It snowed about 5″ overnight and before the plows came, I skied the road, which has a nice gentle slope.
Ranch from the road
On my way back, I heard, “pardon me” from behind. I expected to find someone on foot, but it was a couple in a red pickup looking for the trailhead. The snow was so soft, I didn’t hear them roll up in back of me. Luckily, the plow was just behind them and cleared the parking spaces.
I skied almost to the end of the dead end, but got spooked by large cat tracks, and turned around. Again, from behind me, I heard, “pardon me” from another truck.
First time this ever happened to me and it happened twice in one morning! So polite and unexpected.
I am reading a wonderful book about a pair of sisters, The Dickersons, who lived on the Mummy Range in the early 1900’s, called “Apples of the Mummy’s Eyes”. They viewed the profile of the “mummy” from the off the grid cabin they lived in for 80+ years! From the age of 5-6, they worked with teams of horses to pull stumps and did all sorts of hard labor. Helen was a real homebody, like me, and made pine needle baskets, candies, woven blankets, which she sold at a store on the edge of their property.
Here at McGraw Ranch, we have two guardians, Pulpit Rock and Indian Head. In fact at some point, the ranch was called the Indian Head Ranch.
It just seems like a strong profile to me but nonetheless, he is our protector. The first thing we see every morning.
We took advantage of several beautiful, warm days this week and hiked in the backyard. Tim went to Balanced Rock. I opted to skip the elevation gain and looked at pine cones instead. We have beautiful Ponderosa Pines all around us and their pinecones reminded me of a rose.
The next walk we took was along the Northern Boundary trail into the Comanche Peak Wilderness, where we caught a glimpse into the next valley. It’s easy to imagine what it must have been like to ride horses into this territory when this was a dude ranch.
We didn’t realize we could see Longs Peak, the highest point in Rocky Mountain National Park at 14,256 feet, for a good part of the walk but it was clear to us on the way back.
There was a sundog on the way down. A sundog occurs on either side of the sun when it is low on the horizon and is called a sundog because it sits beside the sun like a loyal dog. My best capture of this was in Maine when we wintered at Schoodic Point in Acadia National Park.
But now the weather is turning colder once again, single digits for the next couple of days. Space heaters are back in use and water is left dripping from all the faucets.
We stopped by the Stanley Hotel, the setting for Stephen King’s “The Shining”, while in town yesterday. They have special rates, more not less, for rooms with paranormal activity. Stephen King shot his own miniseries here but the hotel promotes the Jack Nicholson version.
What’s not clear is that it sits right at the edge of Estes Park and is not at all remote.
Although we are only 15 minutes from town, our setting is remote. Just the way we like it.
I didn’t bring any of my 5 sewing machines out west. There was a limit to how much could fit in the car. It was my choice.
I was contemplating how to finish the napkin hems, without any fringe, by hand, when I read the Estes Valley Library has sewing machines and lots of other things to lend.
So today I got myself a visitor library card and took out a book and a sewing machine.
They had a wall filled with items you could sign out, including scanners, knitting kits, microscopes, telescopes (something else I left behind), trail cameras and more.
I chose a sewing machine. The kit included white and black thread, extra needles, a sharp pair of scissors (or sharp scissors) a beginner’s guide to sewing, instruction manual, and materials to sew a drawstring bag.
Napkins have been zig zagged, cut apart and washed. I’ll sew the hems after they dry.
Now I have to think about what I’d like to borrow next.
Or perhaps it was Kansas. Somewhere along our drive west, I lost one of my favorite handknit hats, Katie’s Kep.
I’m over it but I needed another hat. Luckily I had some yarn leftover from the hap shawl I just finished knitting. It’s Shetland wool from Jamieson & Smith, and is very soft and warm.
We also need cloth napkins. I scored some crochet cotton at the local thrift store and warped my rigid heddle loom.
Not my first color choice but it was all they had and cost a mere $4.
Here’s my cabin workshop, complete with an antique quilt. Big plans!
We’ve designated one of the dining tables our game table. It holds my dad’s old travel cribbage board, cards, chess, and today’s addition: an empty egg crate and dried chick peas for mancala, a new favorite of mine. I may have bought the chick peas just for this purpose.
