We came across these palisades when we were riding around Saturday.

This is a picture of some cows still on the range, they have not picked them up as yet. They came in a few days ago & took all the cows & calves and then removed the calves, you talk about some upset cows.

This was an ice house or smoke house, where you could store meat or ice in the summer or you could put vegetables in it. The house is made of large rocks & part of it is underground. A very cool place.

Hey see the color! It is getting better every day.

Arborglypths

The first two have nothing to do with arborglypths they are most likely from a bear climbing the tree. The rest of the pictures are forms of arborglypths, (drawing or writing on trees).

We had a chance to go on a walk in the national forest with 11 other people led by a lady who has been studying these marks for quite a few years. The sheep herders were far from home & had to spend the summers in these mountains. They would take something & write or draw on the only canvas they had (Aspen trees). They date back to 1917. They would make light marks on the trees, if they made heavy marks on them the marks would not last.

I am not sure what you call this, but it is two circles which are intertwined.

This was done in 1917.

We found where a lot of the sheep herders were religious and would draw crosses. Now some drew X-Rated drawings, you knew what they were thinking also.

This man was thinking about home. They had to stay all summer in the mountains with just sheep to keep them company, will they may of had a dog.

Water Box

This is a Water Box, they are used in the irrigation of the land here. They do a lot of irrigation of this land. This box is placed where they need to channel water from one area to another. I am not sure if you can see where they slide boards in to check the water or not (click on it). They will use boards to stop the flow or to change the flow from on area to another. At the beginning of the Ranch is a box with a gage on one side, it is called a weir, they can tell how much each Rancher is using as each Ranch has so much water allocated for use, by the state. If you have a spring on your Ranch you can use all that water without a permit from the state, V A Poma Ranch has such a spring (with very good water) which is the water we used for all the cabins & RV sites.

A Chinese Story

Somewhere in the wilderness of China, an old man lived with his sons. One day a wild white horse arrived and was caught by the oldest son. But the father was not happy.
Son asked: Father, why aren't you happy I caught the horse? It is very good! We needed it!

Is it good or is it bad------we will see

The next day the horse escaped. The son was very sad, but the father said nothing.
Son asked: Father, don' t you care our horse has fled? We've lost it.

Is it good or is it bad-------we will see

And actually, after three days the horse returned with two other horses. Son was very excited, but father was cool. Son couldn,t understand it. Father isn't it a good reason for joy? It is great we have three horses!

Is it good or is it bad------we will see

That evening Son tried to tame one of the horses, but he fell down and broke his leg. Father, I've broken my leg. Don't you think it is awful?

Is it good or is it bad-------we will see

After a few weeks, war broke out. Men were forced to join the army, but the son could not because he had his leg broken.

Was it good or was it bad------We will see.

There was a battle and none of the men from the village came back home.

(author unkown)

What happened in your life today?

Is it good or is it bad-------we will see

Pagosa Peak off of Piedra Road (see the snow)

This is the Piedra Road in the vicinity of the Piedra River Trail & bridge. Take a look at the mountains in the back ground, remember to click on the picture to get a larger view then us your back button, to go back (what else).

This is the Ranch House & a few of our buildings after a recent rain.

This is one of our roads here on the Ranch, it goes back to a log barn that is over 100 years of age. This also starts two of our trails the Audubon Society helps us make there is also a third trail. We are finding that not only bird lovers, but just the guest in general like the trails.

9-16-09

We found this on one of our cabins. Most all of the cabins could post this same sign. We have more people here from OK & TX than anywhere else. There have been a few who have been camping in the NF that come & want to rent a cabin because they are tired of being wet & cold. We are having a very wet fall.

Look close at these trees, at the color. No they are not dying. Check the next picture.

Conifers have what is called a needles drop. Some of the needles will die, turn brown, then fall off. It takes place this time of year. I think it is rather pretty the brown and the green.

9-13-09

This is right by our trailer.

Sorry I did not get the picture of the snow, I will try later, the sun was in the wrong place.

The color is great no matter what time of year it is. Sometime you may have to look harder to find it, but it is there.

The leaves have a new bright color.

These have been blooming all summer.

You find color ever where.

Even with snow in the hi country we still have some flowers in bloom, they will be some in bloom when there is snow on the ground.

Today was a work day, we had a hard rain last nite (one inch in a short time) so we worked on a leak in the roof, I hope it is fixed. The roof will not be tested untill the nexted hard rain. Wilma then defrosted the frig, (a trailer or most of them do not have a frost-free frig). We did not make it to church (over slept) so we made a work day out of our day off. We did a few things around here also and then had supper with Karen (Wilma made King Ranch Chicken), it was good.

9-12-09

These next three pictures & text has to do with the weather, here today we had a low of 44 and a hi of 62 now I need to tell you something about our outside thermometer is under the cover of the front of our 5th wheel, (which is the garage for the 4-wheeler) and has a cover. That being said the real low will be about 7 degrees lower.

This picture is of our valley taken from the road down to some of our cabins.

We had some hunters come to the V A Poma Ranch today looking for a place to stay, they had been in a tent & were wet & cold, they said the tent had a hole in it, I bet next time they will check it before leaving home. We had room for them. Wilma & Karen took care of them not only finding a cabin, but then letting them wash the mud off their equipment. There are not many walk-in here due to our location, being so much out of the way. You have to be going here to get here.

