Grand Lake 07/10/20

Winding River RV Resort, Grand Lake, Colorado

Do not say (about your enemy), “I’ll do to him as he has done to me; I’ll pay that man back for what he did.” ~ Proverbs 24:29

Good morning, Grand Lake!
What a great way to begin the day – – gazing upon the newly sun-kissed Rocky Mountains!
I know I just showed you pictures of the dirt in yesterday’s post, but it was sooo awful, I took another this morning. The first stop of the day was a car wash!
While Blaine took care of the Jeep, I went for a walk/talk with my sister-in-law and came across this burro wandering around the campground. : )
Our neighbors slept in that unique contraption last night. : )

One of the the Rocky Mountain National Park Visitor Centers is just across from the end of the campground’s road, so our first stop was there in order to gather information for our time here.

Aren’t these gorgeous?
They’re Colorado blue columbine.
They had information boards up here with some
interesting information on National Park Rangers that was very touching.
I encourage you to read this. It’s quite good.

Our main focus for today was visiting the town, so we parked in downtown Grand Lake and took a stroll through the town, stopping in a few shops and galleries along the way.  Nice little town!  Gorgeous view of the natural lake that they claim provides the start of the Colorado River.

Here’s what Grand Lake’s Chamber of Commerce has to say about their town’s history:

In the mid-1800s, European hunting parties discovered Grand Lake. Some hunters constructed summer lodges and hired local mountain men as guides. The area was permanently settled in 1867. Grand Lake Village’s first full-time, year-round residents were an intriguing mix of miners (who participated in a brief mining boom) and hunting guides. In the late 1870s, silver was discovered in the rivers and mountains near Grand Lake. Prospectors bought supplies in local stores and established small mountain mining communities. Almost overnight, the town of Grand Lake transformed into a bustling economy.

Thanks to the groundswell of new residents, Grand Lake became the county seat in 1881, though it was short-lived. Soon afterward, mines ceased operation and arguments over the placement of the county seat even led to an infamous Fourth of July shootout. Despite the bloodshed and suffering economy, some miners planted roots and settled in the area for good. They fished, boated, hiked and breathed in the pristine mountain air. For many, the experience would never be equaled. They returned year after year. To accommodate them, a flurry of small hotels were built.  Hammers and saws were everywhere it seemed, as new summer homes and dude ranches kept the construction industry’s plate full. As the years passed, an increasing number of visitors braved the wagon and stagecoach trip over mountain passes to enjoy glorious Grand Lake summers.

Though separated from what many called “civilization” (e.g. Denver), Grand Lake apparently missed the memo, establishing a Yacht Club in 1902 and the historic Kauffman House and museum in 1892., Today, the Village of Grand Lake maintains its historic charm. Keen observers will observe the area’s trademark architectural design, called “mountain rustic”. The style remains popular among local homes, restaurants and stores.

What can you do when you get to Grand Lake? Wooden boardwalks line Grand Lake’s main street, which features quaint retail establishments and a variety of dining choices. Other popular activities include: horseback riding, fishing, boating, swimming, hiking, and snowshoeing. Skiers enjoy the adjacent trails of Rocky Mountain National Park. Snowmobilers are welcome in town and are pleasantly surprised by scenic trails surrounding town.

I looked up the shootout.  It’s a long and complicated tale that I just skimmed.  Basically it was a political argument that ended up with several people dead.  If you want more, you can Google ‘fourth of July shootout Grand Lake’.  You’ll find all you want to know and more.  😊

This is at the local hardware store. : )
Beautiful!
And pretty well-used. There were a number of private vessels of all sorts on the water.
This SUP board was sporting a large dog lying on the front. : )
Why did I take a picture of dogs in the water? Well, you can’t see it because there was no way for me to take a discrete picture, but there was a small beach here, with any number of people swimming in the lake or lying about. And the owner of these two dogs was playing in the same area. We just shake our heads in wonderment sometimes. . . .
We were excited to visit a museum once again! But it was closed! Apparently, according the sign on the door, COVID is not the culprit, it’s lack of volunteers to work. : (
We thought this was a statue of Mr. Kauffman, but it’s a good thing I read the sign, because it’s not. : )
Wow! These filled a bush with their beauty!
The yard was nicely landscaped!
Here’s what’s inside! They have it posted on the exterior wall. You can’t see in the windows because they’re covered with lace curtains. : (
This very long toboggon was on the porch, along with a sign.
I had read about this shop in the town’s brochure we picked up,
and was interested in seeing what they had in-store.
I was very disappointed.
There may have been differently designed rubber ducks,
but I was expecting . . . I don’t know . . . something more . . . unique, maybe?
As you can see by the fast-approaching truck, Blaine risked life and limb to capture this picture of Main Street.

