A Sunday Afternoon Drive

Since horse and buggy days, couples have taken Sunday afternoon drives. We decided to do just that this past Sunday.

It was a beautiful 75 degree sunny day so the top came off the Jeep, and we took off on a road that had been recommended by a DNR guy. As we drove, we saw the beautiful gold of the aspen trees against the dark evergreens.

And it wasn't long before Mike spotted some deer; they seemed to be looking for something, too.

This is one of my favorite pictures of the day.

This abandoned log cabin just seemed like it was waiting for my camera.

We drove along streams and stopped for a closer look a couple of times.

And we saw what we had been looking for; Bighorn Sheep. There were five females and this fellow.

This young one sat for a long time on the bank

and then got up to take a look around; we watched them for nearly a half hour.

It was fun to watch this one strutt around; he was good at ignoring all of the gals!

He looked right at us one time, but didn't seem to mind that we were there.
I love the way his leg went up when we was looking for food in a rock crevice.

Down the road and around another corner,

we discover a pond,

and more glorious hillsides.

When we rejoined the "leaf lookers" on a paved road, an overlook provided a beautiful view from 11,000 feet.The white spot on the hillside is part of an "earth slide" that moves 20 feet every year; from one angle you can see trees tilted because of the movement. What an amazing area!
As we started the drive down, there was a sign about a massacre so of course we had to stop and check it out. It proved to be a very interesting site... Seems there was this man named Alfred Packer who went with five of his companions on a trip into the wilderness. Only he returned and was later convicted of murder and cannabalism when the remains of his party were found at different places along the trail... all with their heads bashed in. He escaped to Wyoming but was eventually found, tried for the crimes and served 40 years in prison.

I laughed out loud when I read this commentary regarding Mr. Packer.

We arrived home having driven 135 miles along the side roads, and a few main roads, of the Gunnison, Colorado area on our Sunday Afternoon Drive.

Wonder what the week will bring...