A and drove through loop B. We found a perfect camp site on the lake. From the back window of Harvey, we see Turquoise Lake, shrouded by snow covered mountains on three sides. It is a perfect camp site. So, we reserved it for the next two nights and abandoned any thought of force-marching 1100 miles back to Door County. But, it was a close call.
From here, we will probably move north to the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, near Grand Lake. After that, who knows. Annie is beginning to believe we need some structure to our lives, that we need someone to take charge and tell us what to do and where to go. That someone is usually me, but listen, I am on senior status. Besides, I have mellowed in my seniority.
We had lunch in town at the Tennessee Pass Café. It is in a purple and green building. The server was in her twenties, with a full sleeve of tattoos and a tongue stud. The food was delicious. Annie asked about the soup of the day. The server said the chef decided not to have soup today. Not a bad gig, opined Annie, “If you want to make soup, you do. If you don’t want to make soup, you don’t.” It was reminiscent of the all-powerful Soup Nazi on the Seinfeld television show.
We wandered about Leadville after lunch, taking pictures of the colorful buildings and homes. The locals are unusual. They march to the beat of a different drum. Beards, hats, overalls, jeans, long hair, body ornaments all abound. Leadville, once a rich mining town, struggles to survive as a tourist attraction. The colorfully decorated homes and buildings feed the desire to see something different.
Fortunes were made and lost here. Molly Brown, once wealthy, lived comfortably in her last years, but certainly not lavishly. Baby Doe Tabor, fifteen years younger than her wealthy, but married, lover later married him after his wife finally consented to a divorce. He lost his fortune because of poor investments, became a postmaster and died a year later. Baby Doe lost the Matchless Mine because of unpaid debts. The new owners graciously allowed her to live in the shack at the mine. There, in 1935, she died of exposure and her remains were found frozen to the dirt floor of the shack.
One of the reasons I like Leadville is that it is one of the highest communities in the country. At 10,200 feet above sea level, it is a mile higher than the Mile-High City. There isn’t a lot of oxygen at this altitude. We walked along the lake tonight along a level trail. I was happy that it didn’t have a lot of hills along the way. I am afraid I would have been huffing and puffing.
June 2, 2012 - Gunnison, Monarch Pass and Leadville. Tonight finds us above Leadville - no small feat inasmuch as Leadville is 10,200 feet above sea level - in Molly Brown campground, a part of the National Forest Service. Molly Brown, you'll recall, was the wife of a wealthy Leadville miner. She is best known for surviving the Titanic disaster and cajoling the passengers in her lifeboat to return and pick up other passengers swimming in the icy sea. A play and movie characterize her as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."
The campground is nice. It is located on Turquoise Lake, a large body of pretty green water. There are no services here. That's fine. We don't need no stinking services. Harvey has all we need.
I cooked pork loins on the grill tonight along with potatoes and onions. It wasn't bad. I've had worse and paid a lot more for the privilege.
We visited the old Farm and Home cabin this morning on the Taylor River. It has changed over the nearly 40 years since we stayed there with a one-year-old Casey. The green asbestos siding has been replaced with redwood. The old one-car garage is now a two-car garage. Otherwise, it looks much the same. There were six bedrooms along a long corridor between the garage and the living area. The home bends at a 45 degree angle where the living area begins. The living room is lined with windows. We had a good time there on our first family vacation.
We crossed over Monarch Pass again coming back to Leadville. Annie gets nervous on passes. I noticed she was leaning toward the middle of the van. "Why are you leaning this way?" I queried.
"I am trying to use my weight to keep the van from rolling off into the ravine," was her response. I don't think her slight weight mattered all that much.
We passed a biker near the top of the mountain. We stopped at the top and found his companion, a woman, probably in her sixties. She was admiring Harvey and we struck up a conversation. It turns out that she was raised in Fairway, KS, in a white house across from the old mission. She and her husband, the straggling cyclist we passed, began their ride in San Francisco and planned to finish it in Pueblo, CO, another 100 miles or so from the pass.
He soon joined us. They are retired from the information technology field. They mentioned that they have hiked the Mexico-to-Canada Pacific Crest Trail five times. I looked it up. That trail is over 2000 miles long and passes through six of the seven ecozones including high and low deserts and rain forrests. I guess I belive them. It seems pretty incredible that they would have done it five times. They looked to be in shape to have done it.
We may stay here again tomorrow night. There is a lot of history in Leadville and we'd like to explore the town on foot. And, why not? We have nothing else to do.
June 1, 2012, Middleton and Seewoester Cabins. Up early today, we drove down I-25 to Colorado Springs, then west on Highway 24 to Buena Vista. We finished the day by topping Monarch Pass - elevation, 11,300 feet above sea level - and settling in Gunnison. Gunnison has special meaning to us, because we stayed in the Farm and Home cabin on the Taylor River near here in 1974 when Casey was one year old. We spent a week there and our love for the mountains was cemented.
On first trip here, in 1974, we stopped by the Middleton cabin in Florissant, west of Colorado Springs. The cabin had no electricity or plumbing. Floyd was a frugal man and saw no need to improve a cabin they occupied only a few weeks each summer. The following year, the Middletons allowed us to stay in the cabin a few nights in exchange for doing a few odd jobs while there. Fred and Anna joined us the final night, before moving on to Estes Park. We rented a pop-up camper and stayed in Moraine Park Campground for about five days.
Somewhere between Florissant and Buena Vista is the Tourtillott property. We were there 6-7 years ago and I thought I might be able to find it again. I failed. So on to Buena Vista where we thought we might spend the night. We arrived in the early afternoon, too early to camp. So, Annie Googled Fred's brother Doug, got an address which I punched into the GPS.
We drove directly to the house and Doug and Kim were in residence. We chatted a while, then departed for Gunnison. We settled in here about 6:00 this evening and got a space with a cable TV connection. For the first time in a week, we watched the news. Not much has changed, except the Dow Jones dropped into negative territory for the first time this year. I didn't need to know that.
The pictures show Pike's Peak, the Middleton cabin, scenes along the highway and Doug and Kim's home. Tomorrow, well, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring. We may stay in this area a day or two, or we may move on. I like this. After 41 years of responding to deadlines, it is nice not to have any.
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May 31, 2012, Loveland and Cherry Creek State Park, Andy, Kate and Meg. Uneventfully began the day with some light shopping at the outlet mall in Loveland. Annie had her shopping to do and I had mine. You can guess who went where. Sadly, the mall is yielding to the current recession; most of the stores have closed.
Shopping finished, we drove to Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora and secured a space for tonight. The deer are plentiful here. We saw four as we drove to the Sweeney's home. There, we met the Bradley grandchildren that Jody has been waxing deliriously about for the past many months. Andy was born to Aaron and Jenny in August. Kate and Meg came along in December changing John and Stacey's lives significantly.
The Sweeneys have a lovely home not far from Cherry Creek State Park. John is traveling this week, so Jody and Dick came to help Stacey manage the twins. The three children with the same maternal grandparents have completely dissimilar personalities. Andy is rambunctious - though quiet after his nap. He still isn't sure what to make of the big guy stalking him with a camera, flashing lights in his eyes. Kate is certain of what she wants and makes a point of training the adults to get it for her. Meg is quick with a smile, but more deliberate in her actions.
Aaron worked at the grill while I tried to entertain Andy. He would allow me to calm him, but never quite seemed to understand who I was or what I was doing there. Kate was oblivious to the intruders - or, perhaps it was gas - while Meg charmed us with her good humor and temperament.
A very nice evening it was. It made me proud to have participated in the marriages of the parents. And, Jody's delirium is completely justified.
