For the first week of August, I had originally planned to be up in Seattle to visit Mom’s family (plane ticket was booked), but with the current state of things, we decided it was best to hold off for the time being. So instead, I hung out closer to home. First spending a night down at Rowdy Lake, then headed over to my friends shop in Delta, CO for the next two days. It’s always an enjoyable time hanging out with my pal Jeremiah, his wife Chandra and the rest of the crew at Proffitt’s Cruisers.

I was glad to see that they were continuing to do well despite Covid19. There was a lot of fun projects in the shop to check out. I even had a chance to have Bob and Jeremiah take a look at the paint on the 4runner- something i’d love to get done, but will be a bit down the road.

For my last night, had a enjoyable night at Jeremiah and Chandra’s place above Blue Mesa Reservoir. Watching baby Atlas and the Chickens play together was definitely a highlight.

Now to patiently wait for my Dual ARB Compressor to show up from Proffitt’s:)………

Fj40’s in the shop.

• 

Electrical work on a FJ60. Electrical was never my favorite.

• 

• 

Lots of work in the Paint/Body shop.

• 

• 

The 2.8 seems to be a popular swap at Proffitt’s.

• 

D. Miller for paint.

• 

Bob doing some fiberglass work on a FJ40 top.

• 

A really neat BJ70 from Italy. It has a 5 cylinder Italian motor installed at the factory in Japan. Spotted a lot of writing on it from Madrid, Spain.

• 

Oh look, Jeremiahs on the phone:).

• 

• 

Still lots of work in the yard.

• 

Spotted this image the last time I was at the shop. Still a fun scene.

• 

Another solo evening in the shop.

• 

Setting up a 8274 Warn Winch.

• 

Clint doing some more work on the FJ40 top.

• 

A happy differential is a good differential:).

• 

Jeremiah and Chandra filming another episode for the YouTube series. #40 I think?

• 

A fine evening above Sapinaro and Blue Mesa Reservoir. Light was perfect to re shoot this super clean FJ62.

• 

I’ve been wanting to get back to Rowdy Lake ever since my pal Treeroot and I stumbled upon it after picking up my current 3rd Gen 4runner from Proffitt’s back in 2017. With my original plans of being up in Seattle to visit Mom’s family during the first week of August postponed for the year, I decided to head back to Rowdy Lake for a night. The weather was perfect and other than a few folks fishing the lake in the afternoon, I had the place to myself- just what I needed. To top things off, Tuesday morning as I was heading back out to Highway 50, saw a Brown Bear about a mile down the road for the turn off for the lake. Looked to be a teenager. Unfortunately I was to slow with the thinking to grab the camera for a pic. Felt really good to get back to this spot.

Some of my favorite pics.

After a five hour drive, it was nice to get to camp at a decent hour and relax for the rest of the day.

• 

• 

• 

Rowdy Lake

• 

The road into the lake and camp.

• 

Enjoying an afternoon walk around the lake.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Back at the lake for Sunset.

• 

• 

Yeah, I was enjoying the sunset:).

• 

• 

One last walk around the lake the next morning for sunrise before heading out.

• 

• 

Another fun Ghost Town Run in the Books. For this years run, we headed down to the Spanish Peaks and Westcliff area. Driven by the Spanish Peaks many times, though never explored, Westcliff would also be new to me. The main attraction for this years Ghost Town Run was the Cloverdale mine- started in the 1920’s and operated till the ’60’s, the Cloverdale Mine is located in a fine valley outside Hillside, CO.

Another fun summer weekend in CO in the books:).

• 

Old news clippings.

• 

At the Cloverdale Mine.

• 

Somebody was having a fun time:).

• 

So my Dad and I just recently finished putting together a fun little book about my recent daily walks in Downtown Denver during the Stay at Home orders. For fifty days, from the time I was furloughed/let go from Enterprise to being brought back, I went out for a daily walk, camera in hand.

The front cover is a five color hand printed serigraph image.

Pretty dang flattered that the Western History Department of the Denver Public Library just bought a copy:)!

Link to view/purchase book: Denver In Isolation

Hard to believe that it’s been ten years ( to the date) since i’ve gotten back into the wonderful Henry Mountains in SE Utah. Outside of Hanksville, the Henry’s were the last mountain range to be discovered and placed on a map of the US by Major Powell in 1869. Back in 2009/2010 I headed out to the Henry’s for the 4th of July weekend ( my pal Sean would join me in 2010). A great spot to ring in the holiday. Ten years later we headed back out to the Henry’s for another long 4th of July weekend. A most enjoyable time filled with great company. Hopefully it won’t be another ten years for my next visit:).

Jackson checking out the ford for the Fremont River. Back in 2007 this crossing fought us. Paul would end up burning out a power steering pump and had to use two winches to get out.

• 

Definitely one of my top campsites.

• 

Back at the magic bus.

• 

Butch Cassidy:).

• 

Some fantastic vistas from the Henry’s!

• 

Felt great to be back in these mountains.

• 

Passing through an old burn on Pennell Pass.

• 

Enjoying a great sunset from one of my favorite perches.

• 

Paul May always seems to be well setup:).

• 

Almost to the summit of Mt. Ellen. One of three prominent peaks in Utah. Daniel and Anna stayed back to care for a tired pup.

• 

Shadow of Mt. Ellen across the desert.

• 

My pal Matt celebrating at the top of Mt. Ellen. We crested the summit right as the sun was setting and the moon was rising.

