Alamosa (Part 3)

On our way out of Alamosa, we stopped in tiny Blanca so I could hop out of the car for a couple of photos. I love the symmetry and the simple shape of this old building. Blanca is about 20 miles outside of Alamosa and has fewer than 350 residents, at one time including Pat's brother Matt. This part of Colorado is very much agricultural, mainly ranching, although The Great Sand Dunes National Park is a big part of the local economy, too. If you're ever in this neck of the woods you should definitely visit the park, it's incredibly unique and beautiful. 

Pine Park Ranch

I believe I've met the woman who owns this ranch. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, my friend Judy lived in this neighborhood at the northeast edge of Black Forest for many years, and when she moved away in 2017 she had a little goodbye party at the Broadmoor. One of the handful of friends gathered was this rancher, who was very interesting and fun to talk to. I can't remember her name, only that she lives here part time and at another family farm out of state part time. At any rate, her barn is quite picturesque!

Another fun day trip

Pat and I had the idea of hiking up Pulpit Rock on the morning of July 29th, but after eating breakfast at Sheldon's Luncheonette we could see that a rainstorm was looming, so we decided to take a drive to Phantom Canyon Road instead. It's a little past the small town of Penrose, southwest of Colorado Springs, and sends you through a national forest. As you can imagine, it's a beautiful drive. Here's a shot from the country road that eventually leads to the entrance of Phantom Canyon. I'll show you the real deal tomorrow.

Larkspur

Today I shot my second of two weddings this holiday weekend. This one was at a ranch in Larkspur. It's so pretty there! Larkspur is situated north of Monument and south of Castle Rock, and the east half of it's mostly ranchland like this. I know it looks cloudy and grey in this shot I took right before the wedding ceremony, but the sun came out a few minutes later, just in time for the bride to make her grand entrance. Perfect!

Bent's Old Fort (Part 2)

Yesterday I posted the first several of a series of pictures I took at Bent's Old Fort, outside of La Junta, on Sunday. Here are a few more. We found it to be a very interesting and educational experience, and we also enjoyed the drive! Instead of our usual mountain view, the drive to La Junta is miles of flat farm and ranchland, punctuated by bright blue skies and fluffy white clouds.

A park employee, dressed in period garb to match the 1830s surroundings.

Bent's Old Fort was a trading post, but not just for buffalo hides. Any kind of frontier staple, and maybe a few little luxuries like candy, could be found there.

One of the small bedrooms. Most of them are dark and cozy, with thick timbers (called vigas) overhead.

This guy was lucky enough to have an actual bed! It seems that most of the fort's residents slept on buffalo robes. That doesn't sound so comfortable to me. But then again this bed doesn't look so comfortable either. 😏

The bright blue skies were chased away by ominous mammatus clouds briefly, and we were even splashed by a few raindrops, but in no time the dark clouds disappeared.

Along with the peacock and peahen (see yesterday's post), there were a couple of resident cats. This one was a beauty.

Your favorite blogger, posing next to a cannon. Yes it was a windy day! Tomorrow I'll post the last of my pictures of Bent's Old Fort.

Ranch life

Yes, these are pigs. I skipped the Superbowl victory parade in Denver yesterday to hang out on a ranch near Simla and make some photographs. It's strictly a personal project not intended for the blog, but I took this particular photo just for CS Daily Photo. The ranch in question raises its animals humanely and without any use of hormones, antibiotics or other unnecessary practices -- and its main product is buffalo! I did take quite a few photos of the buffalo, but since this is all part of a bigger project, I won't be blogging them here. You'll just have to content yourself with these little pigs (and be glad you can't smell them through your screen).

Progress?

I found this bucolic looking ranch at the very edge of a new neighborhood on the northeast side of town. Looks pretty cool, doesn't it? It'd be kind of nice to have all this open space right next to your neighborhood. But when you take a step back, you see this:

Obviously, it has been sold to the highest bidder. Which means that soon, this grassy prairie will look exactly like this:

Yet more beige tract homes. Is this progress?

Home on the range

I don't know the name of this ranch east of town, but I'm guessing it has a K in it.  I captured this shot at twilight as we left the Drennan School (see the previous two posts).  It was freezing cold and the sky was full of the lovliest, soft pastel colors.

To see other Skywatch Friday images from bloggers all over the world, visit http://skyley.blogspot.com/2013/02/skywatch-friday-season-6-episode-33.html.

Untitled

A shot I grabbed during a family portrait shoot in August. This is between Canon City and Westcliffe, a very beautiful part of Colorado indeed. My clients are lucky enough to own a parcel of land in this area, on what was formerly a giant ranch, and this is one of the old outbuildings.

Black Forest

This photo is courtesy of last week's wedding, which took place in Black Forest, northeast of Colorado Springs. A lot of nice homes in that neck of the woods. Before all the custom homes and mansions were built around that area, it was pretty much farmland and ranchland. The occasional ranch still survives, like this one. I came across it while driving to the wedding and stopped to grab a quick snap.

It's a ranch, dude

When people think of Colorado, I'm sure that ranching is one of the first things that spring to mind (right after mountains). Well you're right, this is cattle country. Drive a few miles out from Colorado Springs in any direction, and you'll find a ranch. This one is on the South Peyton Highway in Hanover, Colorado.