Practical Artist-in-Residence Tips, Caribou Ranch

Red Barn at Sunrise. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

OK, on to some practical advice for the artist who has been selected to spend a week at the famous red barn in Boulder County’s Caribou Ranch Open Space. This info is good as of the date of this post, but could easily change, so take it all with a block o’ salt.

First, though, congratulations! You are about to have a very special experience and, hopefully, it will titillate your creative right-brain cells to leap joyfully to spectacular new heights.

Now, some random thoughts and tips that might serve as advice…

1. Read everything you can on the Boulder County website about your upcoming experience. Consult maps. Consult Ms. Google about the history, topography, and flora/fauna of the area.
2. Bring a spouse or partner for sure!
3. We had two-bar cell coverage in most areas on the Ranch (Verizon). Up some of the side arroyos, you may have no service. There is no internet at the cabin–a good thing, in my opinion.
4. Bring flip-flops for knocking around the cabin and to the outhouse.
5. Develop a nighttime pee plan as it is a pain to climb out of your warm cocoon and waddle to the outhouse. Maybe try a bedpan-like thing for females and a bottle for males (mark them dramatically with a skull and crossbones).
6. The outhouse is actually rather nice for an outhouse–my wife had no problem using it, which is quite the high brow scatological endorsement. In addition to a shiny-clean white throne, there is a sink and a painted cement floor. Curtains even. And a flypaper strip sculpture hanging on the wall.
7. The hot water for showers is a tremendous luxury, but also can be finicky. You have to turn the water on outside at the rear of the outhouse and the water stays on until you finish scrubbing your Ps, Ts, and A, you dry off, and get back around back to shut it off. It helps to have a clothed friend who can do that for you, and maybe even make small temperature adjustments from there. Also, if no hot water emerges, you may need to swap out the smallish 12v battery. Amanda, the Boulder County Open Space ranger will show all of this to you.
8. We had the electricity click off twice for no apparent reason. I don’t know why. We tried hard to limit the use of lights and appliances–especially at the same time. I had to go outside, open the small box by the solar panels, and press the ON/Stby button a couple of times before it finally clicked back on. Again, Amanda, will show you.
9. The fire alarm went off once, also for no apparent reason…like a devilish dagger stabbing through the innocent tranquility of the place. I changed the batteries and that seemed to make it happy. The tiny light on the detector, by the way, will flash during the night making you think there is a firefly in the cabin.
10. Consult the instruction book in the cabin for any shower, or electricity issues before you send out an SOS to Amanda.
11. The executive water cooler that holds your drinking water may suddenly gurgle randomly during the night thus causing you to absorb a nice little jolt of adrenaline.
12. Wash dishes with the water outside at the sink (there is no sink inside), otherwise you will go through the drinking water more quickly than necessary. The sink has hot water capability if you flip the switch on the system behind the outhouse.
13. Bring a cooler with ice as the fridge doesn’t work and will probably be removed (too much electricity draw). I went to Nederland twice during the week for ice.
14. Use the left burner on the hot plate–it seemed to work better. (You might bring your camp/backpacking stove along, just in case of a longer power outage.)
15. Cooking and eating utensils, pots and pans, etc. are provided. We didn’t bring anything and we didn’t want for anything.
16. We put a blanket down on the mattresses of each of the twin bunks then just slept in sleeping bags. Bring linen and blankets if you want to be more homey. Definitely bring pillows.
17. They had two bath towels there for our use. I assume they will be laundered and returned between artist visits.
18. There is a comfy recliner-like chair in the cabin that I used a lot…but, upon sitting down, as the air was pushed out of the padding, I noticed the unwelcome aroma of deceased rodent. Yuck. It was subtle, but definitely there. I don’t think there is anything in the padding now, but there probably was some time ago (there are still chew marks in the lining). A minor annoyance depending on your tolerance level.
19. The cabin itself is nicely finished, clean, and apparently nicely rat-proof. The rest of the barn, not so much.
20. The opposite side of the barn has a small studio space that might be useful for the painter, sculptor, woodworker, etc. It looks like the County might be working toward finishing it but it is not yet rat-proof, so you might find tiny bite marks on the edges of your watercolor paper if you leave your work there.
21. There are cute little ground squirrels who live in the rocks just outside the front door who will steal your heart–and your unattended food. One of them has no fear and will climb up on you in search of crumbs and will also go into the cabin for same–he/she knows very well how to get through the netting. He/she is relatively easy to chase out, thankfully. The broom comes in handy for that. Obviously, other artists have made very good friends with them–admittedly, as we did, too. We just never let them inside. Close the wooden door to be sure they can’t get in as the netting is definitely insufficient.
22. The cabin tended to get very warm as the sun beat down on it in the afternoon. By 3a.m., though, it tended to get cold (no heating) and didn’t warm up again until mid-morning.
23. Bring warm clothes–jacket, hat, gloves, rain gear, and so on–as you are at an elevation of about 8,600′.
24. Read Gregory Hill’s novel, The Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles. He wrote the last few chapters right there in the cabin and there is a signed copy right there on the bookshelf!
25. Read the little notebook in which previous artists have written down their thoughts. And add your own!

Some interesting areas to explore…

–Definitely explore the trails that are not for general public access but are OK for the artist-in-residence (AIR trails). We especially liked the path that leads up DeLonde Creek to the west–very humid and lush with wonderful wet forest fragrances that would make Chanel seem brutish. There is also a tiny brook and even some remains of an old cabin up at the first short switchback. There is a big map in the red barn that is sort of helpful for navigating these trails (but no topo lines, unfortunately).

