September 15, 2014

A very slow stretch at work led to a last-minute 4 day weekend at the cabin.  We left Thursday afternoon, and Amy and Vince joined us Friday evening through Sunday evening.  We returned Monday afternoon.  

It was rainy and cool on Friday as Rick worked on the main floor bathroom, and I did a lot of nothing.  We headed to the Western Bar for dinner Friday night for their delicious green chile cheeseburgers, onion rings, moose drools, and coconut cream pie!  

It was cool but dry on Saturday, so we had an early lunch at the pizza place, went to the apple orchard, and did a little shopping while we waited for temps to warm up.  We did a challenging 18 mile ride from the cabin and explored some new trails.  We had green chile stew for dinner at the cabin.    

We did another fun but difficult 20 mile ride on Sunday with some light sprinkles and mist at times but good, cool weather overall.  

Vince and me during the Sunday MTB ride on an easy stretch of beautiful trails. 

The new LBC jersey.

Rick and Vince at the top of a ridge we had not ridden before.

Rick scouting out an unmapped (and very steep) road going down the side of the new ridge.  The view is toward the southeast, and the ridges in the distance are where our cabin and subdivision are located.

Nice view from the top of the ridge looking south.

Going around a large mud area in the valley.

Minx was very photogenic this weekend.

Minx hanging out with the bear.

The main floor bedroom with new bed and comforter set.

Basement bedroom with new bed and comforter set.

September 1, 2014

We had an excellent long holiday weekend at the cabin with JD and Jill.  The weather was perfect with mid 70s and lots of sun.  We did lots of hiking and biking, went to an auction and BBQ fundraiser for our local volunteer fire dept, picked apples at High Rolls, and did several activities in town.

Mountain biking on one of our new trails.

Geezer crossing sign near the ski resort.

Friday morning hike on elk trails.  We hiked 3 different days for a total of 17 miles.

Pizza and beer for Friday lunch.

Saturday afternoon gun fight on Burro Street!

Sunday MTB ride.  We rode twice for a total of 31 miles.  Only one crash--Jill!

Outhouse races up Burro Street on Sunday afternoon.  The bike shop guys won, of course.

Nice flowers on the Osha Trail hike Monday morning.

Group pic on the Osha Trail.

View of the Mexican Canyon trestle and White Sands from the Osha Trail.

August 18, 2014

Rick and I were at the cabin alone this weekend after our guests had to cancel the day before we left. We arrived Friday evening and ate dinner at the pizza place on the ski resort.  It was excellent, as always.  

Saturday around lunch we took off from the cabin on another mountain bike adventure.  We rode to the top of James Ridge and took some new trails back into the forest.  The trails, scenery and weather were great, but we noticed the skies clouding up.  It's monsoon season in the mountains and is generally not a big deal.

However, we realized that a fairly major storm was brewing and that we, unfortunately, were at the top of a mountain a long way from the cabin.  We decided to take the most direct and safe route back and try to get back ASAP.  

We hadn't made it very far when the lightning started, and the large bolt that hit the ground very close to us made it very obvious that we needed to not be sitting up on metal bicycles.  We spent some time low on the ground in two different places.  The first was somewhat pleasant with light rainfall and a few pics. (above pic).  The second was in torrential rain with lots of hail and sleet.  It didn't take terribly long to see that we needed to get off the top of that mountain, or we were going to get hypothermia.  The temp had dropped into the 50s, and we were at almost 9,000'. 

The trail turned into a river, and we slowly rode down the mountain at a fraction of the normal pace.  When we finally got to the highway, we had another problem.  It was still pouring down rain, and the visibility was very low with traffic and no shoulder on the road.  

We spotted some storage buildings across the road and stood beside a building for a while, partially out of the rain and shaking uncontrollably from the rain and cold.  Rick noticed one of the units didn't have a lock, so we raised the door and took shelter inside for about 30 minutes.  It was still cold but a huge improvement.  The rain finally slowed enough for us to ride the remaining ~2.75 miles back to the cabin.  A hot shower never felt better.

