We love our job!

Marc and I believe strongly in trying out what you are selling. I mean, how can I sell Chocolate Bread Pudding Tamales unless I know that they are absolutely, amazingly delicious? And how can we rent out ATVs with any confidence if we haven't ourselves taken them out on the trails?

So when our boss very graciously said, yes, you may take the afternoon off and go riding, we jumped at the chance. 

It was all in the name of good business practices of course. We learned how to check out the ATVs to guests, what to look for when they returned, and how to have an awesome time!

We followed a road up above town until we came to the intersection of Rat Creek Trail and the Bachelor Loop. We quickly realized that we were some of the first riders that had been out on the trail this season. 

We traveled as far as we could on our first path, but four wheelers are really made for mud, water, and rocks. Snow, not as much... Good thing we had a fabulous guide to show us the way and help us get unstuck.

Marc is standing in front of what was once the site of Bachelor City. During the mining boom in 1892, this town was home to 1,200 people, a dozen saloons, four hotels, a school, a church, a city hall, and a town newspaper! That's almost three times the current population of Creede! The people of Bachelor City decided it was easier to walk downhill to work from their city at 10,500 feet then it would have been to walk uphill from the valley where Creede now sits.


Below is a picture of the Equity Mine, one of the most recent operational mines in Creede.

 Yep, there's still snow, and it could be there until July!

Even after changing our course and looping around the historic Bachelor Loop, our progress was eventually thwarted by snow. This was fine by me. After seeing the hill we would have had to climb on the ATVs, I was happy to hoof it the rest of the way.

We parked our ATVs way down there and hiked up to about 12,000 feet, huffing all the way.

The sky was a beautiful, bright blue, the perfect backdrop for some great shots.

I think I need to work on my toe touches. My legs aren't quite high enough. Next time!

Marc had been talking about sledding since we arrived in Creede. And he finally got to do it! Unfortunately we had to use our behinds in place of sleds.

After resting and enjoying the view from the top for a bit, we decided to head back, and this time really put the machines to use. We can't wait to go back out when we can actually make it all the way up to the Continental Divide.

We definitely came back muddy! 

I love this shot of Marc. I just can't quite tell if he is enjoying himself!

It was a great day, one that made us very grateful for our jobs and happy to be a part of one of the most gorgeous places to which we have traveled.

Here's to more days like this!