It Takes A Team

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Wagonteamster

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6/24 - 6/26/20, Mayday, CO - For the past few days, the lads and I have had a great time here in La Plata Canyon.

6/24/10 - As soon as I was hitched up, the wagon was on the road and headed into the mountains.  It was a four mile drive to the old mining town of Mayday.  This community is located at 8600 feet. 100 years ago, the miners working these mountains, kept their women children here at a lower elevation, while they were working in the more extreme conditions higher in the mountains.

When I got to Mayday, I pulled into Jesse and Kevin’s place, good friends, with whom I stayed 6 weeks ago, on my way west and north. After settling in, I dropped off the trailer and loaded a crew of friends on the wagon for a nice ride in the mountains. We went four miles up the canyon, to the site of the old mining community of La Plata. This was a real nice ride. After settling the lads down in the playpen and eating supper, we called it a night.

Good friend and lifelong Teamster, LuAnn Baker.  The Unicorn is an uncommon hitch, but LuAnn has previously driven one when she was stuck on a big hill.  (If you got some long lines , a single tree, and an extra horse, it’s easy to convert to this hitch. One extra horse is sometimes all you need to get over a hill.)

6/25/10, La Plata, CO - In the afternoon, we set off on our camping trip, at the site of the old mining community of La Plata City.  My friend LuAnn Baker, who put on the ‘Ladies Only Driving Clinic’, two months ago, joined me and several of my La Plata Canyon friends for this adventure. It was everything you would expect from a nice camping trip, except we got there by horse and wagon. Since it was the weekend, a lot of the camping spots were filling up fast, but we ended up with a nice spot at the end of a campground.  Great times were had by all!

Campfire cooking, with burgers, Italian sausage, corn, and a dutch oven full of beans - yummm!

6/26/10, Mayday, CO - After chowing down on breakfast burritos and bacon, we packed up and hit the road.  With LuAnn on the lines, on got a chance to sit back and enjoy the ride.  It’s kind of nice to sometimes be a passenger!  On the way down, we stopped so several carloads of kids could pet the horses.

Greeting some folks on the trip down the canyon. Going downhill, Doc got an easy ride, behind the wagon, while the Belgians did the work.

This afternoon, I put the boys to work mowing around Jesse’s house.  While they were busy, I grabbed my fly rod and caught a few Brook Trout,

Tomorrow, I’m headed east towards Durango. After that, I continue to head east towards Pagosa Springs, until I get to Cat Creek.  Then I’m headed south about 20 miles to visit LuAnn. I haven’t sat down and figured it out, but I think it will take four or five days to get there.

The Lads, gainfully employed at their favorite occupation - Mowing!