We call these low hanging clouds Wilma's Clouds as she likes it where the clouds look as if they are just moving into the forest. It has rained a lot the last few days so we have had a lot of Wilma's Clouds, I also like them. You may know that in the mountain's it will rain in afternoon for a little while then the sun will come back out. It has been raining letting up then raining some more. The people who have lived for a great many years say we had a wet spring & now we are having a wet fall, we also had an early frost. Who know what we will see by the first of Nov.

We were able to see a amazing sight this evening as we were taking Tank for his last walk of the day. The sun was setting and we were able to take this picture. It was around 60 and not only was the sun setting there was also some beautiful clouds. We also saw our first snow, I tried to get a picture but it did not turn out. You can bet I will try again in the AM.

Sunset

9-11-09

Wilma has ask why not try a new format. Which I will. What I am going to do is write a little between each picture, it will be before the picture & tell a little about what is going on in the picture. Let me know if you like it.

Karen fixed breakfast for the four of us as Laura & Margo were leaving this morning. Karen wanted to fix us supper or breakfast as we already had plans for curry & rice last nite. We ask Karen to join us last nite & the five of us had curry & rice in the Ranch House. Wilma did a good job on the food (not as hot as I like, not ever one wanted the hot stuff). It was very good I even was able to have some tonite. Now back to the breakfast Karen fixed we had eggs with potatoes, onion, & bell peppers; also had small turkey sausage; & cinnamon rolls. The Ranch House is 100 + years old, I will post some pictures of it later.

We were sorry to see the girls go but we had a good time & I hope they did to.

What a Crew

After a hard day at work me & my buddy take a nap. Well we did not have a very hard day, we did help Glen (the Forman) fix a screen door. We put a patch on an air bed. Then we must have done something else. I will thank of it later. Hey this is hard work an someone has to do it.

Me & my Buddy

Mosca Creek Road

Last nite low 43 hi today 64.
We went up Mosca Creek Road today it is a NF road of 20 miles that goes nowhere and I mean nowhere. Now there are a lot of hunting camps along the road & a lot of hunting go on in the area, so I guess it goes somewhere, but if you need any food, gas, or phone forget it. It does not even go to Mosca Creek, it goes to Sandy Creek, & Clearwater Creek, & a few other but no Mosca Creek. The road is dirt, & rock, a small amount of gravel, & one lane, but of course it has two way traffic. I did not have to take the drive, but it was a nice drive very pretty and we saw two doe.

Laura & Margo go home tomorrow, we have enjoyed having them here, I have had fun & I thank they have to.

Now for something more important. I hope you remember what day Friday is it is 9-11, the day we all learned we were not safe. As you walk about with your freedom, remember who keeps it for you. The day we do not have any men & women who will fight & yes die for our freedom we will no longer have freedom. Remember 9-11 and thank some military personell for it. The fighting men & women won for us and keep it for us. THANK YOU

Early Color

Tailgating on Mosca Creek Rd at 10260 ft

The clouds are moving in

It looks like rain

Laura & Margo are here

Low of 43 & hi of 64 we did not turn on the AC, we have only turned it on one time for about one hour (had to see if it still works).

Wilma baked a Lemon Meringue Pie today without any help from me, and it was very good, wish you could have had a piece.

Theresa, (Karen's daughter) was able to spend a week here at the Ranch. Karen and her hiked every day. Theresa had a birthday and spent it on the Ranch. Getting to know her better (we met her sometime ago) was a treat, being able to talk and share a few meals and just hang-out, was a real pleasure. The best thing about this life-style is the great people you meet.

There I am working it is a tough job but someone has to do it.

We are seeing a little color in spots, and will see more every day. You still have time to get up here and see some for your self. If you can not come here JUST GO SOMEWHERE.

It is great having two of Wilma's sisters here for a few days. I do not know what they are looking for, but that is a map. We went on a small hike to see what we could see, you know just to be out of doors.

The hunting season is going fine.

Lemon Meringue

Theresa (Karen's Daughter)

The Garbage Man

Early Color

What are they up to?

Three Sisters & Tank

On The V A Poma Ranch

I will have more postings on the changing season later. We have been doing some work on the Ranch such as changing a light bulb. Glen also corrected some damage done by the winter's freeze. When the soil freezes it causes an uplift to take place. The place where the porch & pier meet was the weakest point, so it turned out to relieve pressure. Glen set it straight. There will be more work to do, but we must get some house jacks first.

We are going to get some hay in the AM then Laura & Margaret (Wilma's Sisters) are coming in later, we will meet then in Pagosa Springs.

On The Ranch we make do

What winter's freezes can do

After Glen works on it

Fall is coming

The grass is turning brown, The Aspens are turning a light green then they will turn their golden color, we hope. Some years if the weather is not right they go from light green to brown, and some years as soon as they turn golden the wind comes along and blows the leaves off.

Wilma and I got an E-Mail from Patti Brady; she is with the NF. They want us to just do a litter pick-up. Seems as now they have a new mower (brush-hog) that will clear the road-side. I think that is great as it has taken us at least an hour per mile the first time. We were able to finish the 20 mile section we had said we would do in just three hours.

Remember to make the picture larger just click on it & then use your back-button.
Also remember I am as old as dirt so wording & spelling does not count. When Wilma helps me it does (she is smart).

The grass is turning brown

The ferns are changing color

Wilma is holding the bag (bag lady?)

Do not miss any litter

Have got to get the last piece