The big news this week came by way of Sue’s birthday on 7th. Hannah and Guy flew out and we went to Denver to pick them up. It’s a bit of a trip with Denver 120 miles away and the airport a further 22 miles out of town and I was a little concerned that Old Faithful (a 1991 Ford Explorer) might get cold feet half-way there – or back. But all was well and we got back at 12.00 midnight.
It’s a shame that it was dark because they missed a lovely drive through some beautiful countryside that includes two mountain passes at over 10,500 feet, deep canyons, a mile long tunnel and a view over the mid-west plains that goes all the way to New York I should think. Imagine Norfolk times a thousand. Never mind, they will see it when they get their return flight which leaves during the day.
Denver is proud of being known as the mile high city and it boasts some fine modern buildings in the downtown bit as well as an enormous urban sprawl and a historic old town bit. It was from here that the pioneers first saw the mountains they were going to take three months to cross, or to go to the Gold-or-Silver-rush towns.
En route we went through, or at least over, Georgetown that apart from being a historical Gold-rush town, also has a 50 mile loop of working narrow-gauge steam railway that is part of the network of railways that laced through the mountains connecting the smaller towns and carried people, supplies and gold / silver. It also has the first bank to be robbed by Butch Cassidy who had his Hole in the Wall hideout in a box canyon not far away.
It was lovely to see them both and we spent our first day out on Sunday giving them the guided tour of the area ending up in a Thrift Shop in Minturn. Unlike the one in Edwards, the clothes here are dated on the price ticket and if they have been in for more than 30 days there is a 30% reduction and if for more than 60 days, a 50% reduction. The sale price is split between the previous owner and the shop rather than being donated as with the Edwards one. Hannah and Guy were amazed at the quality of the clothes, with designer labels abounding. Tempting though the fur bodywarmers, cowboy boots and one-piece ski suits were, they managed to buy only a pair of ski / boarder trouser each.
Back to the big news.
Guy had been given a birthday card and a Mother’s Day card for Sue from Natasha to bring out with him and he forgot one so when Natasha Skyped Sue on her birthday to see if she had received it, she hadn’t. Natasha was quite annoyed and it turned out that it was because enclosed in the card was a copy of a fourteen week scan showing Pace-Bardon junior! This is great news and we were all very excited at becoming Grandparents, Aunties and Uncles. It (specific variety as yet unknown) is due in September so it seems that the honeymoon Caribbean Cruise was a success. All very exciting and we look forward to seeing the original in due course.
It snowed overnight on Sunday for the new arrivals so we all went out skiing on Monday and although the visibility wasn’t terribly good as it was continuing to snow, it was wonderful skiing with about 6” of powder on top of the snow base pack. Today (Tuesday), they all went out again and I was left home alone to clean the hot tub, make bread, take the rubbish to the recycling site etc.etc. Actually I find that skiing on consecutive days is a bit too much for my poor knees at the moment and we are aiming to go to Vail on Thursday to explore the Back Bowls and I want to be as fit as possible for that.
One of the trips we were hoping to take with them was to go down to Glenwood Springs via the Hanging Lake and have a soak in the lido again. As I have mentioned before there is a wonderful 13 mile, very deep, sheer-sided canyon before Glenwood and is seems that last Sunday some rocks fell onto the Interstate carriageway. When I say rocks, I mean that one was the size of a car and punched its way straight through the top, Eastbound, carriageway and landed on the lower Westbound carriageway! Fortunately it happened at night and no-one was underneath but it may take a week to repair the hole and clear off the rocks. There is also another similar-sized rock poised to come down and the highway men are considering dropping that one in a controlled explosion rather than wait for a spring thaw to fire it down. The diversion is about 180 miles which gives some idea of the importance of this road. We might still go and just take the diversion because the scenery where it goes is supposed to be magnificent as well and the Police lady who I talked to, to get an update on the situation, said to make sure we travel in the daylight because it goes through some very wild areas with lots of wildlife to be spotted including bald-headed eagles.
With the last lot of guests leaving last Saturday, we now have four guests as well as Hannah and Guy, and when they leave on Saturday 13th and 17th respectively, the order book is empty with no more guests scheduled in at all. This means that we may well be coming back much earlier than planned which will be a very good job as far as Sue’s shoulder is concerned because it means that any operation that may be needed on her shoulder, will be carried out within the time-span required. Sadly it also means we won’t get to go touring for a month but Sue’s shoulder is clearly more important and we will have an excuse to return to Colorado. Negotiations regarding wages for the non-worked, contracted month are beginning.
The weather has been really quite mild down at the bottom of the mountain even though it has been snowing well and sticking at the top. We have seen more and more grass appearing and in places it’s starting to turn green although the man in the Bank assured us that there is still a real possibility of serious snowfalls in March and April. I am half expecting crocuses to show up although I don’t know if they are here or not.
One effect has been that our feathered friends have stopped coming to our feeding station which is a shame because they provided lots of interest while washing up. I suppose they can find other more natural sources of food as the snow melts, but it does turn on its head a well-known saying as in this case they are definitely foul-weather friends.
A strange tale now, which is typical of both the place and the time. In 1891 a man who had been elected Sheriff of Red Cliff called Arthur Fulford, set off 11.30 pm on 31st December into a snowstorm up a mountain called Slate Mountain. His brother was unable to go with him but became worried when he didn’t return the next morning and went to find him. Unfortunately his tracks led to a sheer edge and he was unable to find his brother until the spring when his body was found at the bottom of a snow and rock fall. As a fine upstanding citizen, he was buried at Red Cliff and was much missed.
The reason he was out at night in a snow-storm was based in a story that started off 30 years earlier.
Then, a group of friends set out from Denver towards California when they discovered ‘coloured’ rock ie rock that indicated the presence of gold. Eight of the group decided to stay and explore while the rest carried on to California. The eight discovered the gold vein and eventually accumulated a large quantity of gold nuggets that they hid in the mine shaft. As they were running out of provisions coming up to winter, they sent Buck Rogers off to get some more, which was a 7 day trip away. Unfortunately while he was away, it snowed and he was unable to get back to them. Never mind, he went to the bar and waited. Unfortunately it snowed for a long time and by the time it cleared up he had spent the gold he had brought with him for provisions. He returned to the mine but found that there had been a rock-slide and the mine was obliterated as were his compatriots, of which there was no sign. Overcome with remorse, he drifted around and eventually died in Denver in 1881 after telling a Doctor all his problems (and where the mine was). In 1891, Arthur and his brother was running a “Halfway House’ Hotel between Eagle and Nolan Creek (a gold rush mine area), and frequently rented horses to prospective prospectors. He became friendly with one old prospector who said he had a map to a gold mine where he had found bones, tools, and gold nuggets. They formed a partnership whereby they would go and clear the gold nuggets from the mine in the summer. Unfortunately, two weeks later, the prospector was killed in a fight in the Saloon at Red Cliff, and after going through his Hotel room, Arthur came across the map of where the mine entrance was. He eventually found the site after searching for several years, and was going to hammer in the corner site pegs as required by law which stated that if a mine was not worked for a year, it could be re-assigned, to a new owner, by registering it on a first come first served basis, on 1st January of each year.
This then, was why it was so important that he was going off, late at night, with pegs in his backpack and into a snow-storm.
What a story – and it’s true!
Incidentally the mine-shaft has never been discovered although a detailed description written down by the Doctor in 1881 and generally made known in a pamphlet called Timberline to Goldmine is freely available.