Summer is almost over; the 11th Annual Wet Mountain Western Days celebration in nearby Westcliffe that is held over Labor Day weekend is in full swing. This year’s festival includes a parade down Main Street, a chuck wagon dinner, arts and crafts, dancing to the tunes of cowboy bands, cowboy poetry, pony rides, and gold panning. This Labor Day weekend festival draws a large crowd of locals and out-of-towners in a family-friendly environment.

Here at Maytag Mountain Ranch, we look forward to the end of Summer. Fall is a favorite time of year. As the aspen trees turn their beautiful golden yellow color, activities at the Ranch start winding down. Summer is always so busy with chores that include tending to all the new born calves, branding weekend, and managing our haying operation. This year, aided by an abundant amount of moisture, our hay crop is outstanding and should allow us to feed our red angus cattle and our horses well through the winter. Once again, we are pleased to announce that we received our annual Organic Ranch certification. This program takes much planning and execution by the Ranch staff, but we feel it is well worth the effort as our crops and cattle exist in an ecologically safe, pesticide-free environment

In the Fall, we finish the final harvesting of the Garden. Fall crops include many fruits, melons, pumpkins, an abundance of flowers, and berries.

Here at the Ranch, owners and guests relax at their homesite or in a Ranch guest cabin and enjoy the beautiful morning sunrises and the glorious sunsets over the mountains. They can watch the elk, and the deer, and the antelope as they wander over the Ranch landscape. They can fish in our pond or streams; or enjoy some of the best fly-fishing in the nation at the nearby Arkansas River. They can wander the Ranch on foot or on horseback; or enjoy a mountain-biking experience on the Ranch or on the nearby Rainbow Trail. Fall is certainly a great time to enjoy the Ranch.

The Sangre De Cristo Mountains form the backdrop for the Maytag Mountain Ranch in the Wet Mountain Valley near the town of Westcliffe, Colorado. The Sangre De Cristo mountains were given their name by early Spanish explorers because of their reddish glow in the early morning hours. The Sangre De Cristo, or “blood of Christ”, mountains are a 75 mile long chain of mountains preserved as National Forest lands and as 226,455 acres of Federal Wilderness. The mountains average 15 miles in width with a vertical rise that is among Colorado’s greatest. The Sangres are home to eight 14,000+ foot peaks and 53 13,000+ foot peaks. Such an elevation gradient makes for numerous ecologies that may be experienced on the mountain trails that are available for ATV riding, hiking and biking. On the San Luis valley side there is sand and scrub. From the Wet Mountain Valley side of the mountains one is quickly surrounded by cottonwoods, gamble oaks, ponderosa and pinyon pines. As you climb to higher elevations, one is surrounded by forests of firs and spruces dotted with many aspen groves. At the highest elevations, the land is tundra meadows and barren rocky peaks. For overnight hikers, the Sangre De Cristo Wilderness provides many backcountry camp sites where permits are not required.

The most famous trail, the Rainbow Trail, is an 85 mile trail that runs near the base of the mountains. The trail runs from Medano Pass Road north to Salida and on to Poncho Pass. Elevations on the trail generally range from 8,000 feet to 10,000 feet. This trail is available for ATV’s, motorbikes, hikers and horseback riders. It crosses many stream watersheds and is generally considered an “easy” hike as its ascents and descents are fairly moderate. If hiking from the Ranch, one can access this trail directly from Ranch property. If driving from the Ranch, the closest access is the Duckett Creek trailhead. This trailhead is accessed by heading south on Highway 69 from the main Ranch gate and turning right onto the Billy Humble Road.

The first time I saw the Maytag Mountain Ranch, I was amazed at how green the pastures were, how blue the water in the ponds was, and how stunning the mountains were that form the backdrop for the Ranch. And the first time I hiked the Ranch, I walked for hours without ever leaving the Ranch property. I will write these musings about the Ranch to provide personal impressions that the website misses and to answer questions I receive about the Ranch.