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| 1876 Cabin |
We spent four days 14 miles up dirt roads to Laurie's cousins' cabins 8900 feet up near the Snowy Mountain Range in Wyoming. Beautiful!!! Quiet!!!!
A burbling mountain stream ran through the property.
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| Douglas Creek |
Moose, deer and elk could be viewed daily.
The temperature was 20 degrees cooler than Laramie. (However, winter temps are normally –20, and they have recorded –40.) Oops!
Dean thought it was the most relaxing place he's been in several years. No phone; no radio; no TV; no computer connection. A lot like the now non-existent boat on which we spent so many summers. Just sit back on the bench built into the footbridge across the stream, and enjoy nature.
The cabins are part of a group on private land inside the Medicine Bow National Forest. The hand-hewn log cabins were built between 1874 and 1876 by a gold mining company. (2013 minus 1876 = 137 years by our calculation.)
The cousins' grandparents and parents bought them after the company (1) abandoned the gold mine and (2) used up all the nearby trees by hewing them into railroad ties and floating them down the creek to the railroad; but before the National Forest was dedicated.
The largest of the cabins served as the headquarters for the mining company, a post office, a bunkhouse for mine workers, and gathering place for the community.
The cousins' grandparents and parents bought them after the company (1) abandoned the gold mine and (2) used up all the nearby trees by hewing them into railroad ties and floating them down the creek to the railroad; but before the National Forest was dedicated.
The largest of the cabins served as the headquarters for the mining company, a post office, a bunkhouse for mine workers, and gathering place for the community.
Over the years, the cabins have been upgraded with such "amenities" as drywall on the ceilings and electricity (not much), re-chinking the space between the logs, and a lot of fixing or replacing foundations (there were none), doors, windows and roofing.
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| The old wood cook stove warms the place and does a great job with meals |
No running water, but they have piped a spring to an always-running outlet on the bridge.
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| Not in the house but pretty close to it - run out to get water for washing dishes |
Some interior walls have been moved around, but the exterior walls are still raw logs.
We can see why the families treasure their time in this spectacular and quiet place.
