The three hour trip out to Larry's Cabin was one of the most scenic drives I can remember. After turning off interstate twentyfive and for the first proper time heading west we hit highway fourteen and began to wind our way along beside the Cache La Poudre river.
Fortunately Larry had drawn us some detailed maps and after a few stops at closed roadside campgrounds surrounded by pine trees we found ourselves heading up a huge opening valley. We passed the entrance to a massive ranch complete with a trophy mountain lodge fit for the president. Several more miles up the valley and we came to the entrance of "High Country Haven". Larry's cabin was much more than the basic hunters cabin we had expected after he had told us about the outhouse and lack of running water, it had been meticulously built and furnished with everything you might need including a king size bed. After checking out the moose head and snow shoes on the walls we settled in for the week.
It was the perfect spot for us to get to know little Scout and get away from it all. The charm of the cabin and the endless valley had captured us as the days flew by. We read books by the fire, cooked over the stove top and explored the area on foot. On one trip into the range behind the cabin the going got a little steep for Scout so he scored a ride in the backpack. Larry had told us that there were a few Moose living close by so we kept our eyes open but only saw the odd mule deer. Back at the cabin we got water by walking a few minutes to a neighbouring cabin that had a hand operated water-well pump, we felt like we were back in the Wild West. We even managed hot showers on the deck by heating up water on the fire and poring it into the solar shower. Life at the cabin was great but it was time to move on and explore other parts of Colorado.
After leaving the cabin we headed south on the 125 then the 9 towards the small town of Silverthorne where we turned up on the doorstep of Pam and Randall’s hilltop house. Randall had been following our travels online and kindly offered to have us visit so after a few emails back and forth we arranged to stop in. Will and I were glad to be sleeping inside as for the first proper time on the trip five inches of snow fell. We exchanged traveling stories as Pam and Randall were keen RV'ers and had driven their bus all through Mexico, we even got a tour of their bus which made us feel very jealous of there enormous space. Randall spent one afternoon showing us the area which included visiting several of the popular local micro breweries. Another day we went for a big walk and as the snow storm cleared were blown away at the beauty of the mountains against the lakes and changing tree colours.
Following our stop in Silverthorne we made the short drive over to the town of Frisco where we spent the day looking around the shops for some bargain winter clothing. In the end we didn’t find any clothing but brought a huge second-hand Coleman sleeping bag as the one we had brought in Chile was no longer cutting it in the cold so we stitched them both together. That evening was Halloween and all the local kids were coming along the main street to collect candy, Will and I grabbed dinner and hung out in a bar watching them trickle by with puffer jackets bulging under their costumes. When we returned to the Dodge there was already two inches of snow piled up on it which required a careful entry to avoid an avalance off the door! Moving all of our bags each evening was starting to became a bit of a hassle in the snow as every time we had a door open there was a blizzard inside. Scout also didn’t have much room in the back when we were driving so we decided to ditch the second spare tire we had carried on the roof since Chile and start looking for a skibox. The next day we found a nine foot long retro white skibox at a secondhand store but decided to have a look on Craig's List (Americas TradeMe) before buying it. We spent the rest of the day doing laundry at the local Laundromat where with Scout inside we met all sorts of people. One lady even came back to give us a lambs wool dog bed which we still use. The same lady also recommended we camp in the parking lot of a nearby trailhead where she walks her dogs.
That evening we scope’d out the parking lot and quickly set up camp then climbed in for a movie. In the morning we had a nice little breakfast in the snow using our camp chairs while locals with their dogs walked by. We took Scout for a short walk and he loved jumping around in the snow that was almost as deep as he was tall.
Later that day we planned to meet up with Neil and Julie aka the Overland Birds who we had last seen in Bolivia. Having driven through Africa they too are driving the Pan-am but they don’t like the cold so went home to England not long after we saw them for Christmas. Will and I were planing to go to a ski movie on the same night as meeting Neil and Julie so we tried to do both but the Ski movie wasn’t the Birds thing and we left feeling bad for dragging them all the way to it. Will and I had words at each other for wasting our time with the Birds but we ended up going to a bar and then heading to our favourite parking lot for the night.
