Cumberland Pass Trail

Good morning, my friends. We're having a very nice time here in Colorado. It's on the coolish side at these high altitudes (9,400 feet), and it's a nice change from the heat of summer. It reminds us that fall is just around the corner.

Smitty has been in search of a new He-Man Woman Haters Clubhouse.

You have to be old enough to remember Spanky and Our Gang to get the reason for the name of his clubhouse. I'm only barely old enough to remember.

This is necessary because Sadie hogs the whole clubhouse over the bed. It's very furrustrating for him.

We arrived here in Almont late in the day on Monday, and so there was really no time for anything except to hook-up and unhitch. We had our dinner, and then went to bed. That meant yesterday morning was time for laundry and getting the ATV's off the trailer and ready for riding. The laundromat is just a short distance from our rig. I enjoyed the views of the mountains as I walked over.

Looking out at the reservoir, there was a low cloud hanging just above the surface of the water.

With the laundry started, I walked back to our rig and found Mike firing up the ATV's. It was a little hard getting them started at this altitude, but they went eventually, and we had no more trouble with them.

When the laundry was finished and we were loaded up, we rode up the Cumberland Pass Trail. It starts out on smoothly graded roads, but gets rockier with elevation.

We rode some distance through an open meadow with a stream. We're always on the lookout for wildlife in areas like this. We saw a deer on the far side of the meadow. It appeared to be a 3-point buck. As I reached for my long-lens camera, it ran off. Bummer. 

There is plenty of beaver activity here. In the image below, just above center, you can see one of their dams.

We rode through the historic town of Tin Cup. This is listed as a ghost town, but there are plenty of people living here. It's far from abandoned.

This next image is from our visit in 2019. When we rode past yesterday, the doors and windows were boarded up. Just FYI, I've wanted to make a quilt from this image for years. I've circled it for a long time, and I think I'm finally going to get it done within the next year.

With doors and windows boarded up, it wasn't nearly as enticing photography-wise, but I did capture this "town hall" which doubles as a church on Sundays.

After Tin Cup, we rode and rode, up and up. We paused at this spot shown in the next image. You can see the road down below. It's a bright almost white short line right in the middle of the image.

This was our goal. It's one of the higher elevations in the area.

From there, we had an expansive view of the mountains and the valley. The weather could have been better. It didn't rain, but we felt a few sprinkles throughout the day. Also, with the sun behind those dark clouds, it was downright chilly. We donned our warmer coats for the ride back.

Oh yes, and I can't let this special occasion go by without blogging about it. It was my first time wearing my newly-patched jeans. Check out that left knee. Stylin' huh?

Here, we came to this cross. Mike discovered a geocache box stashed among the rocks.

Inside, we found this message printed inside a small notepad.

The pages that followed were filled with signatures of people who'd visited.

There isn't much blooming this time of year. I expect we'll find more on other trails.

As we rode along, I saw this Mourning Cloak butterfly. This image is from Creative Commons. No way I could get my camera out fast enough for my own image.

(Image credit: "Mourning Cloak Butterfly" by ksblack99 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.)

All told, we rode 34 miles by the time we returned to our rig. When we arrived, nothing would do until we got Smitty out for a walk. He searched and searched and searched for the best of Colorado's grass. Not surprisingly, the grass is always greener over the sewer connection. (With my apologies to Erma Bombeck.)

Also, he gave the ATV's a good inspection, making sure they're meowchanically sound. He'd hate for something to happen to us. Who would dispense kitty treats?

The sky is still gray and cloudy today. We're hoping for blue skies, but we might not get them. In any case, we'll do more riding today. I'm not sure which trail Mike has selected for our riding pleasure, but it will be more challenging than yesterday's easy ride. 

Right now it's time for breakfast. After that, we'll figure out where we're going next.