Saturday, August 15
Woke to a crisp 40°F (4.4°C) morning temperature, pretty much the same as the last few days. Not sure why it's colder here at night than Independence Mountain which is about 2000 feet higher in elevation!
A leisurely breakfast as I waited for outside temperature to break 50°F (10°C) so I would only have to wear my riding jacket liner under my regular riding gear.
Yagi and I got on County Road 22 north and were soon exploring the trails branching off from County Road 25, farms and ranches to the east and Wolford and Little Wolford Mountains to the west.
The above screenshot from COTREX app show the many trails available for dualsport riding.
Found some nice campsites with great cell signal but getting to them could be iffy with the URRV. Still, I recorded the ones I liked in my PocketEarth app and just kept on pootling around.
I believe that's Little Wolford with Wolford Mountain in the far background
A distant view of the Wolford Mtn Reservoir
Pretty hazy conditions due to the ongoing fires in the state
Now further east of Wolford Mtn
Looks like some idiot dumped a Spin Cycle Exercise Equipment
Eventually, I ended up back on County Road 224, near where I am boondocking. Yagi and I rode up a nearby hill for the views:
Can you spot Umarang?
After lunch, around 2PM, I decided to check out the local Heritage Park Museum in Kremmling. Since I'm an old guy now, it only cost $5 for admission. Not much of a discount as the adult fee is $6 but hey.
Not too bad a museum, spread out among several small buildings, the exhibits are what you'd expect of pioneer life in Middle Park, the area where Kremmling is in but also included exhibits/photos/displays on specific subjects such as a brief history of the Forest Service. One starts at the Homestead House and then moves on to the other buildings.
Here's some of the things that caught my eye:
Ranger Station
you don't see want ads like this anymore....
I didn't know that a Fedora was the original hat
for the Forest Ranger uniform.
The Town Jail was basically a small cabin, with pictures of towns folks and events....not much in terms of prisoner memorabilia or such.
I thought this was a cool old picture of the Kremmling's Cliffs
which I dimly recall was one of the items posted inside the jail....
The Smithy's building's facade still exists, but it fronts the open air
portion of a cafe now, and there were too many cars in front for
me to get a decent picture of it.
Between the Town Jail and the old Railroad Station, was this mystery machinery....no signs/documentation, but I figure it involved lots of grease and probably some big hammers to operate!
The RR Station is currently closed for restoration funds and work.
Inside the visible portions of the Train Station, this old car....
Next up was the Livery and Feed Building.
Here's Yagi parked in front.
Same building, back in the day....
A saddle with two horns?
No documentation seen.
Some of the old time smithy's tools....
What the heck is that net-like thing I wondered....
The answer, surprised me....pretty
sure it didn't catch on.....
Homestead house and museum HQ
Leaving the museum, I posed Yagi at a spot showing the town's view of the cliffs:
Then, seeing the smoke from the nearby (19 miles by car) forest fire in Sulphur Springs, I rode Yagi to the top of the cliffs for a shot:
Riding back down from the edge of the cliffs, I checked out this trail and found a nice overlook spot for Cow Gulch and what seems to be a nice but sloping camping spot:
Overlooking Cow Gulch with Wolford Mountain in background
I then rode down to Cow Gulch's picnic area, found it being used by a family so instead I decided to check out this narrow trail leading out of Cow Gulch and according to COTREX heading towards Wolford Mountain.
I ended up riding down the trails that I elected previously to not ride up as they looked too steep! Oh well, soon I was back on CR 224 and headed back to the campsite.
The rest of the afternoon was spent cooling off and processing pictures and such. Oh, and there was no longer a need to ride to a high spot to see the forest fire's mushroom cloud, it was easily visible from camp:
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As I type this, it's dark outside but there's a visible red glow on the horizon to the east where the fire continues to burn.
8 comments:
Two horned saddle, could it be a ladies side saddle?
Are you seeing any wildlife while exploring? Deer, Elk, pronghorns? Feathered game animals?
No wildlife besides ground squirrels and that type of varmint. Your guess re the saddle seems reasonable.
I have only ridden through that area once, but it has a great Old West fell. It appears to be one of the lesser visited areas in Colorado, which means I need to visit.
One drives past Kremmling usually enroute somewhere else....it’s worth an extended stop and exploration.
Interesting museum. How far is the fire?
I estimate the fire was about 19 miles away RichardM.
The pics with the mushroom cloud look like out of a movie with an apocalyptic theme...
The historic site looked interesting as for the two-horn saddle, that looks like what we would call a side saddle, in the past centuries usually used by women.
Quite so, SonjaM! Yours is the second vote for a side saddle....that must be it then.
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