When we headed to town later for some bakery food and cold beer, the guy below was walking around in Cloudcroft.  He had on red platform shoes with foil across the toes and carried a black purse.

Moose Drools at the Western Bar.

On Sunday morning we drive down to High Rolls and picked apples and peaches at a local orchard. We then stopped by the Cloudcroft farmer's market, ate lunch, and did a little shopping at the bike store for new pedals before heading back to the cabin for another mountain bike adventure.

We rode to the same general area but did different trails and kept a closer eye on the sky.  Showers developed, of course, but stayed west of us.  The riding was great!

We left at 6 am Monday morning to get back for a funeral.  The last pic was taken as the mountains change to hills just before sunrise.

August 3, 2014

My work was slow, so we took the opportunity to leave early for the cabin on Wednesday afternoon.  Rick installed ceiling fans and can lights in both upstairs bedrooms on Thursday and Friday, and I got the new comforter sets (Dillard's clearance sale!) in place throughout the cabin and organized all of the linens. (Forgot to get pics.)

We were joined by Pat, Liza, Randy, Sandra, Amy and Vince Thursday and Friday.  The cold, rainy weather and heavy rains earlier in the week kept us off the mountain bikes, but we managed to find plenty to do.  Rickey, Pat, Liza and I ate at the Western Bar on Thursday, and Randy & Sandra joined us Friday night for wood-fired pizza dinner at the ski resort.  We spent Saturday afternoon at the Art & Wine in the Cool Pines event which was held outdoors at the museum.  The afternoon temp in Cloudcroft was 50 degrees with rain and fog.  It felt like a cold wet November day in Lubbock, so a winter coat was appropriate--not exactly what you would expect on the 2nd day of August.

This large bear was less than 100 yds from the cabin when we arrived Wednesday evening. Our first bear!

We have baby deer.  This is one of the larger fawns who came into the yard.

Another deer pic taken from the back deck.

We tried trout fishing on Friday morning, but it was cold and rainy, and the fish weren't biting.

Our 6 mile hike in the Lincoln National forest on Friday afternoon in the rain and fog with Liza, Randy and Sandra.

The rain made everything except antlers look dark brown and created ideal antler hunting conditions.  We were looking for antlers on the ground, so I almost missed this one at the top of the mountain as the fog and clouds rolled in.

Large elk antler found in the tree.

A decent deer antler I found on the 6+ mile hike on Saturday evening with Rickey, Randy and Sandra.

Rick's deer antler.

Toby checks out our antler stash we've found so far: 1 elk, 2 deer, 4 elk spike antlers and 2 deer spike antlers.

July 21, 2014

 

Rickey, Vince and I spent another weekend at the cabin.  We arrived early Friday evening and discovered that a storm on Wednesday night had fried our transformer, so we had no power.  We headed to town to the Western Bar for dinner, and the electric co-op guys tracked down a new transformer and had it installed within a few hours.

The weekend before we had made a trip to DFC Cycles, and I ended up buying a new mountain bike.  It's a Giant Anthem full suspension with 27.5 inch wheels.  It is a super nice bike and solves some problems I've been having on the rough and rocky trails in the mountains.  

Saturday morning we took off on another mountain bike adventure from the cabin and ended up with 22 miles on some beautiful and rough area trails.  The new bike exceeded expectations.

We had taken Rick's truck and the trailer to move some new beds to the cabin, so we took this opportunity to do some yard work and cleanup and carry the stuff to the slash pit in the national forest.  It was quite a job to load and then unload the trailer but the place looks a lot better and is certainly safer now.  

After the trailer was unloaded, we headed back to town with the bikes and rode a 9 mile loop with very tired legs and no lunch.  After the ride, the pizza at the ski resort couldn't have tasted better.

Vince headed home Sunday night, and we stayed until late Monday afternoon.  We shuffled furniture, got rid of some old beds and set up new beds.  Rick also did some fairly extensive rewiring upstairs in preparation for the upstairs ceiling fans.

The weather was perfect with some afternoon storms and clouds popping up daily and cooling the temps from the balmy 70s to the low 60s.  This was a welcome change from the upper 90s and low 100s at home.