We are entering our third year here in beautiful Colorado. Many things have changed in our circumstances, but we love our life here more everyday.
Enjoy our pictures and adventures as we continue to enjoy life at our "Lake House" !
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(Updated July 2015)
(Click on any picture for a larger view)
The Sutcliffe Winery
The western slope of the rocky mountains is famous for it's rich soil and excellence in agriculture. John Sucliffe, a British restaurateur, bought some land about six miles from the Utah border and started his winery 12 years ago. John sells his wine to high end restaurants and select wine dealers. Lauren and I had the opportunity to visit the Sutcliffe home and vineyards and get a start to finish tour of wine making at it's finest.
The Sutcliffe winery is in a beautiful area just a few miles from Hovenweep National Monument. John uses his own land, and farms the land of others, to raise his grapes and produce his wines. Everything is done on site and by hand. From harvesting, pressing, storing in oak barrels from all over the world and finally bottling and corking.
Here John and Lauren are inspecting a one-ton container of red grapes. The newly fermented wine is just below the top layer of grapes.
The taste of new wine. Out came a glass and we sample some of John's new Merlot! It was an amazing thing to drink freshly fermented wine like this. Rich and sweet, but you could also detect the processes taking place that turns grape juice into a fine wine.
John explains to Lauren the storage process. The wine is stored in oak barrels John has collected from all over the world. Each wood barrel has a slightly different effect on the wine. So each is selected for the desired outcome. Then the bottling and corking process. All done by hand with the greatest of care.
John's home is a beautiful southwestern ranch house with vineyards surrounding it on all sides. It was a truly unique and wonderful experience.
The Alpine Loop
The San Juan mountains have several areas that are county maintained 4 wheel drive scenic routes. One of them is called the Alpine loop and is a 70 mile exploration of some of our country's most beautiful mountains and richest historical heritage.
At the same time Butch and Sundance were robbing banks, miners were pulling millions of dollars worth of silver and gold out of these mountains. Towns were springing up and settlers, workers, merchants and miners were flocking to the area.
All that is left now is a beautiful land with multiple ghost towns and dozens of abandoned mines. These areas, now enhanced by the changing fall colors are truly compelling. It seems I just can't get enough, and my camera can't begin to capture what my eyes see. It beyond beautiful, it absolutely hypnotic.
Last week the first snow came to the mountains above 9,000 feet. Lauren and I did some climbing on Cinnamin Pass, which is at 13,200 feet. It seemed that every few steps I had to stop to catch my breath, but the views were amazing.
Mines dot the lanscape even at the higher altitudes. The drama of life for the people that lived in these towns constantly captures my imagination. The hard work and struggle of family life seems impossible to understand, but time after time we see evidence of small communities and family life in the most remote areas. It's really interesting!
This mine sits at 12,700 feet. I can't imagine lifting this heavy equipment and the work it took to operate at this altitude.
The aspens are bright yellow contrasted against the green pine and fir trees and low growing scrub oak, all with snow capped mountains in the background.
The beauty of this area sems to call you further and further into the wilderness. Around every turn is another patch of yellow, another ghost town, another mine. It seems to go on forever, almost to the point of your eyes screaming that they can't take any more... then you turn another corner and go onward to soak in the sights. I don't want it to stop... ever!
Landscaping
The first big project was the landscaping in the back yard.
The original yard had nothing in the backyard, and although very pretty it was very muddy during rains and snow and left no path to the lake. We wanted to create an area for sitting and relaxing as well as making it practical to move around without destroying the wonderful trees and shrubs. We found a great contractor who shared our vision of preserving the environment as much as possible.
The work included drainage control around the property, a path from the house to the sitting patio where we now have some easy chairs . We have an occasional breakfast here and lunch almost every day (Very nice!). We also added a little chiminea for late evening outdoor fires to relaxe and enjoy the cool of the night as the stars come out in all their splendor.
We also added another place to park a car in the front, with a gravel bed and stacked rock retaining wall, a stepped path around the side of the house, and some new Aspen and Blue Sruce trees to fill in the forest around the house.
It's just beautiful here!
Original yard, no deck, path, or patio
The 'Sun' patio and path to lake, also ideal for fires at night
Stone path along the side of the house
Our house from across the lake
200 miles of open land behind the house
The Lower Deck
Just dirt to start
Simultaneous with the landscaping was building the lower level deck. When we first saw the house the lower level opened to an open, dirt and mud area that just begged to be covered with Redwood.
