Late August 2016. The Colorado high country is still enjoying summer, but night temperatures are dropping down to freezing. Aspens show just a few leaves beginning to turn to gold and elk have not quite entered the “rut”.
Category: Outdoors
Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!
Chainsaw Sal, drops them where she wants to…
Sally drops three dead trees and cuts up three more with her chainsaw. “Girls just wanna have fun!”
Sugarloaf
Awesome fishing in Wyoming’s high county…
At 10,700 ft elevation, Sugarloaf is one of the highest National Forest campgrounds in the country.
Kopje Creek Cabin: Spring in the High Country
Wild flowers: Dozens of small early spring wild flowers have appeared at our 8,500 ft elevation cabin. Pasqueflowers, buttercups, forget-me-nots, bistorts, daisy fleabanes, phlox, barrel cactus and many others, despite the fact that we still have snow drifts in the creek bottom over 10 ft deep!
Continue reading “Kopje Creek Cabin: Spring in the High Country”
July Weekend at the Cabin 2015
A gorgeous wildlife-filled weekend at the cabin
Scenic Drive to Cabin – Poudre Canyon, Laramie River Rd, Hwy 130, Brubaker Lane. A lovely 3.5 hr ride through amazingly green countryside.
Elk Hunt 2017
I just booked a guided horseback elk hunt for Ben and I in 2017 with Lynn Madsen, at Yellowstone Outfitters, Afton, Wyoming.
“Our Hawks Rest Camp is located in the Teton Wilderness northeast of Jackson…It sets off the southeast corner of Yellowstone Park between the Yellowstone and Thorofare Rivers (Area 60 on a Game & Fish map). It is one day-pack 28 miles, from our base camp at Turpin Meadows…The Hawks Rest camp holds the reputation of being the furthest spot in the continental United States from a road in any direction. Not only will you be hunting in one of the best trophy elk camps in the United States but you will also be hunting in country that looks the same as it did 100 years ago.
Our fully equipped camp consists of a large cook tent, shower tent, sleeping tents with cots, foam mattresses, and wood burning stoves along with plenty of fire wood. We are proud to say that our camps hold an excellent reputation earned by hiring reputable licensed guides, maintaining a clean comfortable camp, serving good food and supplying both good horses and mules and equipment.”
My brother Tom and I are considering a summer fishing trip with Lynn Madsen as well….
Big Bend National Park, South Texas
Chisos Basin
The basin is at over 5,000 ft elevation, the nearby peaks rise over 7,000 ft.
Trail to “The Window”
Desert Bloom
Hiking Oak Creek Canyon. The volcanic rock has been scoured and smoothed over centuries by the water.
Oak Creek “pour-over”. The water drops hundreds of feet to the desert below.
Lost Mine Trail
Castolon
Wimberly and Fredricksburg, Texas
We had a lovely visit with our family, the Etzler’s, in Wimberley, TX. Barbecue field trip to Cranky Frank’s in Fredricksburg, TX. Rated #19 of 50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas by Texas Monthly Magazine.
Joe, Jani, Jae and Sally enjoy tasty BBQ. Great conversation and warm Texas hospitality. 
Levelland, Texas
John and Bette Hope offer wonderful hospitality at Hope House B&B, Levelland, Texas
Lathrop State Park
Early morning hoarfrost
Cody, Wyoming
Clear sky, absolutely no light pollution, amazing stars, 30 degrees.
Early lakeside breakfast…
Down the Beartooth Highway, connecting to the Chief Joseph Highway
On to Cody, Wyoming to tour the Buffalo Bill Museum (Rocky Mountain Natural History, Plains Indians Life, Buffalo Bill Cody’s life, Western Art and firearms history wings).
Camping near Cody at the Buffalo Bill State Park.
Tomorrow – home to Colorado
The Beartooth Highway
Often described as the most beautiful road in America, the Beartooth Highway is steep, windy and spectacular!
After breakfast at a local diner in White Sulphur Springs (great, crispy hashbrowns, tender chicken fried steak – OMG are we eating this?) the drive to Red Lodge, Montana took us through pretty ranch country. Out of Red Lodge, we started climbing the narrow, winding road to Beartooth Pass at 10,947 ft.
Finding Island Lake campground (9,500ft) closed for the season, we decided to camp at the boat ramp, next to the lake. Technically illegal, but sooo pretty!
David Willett 
