Ringing out the old.

Wishing everyone a prosperous and peaceful new year on this sunny beautiful last day of 2008.

Is it really this cold?

Good Morning,
21 below zero here this morning and now that it is 11:00 a.m. we have warmed up to 2 above. Don't get the idea that this is the way it always is here, I am only writing about it because it is an unusual occurrence. Tomorrow we should be up in the 30s, great temperature for being out in the winter woods.

Lost and Found

We found a ring in one of our cabins and recall that earlier this summer a guest may have lost one. If it was you, please call us and identify the cabin and the ring so we may reunite it with you.
Thanks,

Picture from Black Cloud Trail

Kendrick went up Black Cloud Trail to the first stream crossing. Here is a view of the Twin Peaks and Galena Gulch from that hike.
Summer is in full swing with great hiking and fishing being reported by our guests.

South Platte fishing bags Scott his biggest Colorado trout.

Scott, Kendrick and some of our guests went out early this morning to fish on the South Platte in South Park. This fine Brown trout is 18" long, a record for Scott. Kendrick caught a 16 and a 14" trout so the trip was deemed a great success. The Arkansas river, while still quite high, is clearing and fishing is improving on it as well.

Guest Comments are always welcome.

We wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our stay at the B&B on June 20-21.  We failed to tell you in your Visitor Book , but wanted to be sure you knew.  The scenery was outstanding, our room was very nice, and the breakfast and rhubarb scones were the best we had our whole visit in Colorado.  Thank you for your hospitality.  We hope to be able to visit again in the near future.
>>
>> Rob and Ronda Pearce
>>

A bit of bragging.

In addition to getting ready for our summer guests, we took a bit of time in June to go out to Wisconsin for Kendrick's graduation. He has completed his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts (Computer science) degrees, graduating summa cum laude in both. We are now enjoying his company at the lodge until mid August when he head back to UW at Madison to pursue a doctorate in some part of the computer science field. Congrats and way to go Kendrick.

Summer update.

Again, it has been a while since our last post. Part of the reason is, as you see above, I've been working on floors. The Prospector cabin floor has been refinished and looks absolutely great, lots better than the old carpet we pulled out. We were also painting and doing lots of spruce-up projects to get ready for a great summer and that it is turning out to be. Great hiking weather with our cool nights and days into the high 70s. Lots of folks are escaping the heat down on the plains to come up and enjoy the mountains.

Ice is off the pond

End of April is here and the ice is off the pond. It may not stay that way as we are supposed to drop into the teens tonight but a warm weekend is in store. Here at the lodge we have an early May special on for Cinnamon Bear this weekend, 2 nights for the price of one. Check out our web brochure for details and come on up.
The Highway Dept. is working on clearing the pass for the Memorial Weekend opening, another sign that spring is on the way.

Latest news, we are ready for summer.

The breakfast hiatus that was mentioned in an earlier post is over and Laura is back to making those great breakfasts. Some people know that the hiatus was due to the Lodge being under contract to be sold and Laura felt she needed all her energies to get things ready to make the change. Well, the sale fell through and so it will be business as usual this summer with Scott, Laura, Kendrick (yep, we get him home for the summer) and Lewis at the helm. Hope your summer includes a trip to the mountains of Colorado.

Does this look like spring?

I seem to be on the post a month routine but here is the latest photo from Mount Elbert Lodge where we are enjoying a white April.
We actually did see some melting of our huge snow banks but now we are getting more of the gorgeous white stuff. Expecting 10" today and tomorrow.
The first robin was sited just in time for a huge snowfall in March. He left but was seen again the last week of March. Bluebirds are back down by the lakes so I guess spring is going to appear but right now it's still great conditions for snowshoeing and back country skiing.
Low last night 10F. grab a cabin to stay cozy and your favorite gear for enjoying the snow and come on up to the mountains.

Snowshoeing is great!

This photo was sent to us by the guests that stayed in the lodge recently. They had a great time with all the snow we have this year.

Remember, we are offering one more Chef dinner special package March 22nd. That night is also very close to the full moon so you could come up and enjoy the dinner and then go out with Scott on a moonlight snowshoe.

We took guests out moonlight snowshoeing last month and it is just incredible, the light, the quiet and for that trip, the serenade of coyotes.

Other lodge news: starting April 1st, we will not be serving breakfast to any guests until further notice. If you want Laura's scones you should zip on up for a stay in March.

Season of plenty!

Yes, I realize it has been a while since I have posted any news. I took on an extra project for the month of December and with getting ready for it and doing it and recovering... Well, it's been a while.
It was hard to write wonderful things earlier as we have had a cold December and January, the 1st and 3rd coldest months we've recorded in our 14 years at the Lodge.
I did want to get some snow pictures up so those of you that only see us in summer or fall will have a chance to see winter. You can see that it is getting hard to see out the Barn's living room window. Teclia says she's not coming in to work when the snow gets high enough that she can't see out the office window.