I did all the work myself, putting into practice those little skills gained over the years. And thankfully Lauren was right there with assistance and her vision of how she wanted it to look. We wanted something that really took advantage of the view from the lower level and was big enough for entertaining. We also didn't want it to obscure the view from the interior.
It took 2 weeks to finish and the result was wonderful. Sitting on the deck in the morning sun is Lauren's breakfast routine while she checks emails and checks in the Elizabeth and Rebecca ( I get to work in the mornings!). The afternoons are especially delightful from this vantage point as you see the lake from a lower level.
Framing and posts
Six foot cantilever for the view
Cheap labor!
Lauren did the hard part!
Laying the deck planks... My aching back!
The end result... Beautiful!
BackPacking
For years we've wanted to take up backpacking and we now have the change to explore some of the amazing San Juan Mountains right in our own back yard. Our development backs up to the San Juan National Forest which starts about 1/2 mile away at the end of our street.
Just a few short miles behind our property is 200 miles of the Weminuche wilderness area where we have taken our first few excursions into the deep forest for several days at a time. Just north of Durango is the Uncompahgre wilderness which backs up to the Weminuche wilderness.
This, along with the San Juan National Forest means we are surrounded on three sides by mountains, lakes, rivers, and what seems to be unlimited opportunities for hiking, biking, backpacking, and running around on the "Critter". What's the Critter? It's our tandem seat 4-wheel drive go anywhere, climb anything ATV.
We got all our gear at a local outdoor store and started off. The camping was amazing and on our second trip we hiked 10 miles up to a beautiful lake only to run into the fellow who sold us our gear. We stayed up late by the fire talking and sharing experiences.
A few places proved challenging to cross as we had to ford fairly big creeks full of snow run off. In one case we had to cross intimidating streams on fallen logs with our packs, Lauren liked that part a bunch! (NOT!)
Lauren ready for action at the trailhead
The Weminuche Wilderness map
Amazing views and 300 foot drop... I couldn't be happier!
Resting our backs 3 miles in
Campsite 5 miles in. River is just to the left of frame
Crossing the (BIG) Creek
The wind blew this tree down on the trail just before we arrived, that's why Lauren goes first!
On days that we don't hike, we take the "Critter" and head up fire roads deep into the local mountains. This thing is a BLAST and will climb anything!
The Fireplace
Old propane fireplace = BORING!
The fireplace project was an unexpected one. The upper level of the house had a propane fireplace that put out little heat and looked, well... small and cheap! Not to mention that propane is expensive.
So we decided to rip it out and install a wood burning fireplace that has some character to it and will heat the whole house in the cold rocky mountain winters.
The fireplace installer only did the roof puncture for the chimine flew, I did the rest of the work myself, including the framing, stacked stone, and slate hearth. It was a ton of work and took a total of 3 weeks to complete.
The fireplace is now the centerpiece of the living room and just beautiful (if I do say so myself!).
Unit in place with roof puncture and framing done
Concrete wallbaord ready for the stone work
The final product. Real stacked stone face and slate hearth.
Visitors and Other News
In July Lauren's sisters visited, then Elizabeth and Ryan, then Rebecca, Dominick and Theren. It was a busy month and we so enjoyed sharing our adventures with all of them.
It was like starting our own tour company as we:
Went on Jeep tours of the Red Mountain mining district. 12,000 feet on top of the mountain are multiple mines that were built in the 1860-1890's. Now just ghost towns and fascinating to explore.
Went river rafting down the Animas river (River of Souls).
Shopping in Telluride.
Exploring the Anasazi ruins in Mesa Verde national Park. This is truly a mystical, wonderful area to enjoy.
Riding the Durango-Silverton steam train.
Wondering through the streets of Silverton, the best preserved Victorian mining town in the U.S.
Tubing the Pine River with Theren (What a blast that was!)
We also drove to the top of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs. 13,400 feet in elevation and an amazing view of the Colorado Platau.
Old silver mines on Red Mountain
LeeEllyn, Lauren, Karen and Diane The Pendergraft sister reunion of 2007 (Ron was the driver/photographer/slave)
Mesa Verde National Park. Amazing, mystical and beautiful!
Rafting the Animas River (Note the panic on everyones face!)
The 'Yankee Girl' mine, the richest silver mine in the world
The Durango/Silverton train pulling in to Silverton.
The Pine River, one of several rivers just minutes from the house.
