Rocky Mountain High

Sunday morning we took the service in River of Life Church, Alamosa. A great service – preached on being “Eagle Christians,” a topic they can relate to as eagles continuously circle above the mountain peaks all around.

The town of Alamosa is set inside the US’s highest mountain valley – the San Luis Valley which is bordered on the west by the Rocky Mountains and on the east by the cordillera San Juan. The air is thin and we get easily puffed with exertion. The air is also very pure and nice to breath.

Wildlife abounds and at night we listen to the coyotes and owls and today in the Sangre de Cristo mountains we kept a sharp lookout for bears, but alas saw none. We did see a dear and although we were assured that there are buffalo around there, we failed to catch a glimpse.

The photos show us trekking up through the mountains to a waterfall. The water is freezing and much against Judy’s protestations we paddled through it when there were no stepping stones… brrrrr. Another pic shows us outside a 100 year old hut for the pony express riders.

Once up the mountains we could look back down on the incredibly flat plains of the valley where our friends Patrick and Heather live and minister. Tonight we plan a walk in the dark countryside of Pat Heather’s 10 acre spread and as usual Pat will pack his handgun in case of coyotes, owls or other local inhabitants. According to him, most locals carry a handgun – hmmmm…..

Saw some Appaloosa horses today Jules and although we haven’t seen any yet, they tell us there are plenty of authentic cowpokes in town. Maybe tomorrow we’ll mosy on down to the saloon and see them.