note:  pics are up at devopoker.com and blog.ub.com, I still can't write in HTML (c'mon Seebs!!!) here.  

I feel really good right now.  Like the past five days were some sort of merging of skills I've acquired in the last ten years that are relevant above eight thousand feet and I just passed the final exam.  Dan, Mike and I lead a group of five up North Brush Creek, camped the first night, went up and over to the Valley View Hot Springs on the Western slope of the Sangres on Tuesday, and chilled out there until Thursday morning.  We camped at treeline on the other side that night, and then went up and over to the trailhead on Friday.  

Words feel inadequate to describe the state of satisfaction that I have sitting here at Poag's after this week.  We took a German couple, a local couple, and a woman from Dallas on a five day adventure.  They all made it back with smiles on their faces.  I had a hell of a great trip.  We were tipped well.  I just had an awesome meal at Cel Dor Asado, including the apple crisp dessert that is my new favorite, and now am sucking down a Smithwick's at Poag's.  

Monday morning we left the ranch, two trucks with trailers laden by horse and a fifteen passenger van comfortably loaded with our five custies.  We drove to the trailhead, unloaded horses from trailers, filled panniers with gear, and hung them from the sawbucks of our four pack horses.  After a riding lesson we hit the trail sometime before noon and one of the Germans said, "Pretty good weather this trip."  

As soon as we laid picnic blankets for lunch it started raining.  It didn't stop until just before we hit camp, several miles up at the top of the basin.

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Fortunately the rain broke long enough for us to pitch tents, set up the kitchen and cook dinner, and be about ready to go to bed.  Then it returned, came off and on throughout the night, and by the next morning we understood why:  We were in a cloud.  

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We took our time getting out of camp that morning, primarily because the trip leader, when presented with the problem of Yarrow's picket line being too short and thus he had eaten all the grass in range, decided that the best solution was to untie the horse and set it free.  That's the short story.  We spent the early afternoon, since we didn't break camp until after noon, walking up the Eastern slope in a cloud.  It was pretty magical when we broke the backbone of the Sangres though, complete cloud on the Eastern side and Summer day on the West.  

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We arrived at Valley View Hot Springs Tuesday evening and the relaxing began.  Set up camp, dinner, campfire and music, and then go soak.  

The hot springs are basically a nudist colony.  Sorry, Mom.  I didn't take many pictures.  Wednesday was perhaps the most relaxing day of my life, and this place is somewhere that I'm going to return.  

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Thursday morning we packed up and left, heading up the Major Creek trail until treeline.  We made camp, picketed the horses, cooked dinner, hung by the fire, and went to sleep.  I finished The Fountainhead after several months of being in the novel (as is necessary with most Ayn Rand books).

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We broke camp early the following morning as we had to go up and over, have lunch, and then make it to the trailhead in a reasonable amount of time.  We did so well.

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The trip was fantastic personally.  It felt really good to be in the woods for the longest time straight since sometime in 2005.  After we unloaded everything at the ranch, we cracked some beers and hung out in front of my cabin, watching the sunset over the ranch and valley, basking in the glory of the satisfaction of a job well done.

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Peace and good luck,

Devo