We headed out early this morning to meet Jean & Larry up near Workman Creek. They had gone out well before daylight, hoping to see some Elk as they came to feed at an apple orchard up near Aztec Peak. We didn't want to leave quite that early since we were obligated to take care of Bailey, (our Schnauzer boss) before we left the house. Larry & Jean didn't have any luck spotting Elk, better luck next time. Eventually, we're bound to see them, everyone tells us they're there, although I think they're probably mythical creatures, like Unicorns and Big Foot.
After meeting up with Jean & Larry, we headed to Young to take Cherry Creek Road all the way to Board Tree Saddle. We've done the other half of Cherry Creek Road, beginning from SR 288 and coming out at Board Tree Saddle, but we've never been on the other half of the trail.
Jean & I had to humor our husbands as they played hide and seek Jeep. Larry was leading, then he pulled off the road and hid Old Blue behind some bushes....then it was Ralph's turn, as we saw Old Blue pull up behind us, Ralph sped up until he too could pull off the road and hide our Old Peep's Jeep from Larry. It worked, we saw them go speeding past our hiding place. After wondering where each other was for a few minutes, we eventually met up at FR 54, to begin our trip on Cherry Creek Road. I'm convinced, boys will be boys, now and forever.
The trail headed out through a diverse landscape, from rolling meadows and pastures to steep hillsides, sheer cliffs and deep canyons. The scenery was ever-changing, and ever beautiful.
We stopped along the way to check out what appeared to be an old Asbestos mill. There wasn't much left but we could still see the remnants of the mill along with an assayer's office and some housing. Larry found some hard rock core samples near the old assayers office. We always find it interesting to speculate about the people who once worked in these places. It had to be terribly hard work, and certainly a very unhealthy environment to work in. From what we've read, Asbestos miners didn't live to a ripe old age, often developing a variety of deadly lung ailments.
We crossed Cherry Creek and found a beautiful spot right next to the creek that we all agreed would be a perfect camp site, so we'll certainly make future plans to return and spend a night or two.
We also spotted another much larger Asbestos operation up on a hillside, but since we were nearing the end of our trip and Board Tree Saddle, we didn't have time today to check it out. We're hoping to head back, possibly tomorrow to explore it. It looks like an interesting place. Now we can say we've run Cherry Creek Road in its entirety, quite and accomplishment for all of us. It was another great run and a nice day spent in the company of good friends. Now if Jean and I can figure out how to keep the "boys" from playing hide and seek Jeep, all will be well.
