Great Escapes Winter 2021 | Page 35

we stayed in southern Colorado but were

like most of the half-covered building at

never more than 25 miles from Chama ,

Osier .

weaving our way through varying types

After site seeing around the Osier train

of high mountain terrain toward the

station , the Cumbres team led us through

Osier Mountain . We played in a valley ,

some low snow areas , then through

climbed up to an overhanging cornice and

some beautiful aspen woods . They trees

generally boondocked around before being

weren ’ t quite as dramatic as the desert ’ s

led us to the rustic site of the Osier Train

Joshua trees , but each had its own unique

Station .

shape that was completely exposed when

In the summer , Osier is a notable stop

defoliated in winter . Soon , we were atop

on the historic Cumbres & Toltec Scenic

Osier Mountain – elevation 10,735 .

Railroad that draws tourists from near and

Before us was an unridable , cliff-life

far . It ’ s a narrow-gauge line that dates back

dropoff called Conejos Canyon , and in the

to the 1880 that takes riders from Chama

distance was the San Louis Valley , which

Unser and his wife had to duck out shortly thereafter due to some mechanical failures , but we took the Unser Saddle talk as a call to action and headed that direction . Bobby and his brothers , of course , were trying to make it up there on early ‘ 70s snowmobiles in powdery snow : We were on modern longtracks on a warm March morning with setup snow . We zipped right up there , then took the turn up to the top of Grouse Mesa ( altitude : 11,380 feet ).

From atop the Mesa , it seemed we should be able to see the oceans on both coasts . The only thing blocking our endless view to the east were the towering and dramatic Sangre de Cristo mountains – a more jagged , peaky range that has 10 summits topping 14,000 feet . And to the west ? That looked like Arizona in the distance to us , with more columns of San Juan mountains .

The warm sunshine chased us off the

mountain relatively early on Monday ,

as the hard setup was turning to slush .

We were back early the next morning ,

however , trying to time our ride between

the early-day cement-hard , hyfaxburning

conditions but before the full

heat of the day created sugar snow .

Dreams of Chama powder would have to

wait until our next trip .

Tuesday morning , we hooked up with

the team at Cumbres Adventure Tours , a

local guide service . They have a fleet of Ski-

Doo rental snowmobiles and spend their

winter introducing newcomers to the sport

( including folks from Texas , Oklahoma and

other nearby , but certainly non-traditional

snowmobiling states ) and taking out

occasional hardcore groups for adventures .

With the Cumbres Adventure team ,

through Osier to Antonito , Colorado . It ’ s the stuff of folklore for railroad junkies , but the tracks are deeply buried in winter , much

features tall rolling hills that serve as lush farmland in the summer . The far-off light brown hills are home to more than