And in the evening, we’ll have oreos. I woke up with a craving and since we didn’t plan to go out today I made a batch. Yummy,
Yesterday, we finally took our first hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and hiked to Gem Lake. Should have.been a piece of cake. It wasn’t. Apparently I am not acclimated to the altitude yet. With any climbing, my heart rate increased to the 140’s and was mildly uncomfortable. Nonetheless, the views were lovely with several optical illusions, at least to my eye, or maybe it was oxygen deprivation. Elevation gain 1000 feet, give or take.
Love these clouds, getting ready for strong winds to arrive.
There were loads of cool rock formations. This is one of them. Not quite sure how such a perfect round hole was created.
Rock formation in a different perspective.
I see a monkey riding a dog. How about you?
Bowels of the owls???
The lake was most remarkable for the rock formations, which surrounded it.
I finally saw my first elk and then that was all we saw on the drive into town to swim. It’s also the first time the clouds cleared enough to reveal the mountain range.
This one is much smaller than the two Tim saw at the ranch but he was a beauty. Then we saw a field filled with elk, lounging about.
These two had a little tussle and then hung out together and snacked.
After 12 days at 8,000 ft elevation, I didn’t feel sick after swimming. I read it would take me 22 days to get used to this altitude. I’m definitely getting there.
Finally this morning, I saw two bull elk grazing from my front porch.
And here are the adult and juvenile bobcats walking along the field off the dining room.
This mountain chickadee hopped towards me to say hello on the porch. Not as imposing as an elk, but adorable.
Here’s a view of the ranch from the road. Pulpit rock, in the background, is very impressive.
I’m having fun with new to me gadgets: a ninja blender (very powerful), an electric floor washer (not convinced yet it’s better than a mop) and this jar opener. I was dubious at first but it does the trick.
If it wasn’t labelled, I wouldn’t have noticed it.
And finally a fiber update. I started this hap shawl in October and finished it last week. I plan to give it as a baby gift but I have to confess, in the meantime, it is keeping me warm.
It’s from Heirloom Knitting’s Shetland Hap Shawls: Then & Now. I’ll wear it now and give it then. The Jamieson and Smith shetland yarn is so soft and warm.
For some reason, the sky only glows in the west for both sunrise and sunset. Perhaps it has something to do with the mountain valley?
I’m still getting used to 8000 ft altitude. Tim wanted to hike yesterday and I had all sorts of excuses not to. But I went with him for the part of the way.
I spotted this on my walk home.
Road kill?
This is our backyard.
In the morning, while we drank coffee in the dining room, a young bobcat stopped by and meowed on the rock garden.
Later we saw it walk away with its mother, or perhaps father. I found their prints on my return walk.
And in the evening, we had a mushroom leek quiche.
Looks like we will have to shovel even if it’s not snowing. We only got about 4-6″ snow but then the wind blew for a couple of days and created drifts where we didn’t want them.
I may have found a new favorite pastime. I have to knock icicles off the buildings. It is very gratifying – immediately rewarding, with an accompanying tinkling sound.
Snow blows upSunroom
The sunroom is cozy even when it is below 0 degrees f. Passive solar plays a big role in keeping the buildings warm.
View from down the valley to the barn
Such a beautiful, dramatic setting.
The barn
We took a short walk the other day, I’m still acclimating to 8000 ft altitude, and came across places where the elk laid down.
We joined the local pool and our first swim was punctuated by many rests to catch our breath. Otherwise, I feel fine. When we went backcountry skiing in the 10th Mountain Huts outside of Leadville, CO, which is at 10,000 ft, I never acclimated and had the worst headache, despite meds, for the entire time.
High altitude baking intimidates me. My first attempt can’t count because I forgot to add the egg until a crumbcake was already baking. It turned out surprisingly well.
Last night I made a cobbler and pizza. Both were delicious.
We usually volunteer on islands or coasts, where lighthouses are useful.
Now we are close to the equivalent of Point Nemo in North America.
Point Nemo is located in the South Pacific Ocean, 1670 miles from the nearest shore.
On land, its equivalent is the Pole of Inaccessibility, which often refers to the most distant point from any coastline. In North America, the Pole of Inaccessibility is located in South Dakota
We are a mere 6 hour drive from this pole of inaccessibility.
We made it to Rocky Mountain National Park. I can truly say, “We are not in Kansas anymore”, since we drove through it for several hours on our trip west.
We arrived at Mcgraw Ranch Friday, about two hours before the snow and arctic chill fell.
Island and North Country Life 