Yesterday John Koshak and I hosted the South Canyons Tour for the 2015 High Plains Snowgoose Festival out of Lamar, CO. We had great weather with blue sunny skies and a light breeze. Southeast Colorado winters are great for hiking if you are looking for a break from the snow for a day or two.
We visited Works Progress Administration Sites such as the Baca County Corthouse and Edler School House and then traveled to the Riddle Homestead near Campo, CO. The Riddle Homestead is always a highlight on any tour. The family does an excellent job with the homestead house and is so generous to share it with visitors. You get a true sense of how early homesteaders lived, although, this particular home was probably on the more luxurious side with a wooden floor and roof and two rooms. It is a beautiful example with original furnishings donated back by the family.
We then traveled to Picture Canyon and ate lunch while we looked for birds at the picnic area. In the canyon we visited two panels with petroglyphs and pictographs and the site of Crack Cave, an equinox solar alignment site. Traveling west we stopped at Carizzo Canyon for a quick look around and a visit to another petroglyph panel.
With evening rapidly approaching we ended our day swinging through Cottonwood canyon checking out the copper mining history and local ranching and farming history of the area. But the true highlight this year was the awesome display of wildlife in the canyon. We were fortunate to see over 20 deer both mule deer and whitetail, over 20 Elk and nearly 30 Bighorn sheep both rams and ewes in the dusky evening twilight. Very cool. We then battled the wind as the bus headed back to Springfield and ultimately to Lamar to end the evening at festival activities or most likely just sleep.
Festival activities will go through Sunday morning as birders engage in workshops and birding walks in the Lamar and Eads area over the next couple of days. #Highpainssnowgoosefestival #birding #Lamarcolorado #heritage #history