PIC HEAVY - Subalpine CO meadows, 11 mile two-day, and a near miss of DanaMac

[Knotty]

Nice trip. Thanks to your pics I almost feel like I was there.

[Theo]

[QUOTE=waddy;277302]Great report and beautiful pictures! Mustardman, my hat is certainly off to you, and I can see why you use the light Aarn packs. Anybody that packs a railroad iron into the mountains for a fire ring is someone to be reckoned with!!

I was wondering if anybody else would pick up on that.

[Mustardman]

Anybody that packs a railroad iron into the mountains for a fire ring is someone to be reckoned with!!

I kept cracking up about that too while we were building the fire. The area is pretty popular with horseback riders, so I'm assuming one of them packed it in, for some reason. It was certainly an odd thing to find in the middle of the woods.

[pgibson]

Great report MM, excellent photos, really makes me want to go for a drive

[Bradley]

. . . popular with horseback riders, so I'm assuming one of them packed it in, for some reason. .

It looks long as much of it as we can see in the photo,
only reason I can see for a horse pack team to hall it in
is using it as an anvil, for leveling a pulled horseshoe that has been twisted.

But personally I would just carry a few spare shoes, to nail on if one was pulled.
The weight difference would be huge, even for the tools needed to do the job,
as a rounding hammer for working a shoe on the anvil is 2lb or 1.5lb (that could be left at home)
The other tools would weigh in at about 5-7lbs + shoes are about a lb each,
Nails . . . well you just carry those in your mouth.

OR: It could have been halled in on a bet . . . or a bet lost.

[Canardly]

Great post! This is an area I've contemplating going to for a few years now. It's right down the road from where I used to live.

The tree marks are from elk, who scrape the bark in the springtime when the cambium layer is full of sap. They use their lower teeth and can really make a nice aspen look ugly. We used to live in the mountains here in Colorado and had them in the yard all the time, eating my wife's flowers and driving my dogs crazy.

[SkyPainter]

GREAT Trip Report! What a nice hike, also! THANKS for sharing that with us!

[Poppabear]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Great pictures and awesome scenery.

[Mustardman]

Thanks for all the great comments everyone - I'm happy to see others getting enjoyment out of the great scenery.


To give you an idea just how much we've enjoyed Colorado since moving out here in February - I just checked in iPhoto, and I have taken over 800 pictures in the roughly five months we've been here

[cooldays]

Mustardman...i thought you only posted photos of knives?

very nice photos! Thanks for sharing. Looks like it was a great trip.

cooldays