Back to the high mountains we settled into our hay growing routine, interspersed with some good river fishing and 4 wheeler trips up into the high country. One of those trips took us up in the Imogene Pass area between Ouray and Telluride where the meadows were flooded with brightly blooming wildflowers. About half way up I picked up some grinding in a rear wheel and figured I was about to lose a wheel. We were in a pretty hard to get to area, so there was no choice but try to coax my ailing critter down hill and try to get it back to the trailer. With a bit of luck and Annee tripplin' up with Don & Sherril on their machine, we made it back off the mountain and found a broken wheel bolt that was the culprit. Easy to fix before wandering too far back in the mountains again.

Annee, Sherril, & Don

Late summer Annee and I helped our young fren Pat pack an elk camp back in the West Elk Wilderness. We had three saddle horses and a string of pack horses toting the camp back into one of the most gorgeous areas I ever saw.

Well Mounted

Couple weeks later I helped Pat and his camp cook pack another camp up over an 11,000' pass into another of his hunting areas. That was the trip from hell! We had packs bucked off, horses upside down, and just a general uphill rodeo. Got the camp tents up by nitefall and by then the cook had a great steak dinner ready. We were all bushed by 9 PM and slept well in the cold high altitude nite. Next day we finished setting up camp and headed back to the ranch. My knees and butt were ready to quit by the time we stepped out of the saddle.

Pat & Me