Our Mountain “Cabin”

Lloyd, who was born in Illinois, fell in love with the Rocky Mountains the first time he came to Colorado and saw them. He also wanted to own mountain property. So in 1969, we purchased 20 acres at 11,000 feet southwest of Fairplay.

On the acreage was a burro shed where gold miners had housed and fed them. Now, Lloyd proposed that we convert the shed into a weekend cabin.

The shed was full of debris that had to be cleaned out. It had no water-proof roof, wind-proof siding, door, windows, or floor.

There was no road to the property, so we parked the car a few hundred feet down the mountain side and transported the required supplies up to the “cabin” in a little red wagon we still had from Lew’s childhood.

This photo is Lloyd and Lew, age twelve, putting on the roof.

Finally, after several weekends of strenuous labor, it was finished. We took a table chairs, an antique ice box I inherited from my parents and other items to furnish it. Now, we could enjoy it!

Regrettably, when Loyd visited it on Labor Day weekend, someone had broken in and stolen everything except the broom.

What they could not steal was our memory of how much we had enjoyed doing it. And of the beauty of a mountain sunset.