Jay and I left home right after we got off work at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14. We drove straight through to Colorado Springs stopping only for fuel, a sandwich and bathroom break. Pat Miller invited us to stop by her place for breakfast as we passed through. We had a great visit with devotions, coffee, eggs, toast, gravy and good conversation. After stopping in Buena Vista for some staples and gas, we arrived at the cabin before noon. All told, a 21 hour trip from Washington, IN to Taylor Park, CO.
I would like to report that the trip was without incident. Unfortunately I caught a cold 2 days before leaving home. By the time we arrived in Taylor Park, I was sure that a doosey of a sinus infection had set in – more on that later.
We arrived to be greeted by Brooks and Craig King. Craig is a family friend and good friends with Jay. He lives near Indianapolis and flew out, arriving yesterday. Craig and daughter, Megan were here in mid-June for a week and he tries to get out for an additional week sometime in the fall. After unpacking the truck and settling in, it was apparent that I needed something more than Alka Seltzer Cold Formula and I needed it soon since most pharmacies would be closing soon and not open until Mon. morning... With the help of my sister-in-law, Jo Lori and her uncle, Dr. Jerry Like, a prescription was called into Wal-Mart in Gunnison and I immediately made the 42 mile trip. Thank goodness for nurses and extended family Doctors.
Also at the cabin are mother and son team of Carol and Taylor Denies of Montrose. They are here for a few days elk hunting. Carol is the daughter of Brooks’ good friends, J.D. and Rosie Hermann.
Our first full day in Taylor Park was spent splitting/stacking fire wood and fishing. We made a big dent in a large woodpile. All of the splitting was done at the cabin in Tincup and then we hauled the wood back for stacking at his TP cabin.
Jay and Craig went down to the reservoir and fished from the bank – not much luck – only one. In the evening we split up. I caught a limit of nice brook trout out of a stream and beaver ponds. Jay and Craig had limited success. On their way back from fishing, Jay caught a bug and was sick for the rest of the evening. The Singleton brothers are not very healthy right now. Although we don’t have a TV, we were able to keep up to date on the Cardinals game with the Brewers. Our illnesses were lessened somewhat by the Cardinals clinching the National League Pennant.
On Monday we woke up to snow and blowing winds. Although we only received a dusting at the cabin, higher elevations had 2 + inches. This was the last morning for Carol and Taylor to hunt. He is a college student in Colorado Springs and will return this afternoon. Jay and I braved the snow, wind and cold and decided to go fishing. We invited Dick Mommer and his friend, Chris for a fish fry tonight and we don’t have enough fish yet – so the pressure is on. Dick is a neighbor and good friend of Brooks’. They are here for a few days to elk hunt. Jay and I fished in conditions that were less than ideal – mid 20’s, 3 in. of snow with an occasional snow shower with blowing winds. Although cold and wet, we were rewarded with a nice mess of brookies that should fill our dinner needs. These are pictures of the valley above Tincup where we fished.
The afternoon cleared off and was beautiful. We all ventured back to Tincup and split a large trailer full of wood for stacking back at the cabin. The persistence of the hunters was rewarded. Taylor was able to fill his cow tag. He shot a nice young cow in the early morning, a very proud and happy mother and son. We had an enjoyable evening. Dick and Chris joined us for dinner. The brook trout were delicious. Dick and Chris shared a story of a spring rafting trip that included a couple of near death experiences with a mountain lion and the flipping of their raft.
On Tuesday, Brooks and I headed to Gunnison. We had a few groceries to get, wash to do and general running around. Jay and Craig prepared dinner – Craig’s famous ribs and chicken, and then took the Commander for a test ride. It was a cooler day than we had been experiencing with temps getting only in the low 40’s. In the afternoon Brooks and I went to Tincup to the “Outback”. I fished while he piddled. Jay and Craig did some sawing on trees that had been felled above the taylor Park cabin. I caught a very nice mess of brookies and had a lot of fun doing it!
For dinner we feasted on Craig’s bar-b-que ribs and chicken. The legal time (established by Brooks) for going to bed is 8 p.m... We were all tired and stuffed with food that we couldn’t wait for 8 o’clock to roll around so we can get to bed.
