There is a fair amount to cover this time; the last trip to The Lot was full of work and was topped off with a trip over Boreas Pass on the way home. Let’s get to it!

First of all, when I opened up The Box on Friday night there was no evidence of additional mouse problems. All the traps I had left set were still intact and baited. I had taken up my shop-vac to do more cleaning; this was accomplished with the aid of the generator on Saturday morning. A cleaning spray infused with bleach was used on all surfaces to make sure they were as clean as possible. Hopefully this will be the end of it!

I was solo at The Lot but managed to get two areas cleaned up. Both involved a lot of walking/carrying as I could not get a cart or the ATV in place to help. One area was uphill from The Grassy Knoll and the other was behind and uphill from my stump-converted-to-a-bench on the left side of The Nook as you look uphill. Here are a few photos of the wood and brush piles I created. More brush, less wood — which I had expected as I viewed these areas.

Brush/wood pile at left side of The Nook.

Brush/wood pile uphill from The Grassy Knoll

I had also added to Pam’s wood pile which is on the edge of Homestead Acre:

Homestead Acre brush pile

The next time we both go up to The Lot there will be a lot of chipping to get done!

Next task was to spread the final load of chips, this still left from Felicity’s visit, which took a bit of effort as it had been raining and it is surprising how much water those chips had absorbed. They were quite heavy but the task was finished; one more thing to mark off the “needs to be done” list.

Sunday afternoon looked a bit threatening for rain and a few light showers came and went. I decided to make the trip home by going over Boreas Pass. (You may remember that Pam’s mother’s ashes were spread at the top of the pass per her wish.) Wildflowers brightened up the roadside and there was even a bit of fall color along the way. Seems much too early for that!

Here are some photos of the flowers and color along the route. I don’t know the names of many of the blooms but recognized some asters.

Colors were vibrant against the cloudy sky

Reds, yellows, and blues predominate with a few whites here and there.

Fall flowers (late August) in full display

I was surprised to see bits of aspen fall color appearing:

Early fall aspen colors

The  current auto road mostly follows the old rail grade but a few stretches diverge. Here is a photo of a rebuilt section of the original railroad that crossed Boreas Pass, bring mining supplies into Breckenridge and hauling precious metal ores back to Denver for processing.

Boreas Pass rail line, rebuilt, to show people what the line would have looked like in places.

It was a weekend that involved a lot of hard work but also included some rail history and fall colors. I would say it was a great weekend!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

Fields dropped off the summer litter of kittens at the shelter today, hopefully to soon find their adoptive homes.  I spent some of the morning cleaning the cat room and doing cat cage laundry (always laundry). Antonio, the big orange feline who is the permanent resident of the cat room, says he is glad the kittens are gone — but he misses the entertainment. For the first time in many years, I did not feel sad to have the litter leave.  After all, the five were over three months old and their energy levels — very tiring. Goodbye litter #27.

Happy Trails.