July 7, 2014

Amy, Vince, Randy and Sandra joined us for July 4th weekend in the mountains.  The July 4th parade was nice in typical Cloudcroft style, and the daily monsoon showers and cool temps were a welcome break from the Texas heat.

Rick, Vince and I took on an adventure and rode our mountain bikes from the cabin to town via carrying the bikes over a fence, riding some very lightly traveled trails, pushing the bikes up the side of a mountain and across some mountain tops without a trail and finally finding the gravel road to Cloudcroft.  It was raining some and the altitude varied from about 7700' to over 9100', but our Gaia navigation app came through.  We ended up with over 3000' feet total of climbing and rode back to the cabin via highway 82 with a nice downhill run.  It was 15 miles and 3 hours to town and 12.5 miles back for a long and difficult 27.5 mile trip.  

Randy, Sandra, Rick and I hiked the Switchback Loop trail on Sunday (a little over 5 miles).  And Randy, Sandra and I hiked 6.5 miles on Monday in the forest near the cabin by following elk trails up and down the mountains.  The six of us also walked 4-5 miles in the subdivision on Friday evening.

The annual POA meeting was Saturday morning, so Rick and I got to meet a lot of the neighbors. We also cut down a few dead and poorly placed trees and will do some more clean-up next trip.  A new wood-fired pizza restaurant has opened in the restaurant at the ski area.  The pizza is wonderful!

A large elk is located just to the right of Rick's right handlebar in the distance just as we reach the top of the mountain.

Rick rescues an alligator juniper tree

Pedestrian bridge over Highway 82 between Cloudcroft and High Rolls

Springs near the water tank in the forest near our subdivision.

A view from the top of the mountain on an elk trail.

June 23, 2014

 We had another great weekend at the cabin with Pat, Liza, Amy and Vince.  The weather was perfect with some afternoon showers and temps in the upper 70s and low 80s and lows in the 50s.  We made a trip to Ruidoso for a car show and pizza.  We did a couple of mountain bike rides and a 7.1 mile hike.  Rick also put Penofin on the back deck.

June 8, 2014

We had a full cabin last weekend.  Amy, Becky and their crews arrived last Friday for a total of 12.  Becky and Blake rented mountain bikes on Saturday and rode with Rickey, Vince and I on some nice trails and some challenging ones for just under 9 miles.  (Rick and I rode 19 miles in a new area near the cabin before everyone arrived on Friday, and Rick, Vince and I rode again on Sunday). While we rode, Amy, Kate, Abby and Kamryn hiked, ate and shopped, and Kemp, Devon and Brandon headed over to Ruidoso for the horse races. 

After a great meal and rest, Becky, Vince, Amy and I hit the trails near the cabin for a 4 1/2 mile hike and much of the rest of the crew either relaxed or made an unsuccessful trip to the trout pond.

 It was a fun weekend with pleasant temperatures compared to home and a nice cool foggy morning on Sunday.  We arrived back home to some storm damage from Saturday night and 2 1/2 inches more rain by Monday morning. (6+ inches total in 2 weeks).  The last pic is the reflection of our house in the front "lake" before sunrise on Monday morning.

May 26, 2014

We had a great, long holiday weekend at the cabin accompanied by Dina, Shane, JD and Jill.  We fished a couple of times and caught a number of large trout.  The weather was cool and beautiful with storms and some hail/sleet on Friday.  The Western Bar, The Lodge and the Mayhill Cafe provided some great meals.  We did a 4-mile hike into the national forest on Saturday and a mountain bike ride on Sunday on some scenic but challenging trails around the trestle area.  

We returned home to a wonderful 3.5" of rain over 4 days--our most significant rain in almost 4 years of drought!  It sounds like a swamp outside tonight.

May 11, 2014

It was a busy but successful weekend in the mountains.  We finished the main floor guest bedroom and the deck (except staining).  I also found a nursery right next to our subdivision and planted some columbines, red hot pokers, lavender, sage, mint and penstemon.  All are deer resistant, drought tolerant, and mostly hummingbird friendly.  The hummingbirds enjoyed them all weekend, none were bothered by deer, and if they can survive until next week, they just might make it.  

The cats continue to enjoy the mountains, minus the traveling part.  

The first picture is the wild mountain irises growing in our yard which have finally started blooming.