Moominmama's Adventures: Rocky Mountain High

In which Moominmama reaches the foot of the Rocky Mountains, experiencing the beautiful highs, and one big low...

Moominmama is in a verdant green valley near Steamboat Springs, with the Rockies at my back. It's been surprisingly challenging to get out hiking because so much water is flowing down from the mountains that many roads and trails are off limits. In one case, I added a couple miles to my hike because I had to park a distance from the trailhead due to a washed out road.

In another, the trail was closed at a bridge in danger of being undermined by heavy flows. But when I do get out, the views and the wildflowers are spectacular. Look at this beauty here! There are also daffodil yellow flowers called Trout Lilies whose petals curl back into delicate rings, revealing the hanging stamens.

I've not gotten all that high into the mountains, where snow is still melting at a furious pace, but I did try a trail with an unpromising name (Uranium Mine Trail) that turned out to offer beautiful views of snow speckled mountains, pale aspen and rocky streams. 

Once back at the trailhead, I pursued a second shorter trail that took me to the Fish Creek Falls at right!

The water is thundering down the mountains, with plenty of snow still remaining to feed the many creeks and rivers. Fish Creek is considered one of the state's most productive watersheds and is the source of Steamboat Springs' municipal water. But most of what flows from the Rockies eventually hits the Colorado River headed for water-hungry states like Arizona, Nevada and California. Most of that water, an estimated 80%, will be directed to agriculture.

The so-called Lower Basin states appear close to reaching an agreement to reduce their water usage for the next three years. But it sounds like a major piece of that deal involves using $1 billion in federal funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to pay farmers not to plant.

This short-term solution wasn't the original intention for the federal money. Biden wanted to invest in infrastructure, like more efficient irrigation systems, to help the region weather droughts in the future.

We're still waiting to hear what kind of an agreement can be achieved. But for now, the valley to the west of Steamboat Springs is suffering from too much, not too little, water. Take this pasture here!

Just beyond this scene is a (closed) roadway creating a small waterfall along its length as excess water drains down towards a barn and more fields.

The Yampa River near where I'm camping is running so full and so fast, I'd be in Utah before I knew it if I fell in.

This remains a stunning landscape,  farm fields and pastures glowing green, rushing creeks and grazing cows.  All against a backdrop of pine-covered hills leading up to craggy rock and the remains of snow-covered ski runs.

But not all has been green and beautiful. En route to Steamboat Springs, Moominmama heard a strange rattle while towing the Moominhouse. On a narrow country road, I had to go at least another mile before I found enough shoulder to pull over. The trailer still towed just fine so I wasn't too worried.

I figured something had come loose that was clattering on the tongue of the trailer. Imagine my surprise when I caught a whiff of burning rubber and saw my tire was completely pulverized. I was riding on my rim (the rattle). I was also in the middle of nowhere.

Except wait, there was a gas station on the corner. And on the side of the gas station, there was a garage bay and a sign: Tires. I very quickly had three young men swapping out my mangled tire with my spare. It was fixed in 10 minutes and I could not believe my luck. 

My spare is a full-sized tire, not a donut, so everything looked like new (except where melted rubbed had spattered the inside of the wheel well!) They charged me $10, and I bought them a case of beer for the end of the day!

I wish I'd taken a picture of that tire; it was such an ugly mess, and it scared the daylights out of me to see my wounded Moominhouse and to realize how unaware I'd been that I was riding on my rim. 

New radials and a rim are now on order. I'll have two new tires to be safe and stow the spare. And I'll be adding a tire pressure monitoring system to alert me to a drop in tire pressure. Delivery date is sometime next week, and I've got a little trailer shop here in Steamboat Springs to do the work. All will be well again, but it's not all puppy dogs and rainbows out here on the road! Mostly...