With A Little Help



Gilberto hauled and stacked logs for
two days

 


Antonio worked as steady as the
chain saw that he operated all day
for two days

  


A big job getting those giant stumps out to the truck
but Ron made it look easy

 


Poncho thought this was fun, not work!

 

Jill came up for three days and enjoyed
working with her Dad

   

We had to keep an eye on Miguel as
he wanted to help so badly that we
had to remind him that he is here for
vacation.




Phil removed most of the slash



Ron Mullinex, the hardest working man around, made some time
in his heavy work schedule and hauled away truck loads of slash
and those giant stumps



Gary will work for food, he brings
the wine.

 

Hurray,  Job completed.  We are all tired 
and have sore muscles

    Removing 20 large trees from the property seemed to be an impossible job in the beginning and we could not find workers.  Fortunately, we had some help from friends and family.  Ralph, Susan and Tori were in the mountains for the weekend and gave Phil some help on Sunday morning before going back to Windsor.  As always Gary Gardner gave Phil a hand with the fence (which he helped build) and chain saw problems. Gary is always on call and is a great neighbor. He is one among other wonderful neighbors.  We had the good luck for two workers to call us and made it possible to finished the job off fast.  Antonio and Gilberto were terrific workers and three weeks to the day of the storm, we finished and had the fence back up.

When Friends Come To The Mountains

Miguel, Lety and Poncho, their first day
on main street Grand Lake for a Rotary
pancake breakfast, Mt. Baldy in the
back ground.
Below, Rotary bingo in the park
Bring a sweater.






Lety and Miguel enjoying the fire  at
a neighborhood gathering.  The out side
fire is a novelty for them.

 



Grand lake is a scenic village with a lot
of history

  

Miguel operating the grill and the 'boys'
enjoying a beer on the deck

  

Lety and Miguel on the beach at Grand lake
which is one block over from main street.
Many homes around the lake have been
in the same family for generations.

  



The hike to Adams Falls is beautiful scenery
and not too difficult for a beginning.  Drink
water, drink water, and more water to stave
off headaches, dizziness, nausea that often
plague people at high altitude.
They didn't have a problem with the altitude
and were in great shape for hiking and bicycling



Poncho in front of Poncho's restaurant.
Grand Lake has many dining options,
all informal.  The wooden sidewalks and
storefronts retain the time honored
Western look.

  

Grand Lake has many charming shops
that are owner operated

Grand Lake lies between Colorado's largest natural body of water and the peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park.  For more than 100 years, it has been a tourist destination.  I try to make it clear that Grand Lake is small town America and the excitement is all about nature.  Wear anything but jeans and you will be over dressed but 'always' take a sweater with you.  Night life in Grand Lake is bingo in the park pavilion. We invited our friends from Guadalajara to visit us with their son who is 22.  They all enjoy nature and exercise.  We could not finish our list of things to do although we were busy every day.


TO BE CONTINUED..........................

Winds Of Change

We have too many federal bureaucracies and federal environmental laws along with too many environmental groups that spin garbage. We don't always agree with them on sensible balance.  How far should we go to alter nature for our benefit?  Do we have 'to control' everything?  I read a historical novel a few months ago, 'The Winds of Change'.  It was interesting, well written and the author managed to voice his philosophy on this subject.  He mentioned that historically the mountain area contained 30-40 pine trees per acre and now we have 300-400 per acre.  The argument for controlled burns and back burns versus the forest have managed without any help from humans for thousands of years continues.  The 1988 Yellowstone Park fire was considered a catastrophe.  Many feel that we have another catastrophe waiting with the trees killed at epidemic level by the mountain pine beetle and until this year drought conditions.  We can't stop the earthquakes, lightening, tornadoes and other acts of nature but sometimes we don't have to intervene.  Nature does it for us in the form of a microburst.  Wikipedia has an excellent description of a microburst that hit us on June 30th and took out 20 very big pines in less than eight minutes.  We often say that if you don't like the weather, just wait because it will change in a few minutes in the Rocky Mountains.  All the photos are weather that happened in less than 30 days. Colorado's surface is not flat and nothing is as close as it looks but it has glorious scenery and sometimes weather. When I think about it, the mountain men (before Lewis and Clark) that came to the mountains to trap fur were the ones that had it tough!

P.S. To see how we cleared out 20 very big pines in exactly three weeks - follow the blog

Rocky Mountain High



Many of these Lodge Pole Pines are gone now

  

Both of the big trees down now
June 22, 2011


 

 winds hit us.  If you don't like the weather,

This tree fell on the roof but fortunately two other trees broke
the fall and didn't damage the roof

 just wait a few minutes if you live in the Rocky Mountains.  I showed the snow storm on my June 20th blog and then we enjoyed those halcyon days that remind you how beautiful the mountains are. On June 30th, around 5:p.m. a storm 'blew' in with strong winds and we thought it was the usual afternoon mountain rain that doesn't last long.  The winds were extreme and after a few minutes we were terrified as 20 to 50 foot trees started falling in every direction.  It was reminiscent of palm trees in a hurricane since both are very tall and shallow rooted. Mountain pine beetles have killed trees in our area at epidemic levels, and have affected the landscape for years to come.  Because of the change in our landscape there is no wind break and there is more moisture in the ground because of the heavy snowfall this winter.  We have sprayed every year for the pine beetle only to end up losing the trees anyway.  We have been working on the grounds for seven years now and in the mountains, it is never ending with slow results.  We do have a big clean up job but the house didn't have damage.

