View from the A Frame

Today is Thursday, May 21, 2009. At Sky Ranch at Ute Trail we are finishing up the off season improvements while the summer camp staff is getting ready for the 2009 summer. We have accomplished quite a bit in the past nine months including the following:

1. Construction of a new cabin located in the same area as Hawken, but a little more forward. We have named this cabin "Kit Carson". This cabin has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a main room with a mini kitchen and a good view of the Upper Homestead/Cannibal Plateau area.
2. We have added 4 new porches/decks on existing cabins - Chief Ouray, Grizzley, Magic Dog and Timberline. These are on the east side of the cabins and face the Upper Homestead/Cannibal Plateau mountains. The decks are 8 feet by 20 feet.
3. We have completed the new soccer field with wooden goalposts and 3 stonewalls for seating on the south side of the field. The field is solid Kentucky Bluegrass and has a sprinkler system.
4. We are in the process of completing the conversion of Powderhorn into a duplex with a larger laundry area. There will be a north side for families with ADA facilities and a south side for summer staff. Also, there will be a north side deck.
5. Our new pond is now complete and has some nice rainbow trout sizes 6 inches up to about 12 inches. Also in the pond area we have a new campfire site overlooking the pond and a new softball/kickball field to the northeast of the pond. This all makes for a nice new recreation area.
6. We have added electricity to our 3 staff cabins to the west of the old barn and we are in the process of rerstoring the old barn to a museum showing the history of Ute Trail and the US westward migration. We will soon have in the barn a branding iron chandelier built by Dr. Malcolm Bowers over 40 years ago which has been in the A Frame.
7. We have begun work on the new water treatment plant which will allow us to add 4 more cabins after the 2009 summer. The contractor will be working on the east side of the highway during the summer.

Beginning in September we will conclude the work on the water treatment plant, build a new road from Highway 149 into the camp and build a water system for fire protection. In addition we will begin work on building 4 more cabins as mentioned earlier.

The camp and the ranch have been undergoing needed improvements and additions since 1996 and the overall plan should be completed in about 2 more years. Sky Ranch at Ute Trail and Ute Trail Ranch Foundation are paying particular attention to making the new improvements fit in with the historical character of the facilities and with the existing environment. A recycling program for the camp is being developed and will begin in June.

We have new camp directors for this summer, Gary and Deena Morgan from Tyler, Texas. The Morgans have 4 daughters and we are looking forward to having them at Sky Ranch at Ute Trail this summer.

We hope any former campers or staff who are in the area this summer will drop by and see our progress. There will be a reunion August 25-27 for former Ute Trail Boys Camp campers and there will be a reunion of the Everman/Saville Family August 16-20.

George Seay Jr., Trustee,
Ute Trail Ranch Foundation