Nothing daunted
August 6, 2016

One thing leads to another: my friend Nancy loaned me a book that got us curious about northwest Colorado, a region we had not explored, and the next thing you know, we are there.  Craig is our jumping-off point for a week of traipsing around.

The book, "Nothing Daunted", contained an intriguing story within a fairly convoluted writing style, but it was enough for us to follow in the footsteps of the dual heroines.  Set in the teens of the 20th century when this country was sparsely settled, two New York socialites chose to leave the comfort of hearth and home to have a year of adventure teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in the Rocky Mountain isolation of Elkhead, Colorado.

The dynamic duo were hired by lawyer and rancher Farrington Carpenter who wanted to establish a school for the children of settlers up in the mountains far from such opportunities.  His ranch, near Hayden and a short distance from Craig, was passed down in his family and is now owned by the Nature Conservancy which opens it to the public.

One of the women, Rosamond, married Ferry, as he was called, later in life and lived at the ranch, which was a center of local social and business life.

Ferry's charming five-bedroom house is furnished as he left it, completely open for casual wandering.

Not surprisingly, Ferry owned an extensive library.

Again with the piano, alas this time a lovely case with a not-so-in-tune inner workings.

Four of the bedrooms have running water for wash basins, something I have never seen before.

The surprise was that much of the property is available for hiking, an opening we took full advantage of.  A majority of our walk was through wetlands, with the mosquitoes to show for it.  I covered up and sustained nary a bite amidst a great deal of irritated flailing of arms.

At the times we could see beyond the head-high grass and density of woodlands, the surrounding mountain views were beautiful.

The Yampa River flows through the Carpenter ranch.  Several times we encountered its various twists and turns and cut-off meanders.

Seems we were upsetting the apple cart every time we showed up at the river.  This flock of mergansers were startled out of their hidey-hole at our approach.

This buck and his pal showed up on the other side the river from us; evidently, we were in the way of where they intended to cross.

Not to be deterred, the pair simply moved downstream and were not in the slightest concerned about deeper water.

We encountered the same pair later in the day.  I imagined them being very annoyed that we were once again disturbing them.

The wetlands supports plentiful tiny wildlife, also, in addition to birds.  We got a life bird while on the ranch - a Williamson's sapsucker.

This view of the Carpenter ranch headquarters shows the juxtaposition of the pioneer settlement with a coal-fired generating plant - sad!

New/old friends, veterans . . .

We were scarcely set up in Craig before we had an engagement with Tom & Susan, a delightful couple from my hometown of Phoenix.  She lived in Prescott in the olden days so we had fun sharing memories and mentally revisiting mutual acquaintances.  

After visiting at our house, we four attended an event for the Veterans Charity Ride to Sturgis, sponsored by the Craig VFW.  I feel very grateful that they told us about it; because we had just gotten in, we hadn't heard about it and would have missed the awesome experience.

A relatively new organization conceived and put into motion by Indian Dave after his solo ride to Sturgis, the aim is to be therapeutic for returning injured veterans by joining together for a couple of weeks on the road using motorcycles, tricycles and sidecars.

From their website: "We’ll spend over a week riding on America’s most beautiful roads, getting to know each other and helping each other with Motorcycle Therapy.  The shared experiences of serving brings them together, veteran to veteran to help each other heal.  We also show the Veterans just how much their service means to America, by stopping in small towns along the way to meet the grateful people of our nation who want to celebrate these brave men and women.  Once in Sturgis, we spend the week of the rally, riding the Black Hills, attending events and giving the Veterans the unique “Sturgis Experience”.

I had good conversations with a local veteran, Robby, and with one of the riders, Ian.

Ian is an Iraq war veteran suffering from traumatic brain injury caused by numerous severe concussions.  His condition is very difficult; however, his courageous attitude is inspiring as he continues to work through the formidable symptoms.

Amazingly, all the veterans are riding Indian motorcycles donated by the company - what a generous donation!

Indian Dave, second from left, is the brainchild behind the Veterans Charity Ride to Sturgis.  The group was warmly welcomed to Craig and feted at a barbecue dinner.

This 'n that . . .

The Craig farmer's market was not what we had hoped it would be.  Almost no produce, but some interesting homemade items and services along with good conversation.

This is one of the many chain-sawed carvings throughout Craig, all created during the "Whittle the Wood" event held every June.  The festival features "head-to-head competition between a dozen experienced wood carvers who begin with a tree trunk and create a masterpiece in four short days."  Many of them are extremely impressive.

This gentleman has created an innovative knife-sharpening jig and two-handed process.  "How do you know when it's done?" I asked him.  "When I get tired", he replied.

Nope, she was not painted that way; it's all natural.

Really???