La Garita

My apologies for not blogging at all this summer. Needless to say, it was a crazy one. I spent my days at the ranch, where there was no cell service or internet access (ergo the lack of blogging), and would spend my nights either working in town or running with Creede EMS or Search and Rescue. So much for my plan to have fun this summer. Well, that may be a little harsh- I did have a lot of fun, just not where I expected it. I got to go on a few search and rescue calls that were always entertaining, to say the least. I swear...people from Texas should not ever be allowed to go hiking in Colorado. My time at the ranch was awesome, and I made a lot of new friends there. Wade, the head wrangler, was a lot of fun to work with. I was able to take my mom and sister on a horseback trip up to Wheeler Geological Area, right as the leaves were really starting to change color. It was an awesome trip, despite the extra long detour at the end of it:) I've decided to work at Wolf Creek again this summer (like I could stay away from that place if I tried), and am planning on moving to Pagosa with Kade for the winter at least. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to work next summer, hopefully I can land a nice job in Pagosa with their EMS service, but we'll have to see when we get there. Anyway, I finally got some pictures on my computer from this summer...it went by too fast.

I can't really remember the last time that I've been excited for summer. Summer for me has always meant work...and a lot of it. Last summer I worked for the Forest Service as a Wilderness Trail Technician. For those of you who are not familiar with this, it meant that I hiked more than any normal human being should and cleared out a lot of trees. Yeah, this job kept me busy and out of trouble (no easy task), but as far as enjoying the summertime and what it potentially had to offer...I failed miserably. This summer though, I hope to change that. I'm going to be working at the La Garita Club as the assistant wrangler. I am also hoping to volunteer for the Creede ambulance service- just to keep things interesting. I figured that since I spent so much time and money to get my EMT-Basic certification, I might as well put it to good use. Since I'm going to have some free time in the evenings, I have decided to try and learn how to fly fish and maybe give skateboarding another try. I have never really fished that often (just with my dad when I was younger), but fly fishing has always seemed like it would be fun-even if I never catch anything- that, and a really good friend of mine said he would help me out with it (brave man). I tried skateboarding a few times in high school- and had a lot of fun with it until a friend of mine broke my one and only skateboard. I didn't really have the money at the time to buy a new one, and eventually forgot about it. Seeing as how there is a fairly decent skate park in Creede, I figure why not give it another go?

Well, life has changed for me a bit since my last post. I now live in Creede permanently (or at least until I buy a house somewhere else). I spent the winter working at Wolf Creek Ski Area as a lift operator. I will continue working there next season as both a lift operator and a snowboard instructor (if the boss allows). This summer I will work at Cottonwood Cove again as a wrangler and raft person. I am really excited- I think it's going to be a good summer. I have made a lot of new friends over the winter season, most of them living in Pagosa Springs. Oh well, I don't mind driving a little bit to see people. I live with my dog Kade in a house on the main street of Creede. I recently bought a pick-up because it's kind of hard to live in Creede without one. I am also taking classes in Creede to be certified as an EMT-basic. The class is really hard, but I am enjoying it. I just got through with clinicals, which were a blast! I saw a lot of cool things and helped some amazing people. Well, that's most of what has happened as short as I can keep it- later I will start to post some more detailed blogs when I get a computer and don't have to use the library's. Well, that's it for now!

On the Trail

So I finally was able to get Kip to go on a horseback ride with me- and I remembered to bring my camera along. The picture above is obviously Kip and his horse Archie. All of the pictures shown here were taken from horseback, so I apologize if they aren't that great.

This is the start of the 4UR ranch property just past Wagon Wheel Gap. It is about 20,000 acres from what I hear. They kindly allow us to use their horse trails during the summer.






I love this picture of the Rio Grande (or Rio Bravo depending on what side of the border you are on). There are always people fly-fishing at this spot. Believe me- the water is freezing!






Obviously this is our group- led today by John who is the head wrangler. He's been working at Cottonwood Cove for more than 20 years. I'm learning a lot from him.

The rest of the pictures are just some of the things you would see on the trail ride- there also is a cave there that I haven't gotten a picture of yet.

I figured Addie would like to see some pictures of the horses. This one is my horse Scout. I would have to say that he is my favorite by far. We've become good buddies over the past few weeks.

This is the other horse that I use for the rides. He belongs to Ronnie, who is the other wrangler that I work with. His name is Charger-which fits him well. He bullies the other horses around all day. He can also open gates, take the bridles off of the other horses, and bite holes in saddles. He's a handfull, but has a great personality.

As soon as I can get my mom's camera to work on my computer, I have some pictures of the bear and the cabins. Hopefully I can post those soon.

Update...

Well, it has been a crazy few weeks, with the next few only going to be even more so. Kip and I have been working a lot doing many different things. I have finally moved away from restaurant work into the horseback rides. I am now called the "Assistant Wrangler" or the "Out Rider". It's pretty buff. I have been able to go on tons of rides, repair torn-down fences (long story), and shoe a few horses. Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to take my camera with me- but will be getting pictures from some of the other workers to post on Tuesday. We have also had a couple bears roaming around lately. They havn't been too much trouble- they both are only about a year old or so. We think that their mom got hit by a car last week and are hoping that the DOW will soon relocate and feed them. My mom got a funny picture of one that I will post as well. Kip has been spending his days off going fishing and working on model planes. I think that he is enjoying his summer so far- he is working mostly with the rafts and in the restaurant. Most of my free time is spent with the horses. I'm definitely taking a ton of pictures tomorrow- so keep checking back.

Creede

Well, we arrived safely in Creede last Sunday and have been really busy at Cottonwood Cove. On Wednesday, both of us had the day off, so I decided to take Kip to one of my favorite places in the area. It is a waterfall about 25 miles West of Creede called North Clear Creek Falls (aka- Silver Thread). The water level was unusually high so we weren't able to wade in the water like we usually do. I love this place particularly because of the scenery- which is absolutely amazing. Here are a few of the shots that I took.
I'm still not used to taking my camera everywhere with me, so I hope to have some pictures in the near future. So far, I am working as the second wrangler on the trail rides and Kip is just doing a little bit of everything- from restaurant work to maintenance.

What I've been up to lately

With a few weeks before we have to go to Colorado, I decided that I would spend my time customizing my car. Not many people do this, but I felt that I needed a hobby-so why not? I have painted the interior and the tail lights. Overall, it took about a week and a half to complete the whole project. Here are a few pictures of what it turned out like. Also, I have added a link on the right side of this page to my cardomain web page, with details of the project and more pictures.

















The dash was by far the hardest part of the whole project. I had to remove almost the whole assembly, sand it down, and then paint it. Originally, the dash was a ugly gray color, so I think this definitely added a sporty look. I am still in the process of doing touch ups. I am planning on painting the exterior of the car white in a few years so it will match the interior.
















I especially like how the taillights turned out. Originally, they were completely red, and very boring. I'm still not sure if this is even legal in Utah, but I guess I'll find out soon enough. I also don't know why the car looks pink-ish in this picture, it hasn't faded that bad yet.





That's mostly all I've been doing lately, and hope to do a few more modifications as soon as I can afford them. Car parts are ridiculously expensive, and I have considered trying to get a sponsor to help pay for them. Not really sure how to do that, or if that's even a possibility in Utah, but it would definitely be worth it, even if I had to go to a lot of car shows.