Black Mountain

The Double G Ranch rests at 9500 feet with Kaufman Ridge High Point behind it. The ranch borders the San Isabel National Forest, an outdoor paradise for hikers, campers, off road enthusiasts, hunters, nature lovers, and equestrians. In front of the DoubleGRanch is a sprawling view of some of the best land in the South Park National Heritage Area including the Rollin’ High Sipal Ranch and the 39 Mile recreational area. From the Double G you can spot far in the distance one large mountain peak sticking up out of the valley, the 11,649 foot peak of Black Mountain. The mountain is part of the Pike National Forest.
When you look at Black Mountain in the morning it’s just a sort of boring mountain peak standing all alone. The magic comes closer to sunset. Then, you can clearly see it, the blown out side of the mountain, the crater of an extinct volcano. Unless the sun is shining on it at just the right angle you’d never know of the violent past of Black Mountain and how it helped to create some of the most beautiful and fertile land in Colorado. Around 30 to 50 million years ago Black Mountain was just one of many players in a volcanic episode of eruptions estimated to have been 5,000 times as powerful as the Mt. Saint Helens’ eruption. Yes, I look out my front window and can see an extinct volcano.

I’ve met so many people who are like Black Mountain; you don’t know their past until the sun shines on them at just the right angle. Then, you stare in amazement at the awesome, powerful, surprisingly different person you thought you knew. There’s the quiet man down the road who is a decorated military hero who saved lives, the nurse and mother of four who was once a well established performer with incredible musical ability, the sweet now frail older lady who rode a horse alone across the country multiple times as a revered long rider, the young mother who lost her child yet survived the worst of grief and became an accomplished writer of children’s books. They are everywhere. Slightly boring mountain peaks in plain view. And then the sun hits them just right and you see it. It’s magical. And magical things happen here in the mountains. Trust me. There’s magic here in the Rocky Mountains. I hope the sun shines just right for you today, and reveals some magic.