Wednesday was a work day. Brooks had spotted two large pine trees that blew over near a campground 19 miles up the Taylor River. Wood cutting on National Forest Service land is permissible if you have a wood cutting permit and the trees are dead. We loaded up chain saws and equipment in my truck and trailer and Brooks’ pickup and trailer and spent the next 4 hours cutting and loading firewood.
This wood will dry for one year and be split next year for use in 2013. Later in the afternoon we returned to Tincup to stack our bounty for drying.
I failed to mention an unfortunate circumstance that happened yesterday. Fortunately there is a positive outcome. I had mentioned that Jay and Craig had taken the Commander for a drive. They drove several places in Taylor Park. I have a waterproof bag that I keep in the storage compartment under the bed. It contains a tire repair kit, winch straps and equipment, rain gear and portable air compressor. While roaming around they decided to get out and do some fishing and noticed that the tail gate of the storage compartment was open and the storage bag was missing. They retraced their tracks – no luck. They really felt bad. This time of the year the Trading Post is the only establishment open so they stopped to inform them. Well......our trust in humankind was renewed. When we returned from Tincup today, the bag and all contents were setting in the seat of the Commander. The Trading Post folks knew nothing - and we never found out who found and returned the bag. We were extremely grateful.
We had made previous arrangements with Jim and Judy Finnessy – Brooks’ friends from across the meadow to watch the opening game of the World Series. Jim and Judy are in Iowa and graciously allowed us to invade their cabin. We ate an early dinner and prepared adult beverages for an entertaining evening. Well we ended up back at the cabin to listen to the game on a static filled broadcast from an AM station in San Francisco. For whatever reason, we were not able to get a connection for the local FOX station on their Dish Network. All our efforts were rewarded though with a 3-2 Cardinal victory. Jay found out yesterday that if he was home for the Thursday game, he had a ticket for game 2. Friend, Kelly Jones of Vincennes was able to acquire 2 tickets. Jay’s son, Jared will be taking his place.
Thursday was our last full day in Taylor Park. We helped Brooks do numerous small jobs to prepare for cabin closing. A couple of weeks ago, Brooks had 5 trees dropped on the hill behind the cabin. Craig and I spent a couple hours trimming branches getting the trees ready for cutting next summer or fall. Jay and Brooks went to the Outback to close it up for the winter. We had heard of bull moose sighting on Pie Plant Creek – 5 miles north of the cabin. Jay and I took off on the commander and made the drive to the old town site of Pie Plant.
Although no moose sighting, we had an enjoyable commander ride.
Jay, Craig and Brooks measured the old haystacker timbers for replacement. Cows in the pasture rubbing against was the downfall of the haystacker. Jay is going to have some timbers cut out of old utility poles for the replacement timbers. Hopefully Suz and I will return next summer with the replacements and help Brooks restore the haystacker.
The rest of the evening we packed, loaded the commander and continued to help Brooks prepare for closing, then listened to the radio as the Cardinals lost a heartbreaker to the Rangers in game two.
On Friday we all got up early and started packing and cleaning the cabin. By 7:30 a.m. we were ready to leave. Brooks stayed back to finalize a few details and Craig followed Jay and I to Denver where Craig went on to the airport to fly to Indy and Jay and I peeled off to Orchard, CO. to pick up Tripp. Gun Club Labs is located 75 miles NE of Denver. We arrived at 1:00 p.m., visited with the owners, watched Tripp and other dogs work and received my training. We were off – traveling through eastern Colorado, SW Nebraska and back down to I-70 in Kansas. Again, we drove straight through, arriving home around 9 a.m. with Jay and I alternating driving – neither one of us got much sleep. The only excitement was a near miss of a buck in eastern Illinois. It missed us but did not survive the truck in the other lane.
Thanks to Jay for sharing the ride to and from. Thanks to Craig for the food, cooking and company. Most of all, thanks to Brooks for allowing us to invade his cabin and enjoy a great 6 days of fall weather in the Colorado Rockies. The next entry will be mid November as Jay and I travel to South Dakota for several days of pheasant hunting.
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