–The other main AIR trail that crosses the wooden bridge and leads northeast above the old Caribou Studio area (below, and currently off-limits/private property) has some nice views as it follows more of the Switzerland Trail rail bed. We followed it around to the next drainage then uphill until we ran in to Boulder watershed property.

–The Blue Bird Mine is mildly interesting but not dangerous enough to be truly exciting to explore. (I am sure Boulder County prefers it that way!) We saw a small black snake zip away underneath the Moore House. A snake at near 9,000′!? Go figure. We later did some googling and think it might have been some sort of water snake.

–Look carefully whenever you see old stone walls, especially south and east of the mine area along the railroad grade. There is one area on the inside edge of the Bluebird Loop that has at least three terraced levels of stone wall. Old buildings to house tourists? Just a railroad siding area? Makes me want to research old historical photographs of the area.

–I walked up the hill north of the main meadow/loop area. No trail, but great views and elk sign everywhere–tracks, paths, scat. If you get high enough, you can see Denver and Mt. Evans. I think it was OK to go up there.

–We explored the forested/bouldery area between the cabin and the railroad grade–lots of old mine/ranch junk to be found–and elk bones perhaps left by a mountain lion.

We saw moose, elk, grouse, red-tailed hawk, squirrels, many other hikers…but no bear (several big poop piles, though) and no coyotes (just scat and their yips at night), nor anything from the cat family, although I am sure they were around (and probably watching us and licking their feline lips).

In the previous two blog posts, I have posted a number of images from the Caribou Ranch area. Here are a few (20!) more…

More Caribou Ranch Images

Those pond areas are prime moose habitat. Keep your eyes skinned for Bullwinkle and Besswinkle! If you climb the steep hill to the north of the main valley, this is your very airy perspective:

DeLonde Homestead From Above. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

Climb high enough and you can even see a Colorado 14er, Mt. Evans. Here, it is covered with a thin powder-coating of late August snow:

Mt. Evans View. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

And turning the head slightly left, you look out to the east over Boulder and beyond to the Great Plains just as evening falls…That cone-shaped hill is one of my favorite sunrise photo spots, Sugarloaf Mountain:

Sugarloaf View. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

Geometry in the meadow, and simple, effective construction for the rancher:

Split Rail. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

If you poke around just outside of the loop trail near where DeLonde Creek comes down from on high you might come across this old ruin. Judging from the Lincoln log-type construction, this may date from the late 1800s. Could it be one of the first structures built here by the DeLonde family? With fall foliage, this would be a place to revisit:

Old Cabin, #3. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

From the “AIR trail” that heads out to the northeast across the wooden bridge and climbs up slightly to follow the old Swiss Trail railroad grade, you get this view of the complex that was once the location of the famous recording studio from 1972 through 1985. Behind and to the right of that large barn you see in the middle of the photo, I spied through my telephoto a huge pile of debris–from the 1985 fire perhaps? This is also where we saw (and heard!) large herds of elk…and almost stepped in a huge splat of berry-rich bear scat on the trail:

Caribou City View. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

A close-up of the huge splat of berry-rich bear scat. That is a 77mm (about 3″) lens cap:

Bear Poop. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

North Boulder Creek rolls, roils and crashes its way right along the edge of the Blue Bird Mine area and on under the wooden bridge thence down to Boulder and the Plains. Water has always been an attractive and meditative subject for me, even if not photographing. It is the petroleum of the West:

North Boulder Creek, #12. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

My eye always seemed to gravitate to this particular treeline and I found myself going back to it under all sorts of different lighting conditions:

Aspen Skeletons, #2. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

A sweeping view across the main meadow at our temporary home-sweet-home. The grasses, low brush, and even the tips of a few aspen trees were starting to show their autumn colors:

Red Barn, #10. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

I brought along my 150mm macro lens to play around with. In the end, this was about the only image I liked. There were a surprising number of flowers still about, although they looked a bit haggard with the end of summer just around the next bend of the creek:

Focus Point. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

And among the flowers, a grouse! He/she stayed still long enough for me to pull out my tripod and aim and focus the telephoto:

Grouse. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

I made sure I was up and at ’em every day for both sunrise and sunset. Unfortunately, being tucked away in a valley, it was hard to find a nice vista for the classic sunrise/sunset landscape composition. Instead, one had to search around for how the light played along the treeline, meadows, and ponds:

Morning. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

Another, perhaps better, sunrise example:

Sunrise Sparkles. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

There were two mornings and one evening when we managed a glimpse of this pair of sub-alpine water horses:

Moose Pair. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

And just another to-kill-ya sunrise:

Sunrise on the Swamp. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

Buried in thick forest, we found a triple-terraced ruin below the Blue Bird Mine area. Was it perhaps a siding station for the railroad? Or perhaps an early 20th century tourist facility? Both?

Hidden Ruins, #4. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

And there were many metal remnants of the previous period of ranching and mining to be spied half-buried in the forest floor. This may be one of my favorite images of my stay. What do you see in it?

Crumpled Caribou Dreams. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

Another of my favorites, and symbol of the meditative/contemplative/New Age/spiritual/religious/yada-yada experience you will have as an artist at the “red barn”:

North Boulder Creek, Abstract. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016

Make sure you take a look at the 1992 photograph of this barn to be found in photographer Thorney Lieberman’s large “CR” scrapbook. It is on the bookshelf in the cabin. You’ll see that Boulder County has basically rebuilt, reinforced, and renovated the structure, although respecting very much the original color and design. In that 1992 photograph, it looked as swaybacked as the horses that it once housed and on the verge of disintegration and collapse doubtless owing to the heavy mule burden of the passing years and the many harsh winter snows:

Red Barn, #1. Caribou Ranch Open Space, Colorado, 2016