A Good Long Day at the Chaffee County Fair

We're way behind in getting travel posts published because we were having way too much fun traveling! So we won't be confused about when each "wandering" happened, we'll start each blog with its actual date.

July 29, 2023

While we were hanging out at Buena Vista for a month, we were looking for festivals or celebrations in the area. While we didn't find a festival for the first weekend, we did find the Chaffee County Fair. The fairgrounds are on the west side of the neighboring town of Salida, with a beautiful view of the 14ers on the west side of the rodeo grounds.

Saturday was "Kid's Day" at the county fair, and we went early to watch the events that were organized for the kids. We should have taken pictures of the greased pig contest for the youngest group of children, because they were adorable. This older group was more focused and had more pig-catching skills.

While Chaffee County is popular with tourists, many of the locals live on farms and ranches outside of town. These kids knew how to catch a pig, and the $50 prize money was a great incentive.

Another activity was the lawn mower race that wound its way through a series of cones. The trick was that the driver was wearing a blind-fold, and only had the advice of the passenger in the cart to get them through the maze. Lots of the cones were knocked down on that race course.

We also watched the contest to see who could unfold a frozen tshirt the fastest, and another to see who could pick up the most marbles with their toes from an ice cold tub of water. A local bank hid coins in a big pile of wood shavings and that was another popular kid's day event. After enjoying the county fair, we spent the middle part of the day exploring the town of Salida. The town is situated along the Arkansas River, and this is a popular place to cool off on a Saturday afternoon. Salida is in the valley, at an elevation around 7,000 feet so it does get warm here. We saw lots of people tubing down the river that meanders through town and along the popular River Park.

They've added water features to increase the flow in certain areas. It's a fun activity to find a seat on the edge of the river to watch the people that try their luck in the eddies.

The Arkansas River had been channeled to provide a wave-like eddy, and surfers in wet suits lined up to test their skills.

Most of the beginners wiped out quickly on the wave. But seasoned river surfers were limited to three minutes because it looked like they could surf forever on that wave.

Besides having to judge the current and keep balance on that unsteady board, obstacles can come downriver at any time. While tubers usually exit before the surf zone, an occasional tube must be dodged.

The rafts were harder to dodge. In order to continue down the Arkansas River on a longer float trip, rafts must negotiate these big waves.

We watched as rafts full of people went over the wave . . .

and then disappeared into the white water after it.

We ate lunch in town, and then got caught in a rain storm. We have heard of the afternoon lightning storms in the mountains, but they also happen in the valley. This area desperately needs the moisture, so it was a welcomed rain. We experienced the closest lightning strike, and we were glad that we were in the pickup instead of on a hike. While we drove under a traffic light, the pole was struck by lightning. The boom inside our vehicle was deafening, and it wiped out the stop light. We assumed that the storm would cancel the evening activities at the Chaffee County Fair, but we were glad to see that it only delayed the start of the ranch rodeo. We got there as they were finishing the "Cowboy Calcutta," a fund-raiser where people bid to sponsor a team of cowboys that are in the competition. The team leaving the arena just sold for $1,800. If the team they "bought" won, the bidder would win part of the prize money.

The reigning cowgirl queen and princess presented the colors on horseback, and we sang the Star Spangled Banner after we were led in a prayer.

As they rode the flags around the arena, we could see the large wall cloud that had brought the storms to the valley.

While we have been to many rodeos in our lives, we have to say that we prefer to watch a ranch rodeo. While a regular rodeo contains individual cowboys trying to stay on bucking bulls and horses for eight seconds, the events in a ranch rodeo are more complicated. They are team events with a group of five cowboys trying to complete a task using skills that are needed in everyday ranch work. For example, in this competition a single cowboy on horseback enters a pen of ten cows and calves, each with a number on its back. A random number is drawn and announced, and the cowboy must rope the back legs of (in this case #9) that calf in the crowded pen.

He brings calf #9 out of the pen while three other cowboys close the gate. They then hold the calf down and remove the rope while the fifth cowboy runs across the arena with a chalk-covered branding iron to mark the calf.

When the cowboy runs back across the arena to replace the branding iron, and the ropes are removed from the calf, the judge will lower the red flag to stop the timer. The team that can accomplish all that in the fastest time wins that round.

The sun was setting behind the mountains as we watched the rodeo, and it seemed like the cowboys didn't even recognize that they had wandered into God's wonders while they were competing. During the rodeo, we were looking over the crowd hoping to spot Mark's cousin. He has ranched in this valley for years, and we thought they might be at the rodeo. Sure enough, we spotted them near the fence. Their ranch has participated in the ranch rodeo and won it several times. But their best cowboys--their children--have grown up and moved away. So they were spectators this year.

Another competition involved roping a randomly drawn numbered yearling, and getting him loaded into a trailer. After shutting the gate, all the cowboys had to jump up on the bed of the pickup before the timer was stopped.

All the competitions used skills that are needed to run a ranch and manage a herd of cattle. Most of them involved some roping skills, and the help of a good horse. 

It was getting dark and beginning to rain during the last competition. Ten yearlings were numbered, and grouped at the far end of the arena. The announcer drew a random number from a hat, and announced it as the five cowboys on horseback approached the herd. If the number eight was announced, the group had to first separate the calf with #8 on its back and move him past a half-way line in the arena. Then they would try to separate calf #9 and move him to the near side of the arena . . . then #10 . . . then #1 . . . They had to do this shuffling and separating on the far end of the arena while keeping #8 and #9 etc. from running back across the line and joining the herd. It was a limited timed event, and it was amazing to watch the dexterity of the cutting horses in action.

Wow! That was a great rodeo! At the end of the four events, the winning team (and the sponsor that purchased them in the Calcutta) took home the prize money and bragging rights. We thought is was so much more interesting than the traditional rodeo with its eight-second rides that have little to do with actual ranching skills. When does a working cowboy really try to ride a bull? We had read about the rodeo dance, and were glad to find that Mark's cousin and wife were going there too. So the four of us danced the night away to a very talented Justin Wulf Band that played lots of good two-stepping songs.

The 9:00 dance wasn't over until after midnight. Considering that we had arrived to the fair in time for the morning events, it was a good long day at the Chaffee County Fair!