Zipline Baggage handler

So down by the river is where we want to be but one of the bummers that go with that is huffing our stuff in and out of the Gorge. There are cactus strewn ledges and two ladder runs. A pedestrian should be on his guard. A sherpa should be doubly concerned. Too dangerous. No fun (at least that's what the kids told me).

So I found a straight shot from up top to the big rock at our camp site and ran about 130 ft of 1/4" aircraft cable from point to point.  I then connected a boat ratchet up top and used paracord connected to a pulley on the wire to transport stuff up and down.  Stuff going down is a matter of gravity and friction braking with the paracord.  Going up I use a drill attached to the small ratchet 3/4" gear nut to power the ascent. My pulley is a petzl zipline trolley with black diamond carabiners. I used a walmart purchased come along at the bottom, 3/8" rawl 3" climbing bolts and 2 fixe climbing anchors on top and bottom.  So far so good.  I am a bit leery of working with rope (fingers getting caught, etc).  Nonetheless, it is a step toward making our time here more relaxing and less toilsome.

Abandoning the Rim for the Gorge

Quick trip to the property yesterday. 5 hrs of driving for 5 hrs onsite.  Decided that my passion is for the river below.  I intend to abandon my efforts on the cactus choked rim and descend into the verdant gorge itself.

After research on historic floods as measured 6 miles upstream at Lobatos bridge, decided that it would be possible to build above all but the most extreme floods on a section of the property where two large boulders lie.  This section is 6to 7 ft above the riverbed which puts it above all but a couple huge floods like the 1905 flood when the river ran at 10 ft-an unbelievable depth considering it normally runs around 1 to 2 ft at the gauge.

My flood insurance will be placing the structure on piers so it will be 10 ft above the riverbed.  Additionally I will orient the structure along the cliff wall so it will not project into any future floodwaters as prominently.

I intend for the structure to be a sleeping and storage place with the majority of the living taking place outside in front on the "patio"

The proposed living area would be behind the large dark boulder on the right.

Here is a view from across the river.

The ladders up to the middle shelf

Beaver gnawed through my hose it appears.

Twin Peaks Hike

There are two black pyramid-like hills that have been beckoning me since I first visited the Gorge in February.  Today I announced to my son, "We're gonna climb those peaks."  He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Okay" in keeping with his easy going nature.

Fording the river at 400 cfs was a bit trickier than I imagined.  We had learned from previous crossings to avoid the narrower rocky rapid part as the water becomes swift and scary.  We made it across and while making our way downstream encountered a large beaver lodge wedged between a massive basalt boulder and the west gorge wall. This was no doubt the very large beaver I had seen swimming about several weeks before. I envisioned angry beaver teeth emerging and gnawing my shin bone as we went over the lodge hearing splashing and smelling musk.  We crossed over without incident.

The next leg of our journey was a game trail (antelope?) that utilized a ramp like structure for descending and ascendinf the 100 foot gorge.

We removed our life jackets and water shoes and climbed up to the baking desert plateau of the BLM.

As we trudged the two miles in a beeline fashion toward the hills, I coached my son on rattlesnake etiquette, hydration, and noting landmarks for the return trip.

When we reached the base an hour later I had this strange notion that I was a patriarch leading his son to the top of a desert mountain in the Holy Land (This part of Colorado can do that to you).  On this particular "mountain" the Lord provided swarms of gnats, piles of droppings from some rock rodent and an incredible view of the Taos Plateau and San Luis Valley.  There were windshelters made of volcanic rock on both peaks erected by some unknown party. Like us, they too were drawn to these distinctive black hills.