• 

• 

Moon rise group selfie. On the hike back to the rigs, we’d stop along the ridge line to watch the fireworks show from Hanksville.

• 

Another productive summer weekend. Finding that Summer is definitely my jam:). Headed up to the Property Friday morning. After cleaning the 4runner I headed over to Grass Creek for a short hike, only to watch the clouds roll in, not the best place to be during a storm as it’s bit exposed. So spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and taking pics of the Wild Flowers that were out in force. That evening my Step Brother and Nephew showed up. My nephew requested to talk trucks with me a while back, but I decided it was better to go for a drive in a truck rather than talk about them. So we went for a “Bumpy Truck Ride” to the wilderness boundary. He was having a blast.

Woke up early the next morning and headed over to Georgetown to meet up with my pal Travis. We headed up our clubs adopt-a-trail Argentine Pass, making it to the old town site of Waldorf a little after 10 am. The pass itself is still snowed in near the top with some good sized drifts, probably be August before it opens up. The goal for this outing was to hike over to an old miners cabin across from Waldorf. Other than being a bit out of shape, was fun to finally check out after wondering about it for some 17 years. It was a beautiful day up on Argentine, and plan to be up there a lot this year.

A hill side along the road to the trail head for Grass Creek, it was covered in flowers.

• 

In the main meadow of the property, looking South to Rosedale Peak and the Mt. Evans Wilderness.

• 

• 

The Columbines are out at the property, has to be the most I’ve seen up there.

• 

My Nephew ( almost 3) was having a fun time during our “Bumpy Truck Ride” drive:).

• 

At the old town site of Waldorf, once claimed to have the highest Post Office in the US at 11,666ft. Behind the rigs is the old miners cabin that I’ve been curious about for so long and we finally hiked out to on this outing.

• 

Near the old cabin, you have some great views of Waldorf and the “East Argentine Mining District”. In the bowl in the upper right can be found the old Santiago Mill and Mine site.

• 

The old miners cabin.

• 

Travis had never been to the Vidler Tunnel, below Argentine Pass. So we stopped to check it out. It was originally intended to be a access tunnel for the steam trains to get to the mineral deposits on the West side of the pass. Was completed in 1968 and is 1.4 miles long. Mt. Wilcox is behind us.

• 

Usually for the Summer Solstice/Fathers Day weekend I take the 4×4 club up to the cabin outside Evergreen, CO. But with the current state of things, we (the family) decided on no big groups for the property this year. So to make up for it, I put a little trip together to go down to Victor, CO to check out the area. It’s a place that has been on the radar for some time. Before leaving for the cabin, the new camera showed up, yeah, I was pretty dang excited.

Friday morning I headed out from the cabin and headed south to Deckers, then on to Canon City. After a slow start, we ended up having 8 rigs for the “Victor Run”. We headed up Phantom Canyon- remnants of the Florence and Cripple Creek Rail Road to get to Victor.

Victor itself reminded me of the days before gambling came into Black Hawk and Central City. From Cripple Creek, we headed down the Shelf Road to camp.

I heart summer.

A wet evening at the pond in the upper meadows.

• 

• 

Becoming one of my favorite spots to hang out.

• 

With the wet weather, didn’t think a sunset would happen for this outing, Looked up from hanging out in the cabin to notice some light. Not fully in focus but enjoyed the color- looking down towards the farmhouse.

• 

New camera gear. Canon EOS 5D MK4 with a 24-105 F4 L2 lens. Absolutely love.

• 

• 

Having fun with the new camera.

• 

Making our way to Victor, CO via the Phantom Canyon Road. Remnants of the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad.

• 

Typical scene for a club outing.

• 

An original trestle from the Florence and Cripple Creek Railroad.

• 

The cool temps made an enjoyable drive along the old grade.

• 

Weather sets in as we rolled into Victor.

• 

Around Victor.

• 

• 

The Victor and Cripple Creek Narrow Gauge Railroad. A two foot narrow gauge line.

• 

Along the Shelf Road, making our way to camp.

• 

Almost to camp.

• 

Sunset from camp.

• 

Indian Paintbrushes. A good sign for summer.

• 

End.

Headed up to the cabin again after work on Thursday (my Friday). Since were not doing any big groups at the property this year due to all that’s going on, decided to start doing a Social Distancing Hour at the property with one or two friends. My friend Travis aka t@Honeybadger joined me for an evening drive to the wilderness boundary. It was his first time visiting the property so was fun showing him around. Things are definitely turning green and looking like summer up there:).

Evening light on Mt. Evans.

• 

Around the cabin.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

In the Upper Meadows.

• 

• 

• 

Always enjoy this view of Squaw Peak.

• 

Chasing the setting sun to the wilderness boundary.

• 

• 

• 

My friend Travis’s kiddo. He was having a fun time driving around the property.

• 

• 

Looking North to Squaw Peak.

• 

• 

A fine sunset!

• 

Morning light on Mt. Evans.

• 

Looking down on the ranch house.

• 

Mt. Evans through the Evergreens.

• 

Morning light.

• 

Parked next to the repeater station for the Fire Department.

• 

• 

End.

Haven’t made much progress on the blog since being back to work, but have been working on a book project with my Dad. It’s about an Isolated Denver during the Stay-at-Home orders and my daily walks downtown. Were putting a book together with my images. This will be the front cover as well as a poster- all silk screen printing. Will post more on the book when we get it printed.

Silk screen print of Larimer Square.