The grounds look like a logging operation



The Lodge Pole Pines have a shallow root system



Ten years of firewood in the yard



We will have lots of fence repair.
We hated to lose this tree with such a perfect shape

   

A Winter Day In June



Nothing better than all the vegetables
you can find, always garlic and a chile,
to make a hot soup for a Winter day in June.




A nice wood fire makes the room cozy.
The sofa table base is a cactus root
from Guanajuato, Mexico






  

A batch of cornbread, Texas recipe

 


June 20th in the High Country

 


Knocking the snow off the aspen and Canadian Cherry tree,
They were bent to the ground with the weight of the wet snow.

 
   Today is June 20 and tomorrow is the official start of Summer, so, I thought today would be a good day to go to Cold Springs Nursery and buy plants for the various flower pots and planters around the decks.   The plan was to go this morning after tennis until we woke up to snow.  Easy for us to change plans, sit by the fireplace and read, watch a movie or cook.  I am thinking of those families camping out, they must be miserable.  We have many lodges and cabins but also camp grounds that families seem to like.Yesterday was somewhat dreary and I made one of my favorites, green chili.  It is not Mexican, not Texan but I learned to make it many years ago when I lived in New Mexico.  There is a truck stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico that is famous for green chili and it is the best!  I decided to use this cold, snowy day to advantage so, I cleaned all the vegetables out of the refrigerator as tomorrow is grocery day.  I made a big healthy vegetable soup.  We won't eat all of it, so will freeze it for the house guest we are expecting July 1.  I didn't plan another blog so soon but I am house bound again and I want everyone to see a Winter day in June (almost July) in the high country.




At noon it is barely above 40*, chilly!





What else can you do, enjoy the fire,
read a book and watch Wimbleton,
not too bad.



Green Chili with roasted chile  poblano strips,
New Mexico style


Many of the dishes I have made for years do not have recipes.  First, brown one pound of ground pork and drain it.  I saute three cloves of crushed garlic and one onion cut in half and sliced on the mandolin (leave in strips) until translucent.   Add 1 quart carton of organic chicken broth, 1- 28 oz. can of Hatch''s long green chilies-diced, browned ground pork and simmer on a low heat.  I like to throw in 1 whole Serrano chile with the end cut off to add some heat.  I put just a pinch of cumin in the broth.  Add a 14 oz can of organic Muir Glen fire roasted, crushed tomatoes.  Simmer until the flavors are blended.  Serve with thin strips of roasted poblano chile on the top. You can serve it on a cheeseburger, burrito or huevos rancheros,  I like it as seen above, a bowl of chili.

Father's Day Dinner At The Grand Lake Lodge



The inside of the main lodge has a circular
fireplace and rustic seating, including a swing



The lodge is mountain charm at it's best
and well preserved.



The view to Shadow Mountain Reservoir.  The
water from Granby reservoir, Lake Granby (on the other side of
Shadow Mountain) and Shadow Mountain Reservoir was built
to protect the water levels of Grand lake, the largest natural lake
in Colorado.

 


The view of Grand Lake  from the upper deck entering the main lodge.

 


 



Stairs leading down to Nuptial Knolls, site of many
 weddings through the years, including Scott and Jill Scheer.

 


What can be more perfect than Father's Day dinner at
Grand Lake Lodge with the spectacular view!
Scott Scheer and Phil on the left and Jill Pankey Scheer and \
Scott's Father, Gordon Scheer on the right.




A great view of Grand Lake village below,
surrounded by mountains.  Mt. Baldy still has a lot of snow on top.



The Grand lake Lodge located at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park offers great views of Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Reservoir   This impressive rustic structure of log and stone was completed in 1920 and is a National Register Historic District.  The lodge has been closed for three years and we are all very happy to see it open again.  It has a special meaning for Scott and Jill who had a beautiful wedding here almost 15 years ago.  Jill and Scott invited us with Gordon to celebrate Father's Day on Saturday since they go back to the city on Sunday for work on Monday.  It was a wonderful choice and we enjoyed the good food and ambiance.  Gordon told me that he came here at the age of ten with his family on vacation and knew then that he wanted to return to Colorado and someday live in Grand Lake.  The Scheers have a wonderful cottage on Grand Lake where we are fortunate to join them for boating and cookouts.  I am sure you will see more about that as the 4th of July is coming soon.  There is a great firework display on the 4th from a platform in the middle of Grand Lake.   It was good to see the lodge busy and lots of people having dinner.  What a wonderful place to bring a family on vacation or share a family dinner.