Elwood Cabin: Simply Amazing Serenity

Elwood cabin is equipped with two bunk beds featuring  a futon on a folding frame on the bottom that can be folded up into a couch. Then there's a real mattress and box spring on top. Move the mattress from the top to the bottom bunk and you've got a real cozy nest.

Elwood cabin is a 100-year-old former line shack for crews servicing a transcontinental telephone line. It's available for rent by the public and has its own fully stocked  firewood shed and vault toilet.

Elwood cabin features a good wood stove for heat and propane lights and a two burner counter-top range for cooking. Visitors must haul in their own water and pack out their own trash. Guest entries in journals kept inside make for great reading.

Elwood cabin sits atop an outcropping overlooking what is according to the Forest Service's Rio Grande National Forest map, Schinzel Flats, with what appears to be South Mountain in the background. 

Watching and occasionally  feeding the local wildlife makes for great entertainment at Elwood Cabin. This chipmunk we called the "Chunk Monkey" wasn't shy at all.

Man, those store bought peanuts are so good.

The cost of a night's lodging helps pay for the pile of wood stored inside and alongside the cabin's woodshed.

Showing no fear of the chopping block this bird and several of his buddies found chasing and eating little round balls of tortilla strips irresistible.

Those "Crazy Ass" mushrooms. 

As "old school" as it gets we set out to catch trout using barbless "Pistol Pete" flies trolled under a bubble on a spin-casting rod at nearby Poage Lake.  

Wren Propp of Santa Fe shows remarkable form while playing a good sized fish from the banks of Poage Lake in the high country of southern Colorado. 

Ms. Propp shows off the first cutthroat she's ever caught and it was on a prop-fly at Poage Lake.
 Go figure.

A short-bed Harbor Freight utility trailer makes hauling around bulky camping gear a real breeze. Some assembly required.

The end of another enjoyable outing to one of the Forest Service's unique cabins. Check them all out at
http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/reservations/ .

Our government at work cleaning up after big business got through mining for gold and silver at Summitville just over the hill from Elwood Cabin. To read more about the history of this environmental disaster go to  http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/co/summitville/

The Alamosa River might look pretty bad following a good rain due to silt and other sediments in the water but Cindy Medina of Alamosa Riverkeepers says the river is on the mend due to the new water treatment plant at Summitville and other efforts.  

Much of the discoloration of the Alamosa River can be blamed on runoff from mountainsides such as this which are found throughout the area. Naturally occurring metal compounds and their effect on the river are discussed in a USGS (United States Geological Survey) report about restoring the river to a healthier state. It can be found at  http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1995/ofr-95-0023/summit.htm .

The luminescent nature of the Alamosa River and its stained stream banks might be unsettling to some but   others say the river is making a comeback.  

The Alamosa River's downstream journey is interrupted by Terrace Reservoir where the eerie effects of its stained waters hide what is reported to be a lake full of trout that are now safe to eat, according to a Colorado Parks and Wildlife news release found at  http://dnr.state.co.us/newsapp/press.asp?pressid=7869 .

We stopped just below the spillway at Terrace Reservoir to see what the river may hold and found clear water and a nice pool where several feisty Rainbow trout gave a us a good fight after rising greedily to a small stimulator fly.

This beautiful Rainbow trout was caught below Terrace Reservoir on the Alamosa River in southern Colorado where restoration efforts are now apparently paying off. Alamosa Riverkeepers is involved in an effort to obtain water rights to keep the river wet during winter months when irrigation demand declines and the river often runs dry. 

What a hoot, eh?