Winding Down

All the hustle and bustle of “the season” is over at Cloud 9 Ranch Club and in my opinion the most beautiful time of the year is just beginning. Fall and winter are such a beautiful time here at the ranch with the changing of the leaves and when we are lucky the 3 to 6 inch snows add a beauty not seen by many but when it is they always seem to come back for more.

Those of us that are LUCKY enough to stay here full time are in the process of moving to the site that they can stay on until spring, only 2 of the 5 campgrounds are open during the winter months, we don’t get most of the amenities during the winter but boy do we get the beauty of the ranch. Our gas station is only open and hour or 2 a day, restaurant only for lunch and the store, well they are looking into that this year but previously it had been closed. Everything else is closed for the winter.

One of my favorite past times is on a 45 to 50 degree day is to bundle up, riding an ATV drops the temp about 15 to 20 degrees, and take off on a trail. When we see a neat dry creek bed or whatever we park the bike and take off through the woods, since you are bundled already you don’t have to worry about sticker bushes or the multitude of summer insects (ticks), just make sure you dressed in layers, have a walking stick and of course brought a camera.

As you make your way in the woods or just down the trails be sure to look every which way you can as with the leaves off the trees it is truly amazing what you will find. We have found little brooks with beautiful waterfalls, really interesting trees, hoards of really cool rocks and arrowheads just to name a few. It is easy to lose yourself in natures beauty and I am proud to have it for my backyard. If you are on the ranch and like hikes in the woods stop by and if we have time (in the winter we usually do) stop by and we will be happy to show you some cool trails.