Since the town claims that the head waters of the Colorado begins at their lake, I thought this would be a good time to give you some information from justfunfacts.com (BTW – it seems they gathered some of their information from history, not current events, becasue I read a 2019 article on Smithsonian.com that says it doesn’t even reach the Gulf of California anymore:

The Colorado River is one of the principal rivers of the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

The length of the Colorado River is approximately 1,450 miles.

The Colorado River flows through seven states, five U.S states, and two Mexican states. It flows through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California, Baja California Mexico, and Sonora Mexico.

From its source high in the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado River channels water over falls, through deserts and canyons, to the lush wetlands of a vast delta in Mexico and (in it’s natural state) into the Gulf of California.

Its source in La Poudre Pass in Rocky Mountains is at an elevation 10,184 feet.

In its natural state, the Colorado had more extreme flows than any river in the U.S., ranging from lows of 2,500 cubic feet per second into the Gulf of California in the winter to 100,000 cubic feet per second in the summer. Now, due to siphoning to meet the needs of people, it dries up 100 miles short of reaching the Gulf of California.

The Colorado River has an average depth of about 20 feet.

The Colorado is joined by over 25 significant tributaries, of which the Green River is the largest by both length and discharge.

The Colorado River passing through no less than 11 different national parks.

The name Colorado originates from the Spanish word for red color. This is because of the red sandstone silt that would cover the river basin, making it look red.  However, after the Glen Canyon Dam was built in 1963, the colored silt was trapped behind the dam and the river stopped looking red.

The river was first discovered by European, Francisco de Ulloa in 1539.

The river and its surrounding areas were first mapped in the early 1600s by Franciso de Bolanos, from the mouth all the way to the Gulf of California.

Several expeditions charted the Colorado in the mid-19th century – one of which, led by John Wesley Powell, was the first to run the rapids of the Grand Canyon.

Until 1921, the section of the Colorado River from its headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park to its confluence with the Green River in Utah was known as the “Grand River.”

All that said, we don’t buy the town’s ‘claim to fame’.  Neither does the Rocky Mountain Park Ranger we spoke with later today when we stopped by to get a couple more questions answered.  On the National Park map (and if you Google it), there’s a specific place where the river is said to begin.  It’s called La Poudre Pass, and although you can drive a Jeep road to get to it, you can’t get there from here.  Our other option would be to hike a whole lotta miles along the Continental Divide.  That’s not gonna happen either.   We’ll just all have to be content with what we get the next few days.  😊

This is at the Visitor Center.
It’s been so long since we’ve seen running water like this,
it’s become quite the novelty!

We drove over to check out The Grand Lodge, but there wasn’t a vantage point to take a picture of it, so here’s one I found on-line, along with a couple of other pictures we took.

Grand Lake Lodge, CO - Booking.com
We were in this area, but there was sooo much
stuff grown up, we could only see one corner.
Guess this picture’s really old, but it’s all I could find.
Couldn’t tell you why the fire truck’s there. : )
That’s quite a view of Grand Lake!
Worship?!?! Yay!!
Our campground offers Cowboy Church at 10.
Can’t wait!! It’s been eons!

Wonderful shish-kabobs for dinner tonight!  I marinated the pork overnight in a teriyaki sauce.  Yummy!!  Recipe’s at the end of the post.

After dinner, it was time to observe the running of the horses!  This is such a neat event they do here in the campground!  All those trail horses that have been working all day, get tethered in a line to their feed troughs. 

Finishing their dinner.

Once their saddles are removed and they’re done eating, they’re all released from their bridles and herded out through a gate, galloping across a field to where we presume is a barn or pasture for them.  Today we took our place alongside the road and waited with baited breath!  Okay, maybe we weren’t quite that excited, but we were very much looking forward to seeing them run!

She’s acting as the front man – – making sure no one is walking in the grass.
Can’t have anyone getting trampled, ya know. : )
Here they come!!
Yeah. There’s a lot of horse pictures, but just scroll through them fast and it’ll be like watching a video! : )

So fun!  We’ll have to do again before we leave here!  It’s around 5:30pm every night, and we discovered they run them in between 7-7:30am.

MARINATED PORK FOR KABOBS

2# pork tenderloin, cut into cubes

¼ C. dark brown sugar (see below if you don’t have dark brown)

4 T. ½ T. garlic powder

½ t. sesame oil

1 T. rice vinegar

6 T. Kikkoman teriyaki sauce

If you don’t have dark brown sugar, you can use regular and add about 1 T. black strap molasses.

If you’d like, you can brush the vegetables with just plain teriyaki sauce. Don’t use the marinade.

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