A Special Day on the Ranch

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.

August 5, 2023

We remembered that Mark's cousin and his wife, Wyatt and Charlie, lived somewhere around Buena Vista. So even though we hadn't seen them for around ten years, we hoped to run into them while we were in this area for a month. Without a phone number to call them, we were glad that we found them at the ranch rodeo at the Chaffee County Fair last week. After dancing the night away with them at the cowboy dance, it was like those ten years had vanished. The next weekend they invited us to the ranch where they live. Wyatt has managed this ranch for more than twenty years, and Charlie manages 55 nurses at the Salida hospital ICU and med-surg units.

The ranch sits in the valley south of Buena Vista, with some spectacular views of Mount Princeton right over the corrals. 

Likewise, we could see more 14ers as we looked southwest. We had wandered more of God's wonders, and we hadn't even started our tour of the ranch. We were learning about the mountain ranges and their characteristics since we had lived here for a week. The mountains to the west are in the Sawatch range, and include 14 peaks that are over 14,000 feet in elevation. These mountain have rugged granite tops as they tower above tree-line.

Looking to the east, we could see the southern end of the Mosquito Range of mountains. They are lower in elevation, and are covered with pines.

The cousins own four-wheelers that are used on the ranch, and we went for a nice afternoon ride into the foothills of the Mosquito mountains. Even though we were not crazy about the name of this mountain range, we were glad to say that we didn't see any mosquitoes this afternoon. In fact, we haven't been bothered by mosquitoes this summer. Sometimes, being dry has its blessings.

One of our first stops was the "honeymoon cabin." Time has taken its toll on this little log cabin that once housed the newly-married couples on the ranch.

Today, its only inhabitant was this mountain lizard.

We followed Wyatt and Charlie's four-wheeler through the pinion pines.

The ranch borders the Browns Canyon National Monument. This area received that designation in 2015, and the yellow signs dotting our path let us know that the ranch is on the property boundary of the national monument.

It was a great experience to get to ride through this land that few people get to see.

We were surrounded by granite out-croppings, and we stopped in front of one of their favorites. This one included a rope to help with the climb to the top.

It would be near impossible to make it all the way to the top without the help of the rope. 

While it was handy for some summer sight-seers, it was placed there for the fall hunters. This was a great place to spot the area wildlife in season, and Wyatt pointed out where they had spotted bear on one of those hunting days. They were looking for bear day beds. We had never heard this term, but it is a hunting term for the spot where a bear rests during the day. 

While they had shot one bear from this perch, most of the sightings were too far away. Most of their hunting in this area was for elk, and they gifted us two elk steaks. 

The view over the valley with the mountains in the back drop was stunning.

We took a different route down, and we have to say that the rope route would have been much easier.

We rode miles on the four-wheelers, seeing areas that were too far for hiking. 

It was a rare treat for a couple of wanderers! We were blessed with this opportunity to see the mountains from a different mode of transportation.

Then we headed back to the house for another rare treat--a ranch-raised beef roast with all the trimmings for dinner. It was topped off with dessert that Charlie just got out of the oven--homemade fresh Colorado peach pie with homemade ice cream for dessert.

It was a perfect day with family that we hadn't seen in a long time. Mark and Wyatt's fathers were brothers, and they spent good times together at family gatherings when they were growing up. We love that our travels sometimes allow us to spend a special day on the ranch with family.