The next morning we had plenty of people stopping by our two foreign vehicles and asking us about our trips, one couple with two big Golden Retrievers took a special shining to us and invited us to go to their house for a coffee. Neil and Julie had a date with MacDonalds so after a final goodbye we drove two minutes down the road to Bob and Jeans, the owners of the two Golden Retrievers. It turned out that Bob and Jean own a kitted out Sprinter van that they take on road tips all over the States so they knew exactly what we needed and immediately said that we could use the shower and washing machine and we had only just walked in the door of their house! Jean then made us breakfast and we spent the day looking over maps with Bob who gave us lots of travel tips for the area. As the day progressed Bob and Jean asked us to stay for dinner as Jeans Cousins Bill and Tom were coming over. They also said "sorry the bedrooms are full but you can park your car in the heated garage if you like”. “Perfect” we replied. When talking to Bob we also mentioned that we are looking for a skibox for the roof and that must have got Bob thinking because next minute he offers us the Thule skibox he has in the garage saying that he has another one and has been wanting to get rid of this one so we can HAVE it for free! Absolutely stoked and blown away with their generosity we said yes please and Will began rearranging the roof to make it fit. The guys had it fitted just in time for dinner which was lovely. As the snow once again came down we had a really fun night getting to know Jean's cousins as well as Bob and Jean. Jeans cousin Bill even mentioned that we should come and stay at his place in San Francisco when we made it there, Apparently he has spent the last 25 years building a unique mansion with his wife. Despite our short stay we felt really close to Bob and Jean and hoped to stay in contact as they would be heading to Moab in their van only weeks before we did.
Later that day we planned to meet up with Neil and Julie aka the Overland Birds who we had last seen in Bolivia. Having driven through Africa they too are driving the Pan-am but they don’t like the cold so went home to England not long after we saw them for Christmas. Will and I were planing to go to a ski movie on the same night as meeting Neil and Julie so we tried to do both but the Ski movie wasn’t the Birds thing and we left feeling bad for dragging them all the way to it. Will and I had words at each other for wasting our time with the Birds but we ended up going to a bar and then heading to our favourite parking lot for the night.
The next morning we had plenty of people stopping by our two foreign vehicles and asking us about our trips, one couple with two big Golden Retrievers took a special shining to us and invited us to go to their house for a coffee. Neil and Julie had a date with MacDonalds so after a final goodbye we drove two minutes down the road to Bob and Jeans, the owners of the two Golden Retrievers. It turned out that Bob and Jean own a kitted out Sprinter van that they take on road tips all over the States so they knew exactly what we needed and immediately said that we could use the shower and washing machine and we had only just walked in the door of their house! Jean then made us breakfast and we spent the day looking over maps with Bob who gave us lots of travel tips for the area. As the day progressed Bob and Jean asked us to stay for dinner as Jeans Cousins Bill and Tom were coming over. They also said "sorry the bedrooms are full but you can park your car in the heated garage if you like”. “Perfect” we replied. When talking to Bob we also mentioned that we are looking for a skibox for the roof and that must have got Bob thinking because next minute he offers us the Thule skibox he has in the garage saying that he has another one and has been wanting to get rid of this one so we can HAVE it for free! Absolutely stoked and blown away with their generosity we said yes please and Will began rearranging the roof to make it fit. The guys had it fitted just in time for dinner which was lovely. As the snow once again came down we had a really fun night getting to know Jean's cousins as well as Bob and Jean. Jeans cousin Bill even mentioned that we should come and stay at his place in San Francisco when we made it there, Apparently he has spent the last 25 years building a unique mansion with his wife. Despite our short stay we felt really close to Bob and Jean and hoped to stay in contact as they would be heading to Moab in their van only weeks before we did.
Our next stop was Breckenridge at the base of the famous Breckenridge ski area. Completing our final stop in the Summit County area we walked through the beautiful town then met up with a real-estate agent who we had emailed earlier about a nearby cabin. We followed her on the snow covered roads out to the cabin and had a look around the $350k 18 acre off grid property. It was a nice quiet spot that heightened even more our desire to come back to Colorado one day possibly to live for a few months. We really wanted to see Colorado in the middle of winter as we were there right at the start of it. The ski fields had just a sprinkle of snow compared to the six foot they have now as I write this in January and all the summer stuff had closed for the season so we were there in-between change over time.
Our final destination before heading back to Denver for a bit was the famous town of South Park where they had all sorts of South Park stuff from the infamous cartoon. We got a few token photos then made our way to the Denver Airport as Will flew out at 6am the next morning.
Rochelle & Will
Rochelle & Will