ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL RENDEZVOUS

THE RMNR IS USUALLY NOT A HUGE RENDEZVOUS BUT IT IS AS AUTHENTIC AS THEY COME. EVERYONE DRESSES TO THE TEETH, MOST VERY AUTHENTIC, LOTS OF HAND SEWING SEEN. THE ABOVE PHOTO SHOWS ABOUT HALF THE CAMP.

USUALLY THERE ARE MORE TIPI’S THAN OTHER STYLES OF TENTAGE, THIS YEAR ‘TWAS THE OTHER WAY ROUND.

ABOVE-RIGHT IS A WELL DECORATED TIPI, NOT TOTALLY AUTHENTIC BUT ATTRACTIVE. THE CAMP IN THE MIDDLE LOOKS PRETTY COMFORTABLE.

A MULETEER-WAGONEER BROUGHT IN ICE DAILY, BROUGHT IN HEAVY GEAR AND SUCH FOR FOLKS MOVING IN OR OUT. HE WAS BUSY MOST OF THE DAY. THE WERE LOTS OF ACTIVITIES. OUR MULETEER WITH HIS CRITTERS, MIDDLE SIZE MULES HE SAYS, BEAUTIFULLY KEPT AND CARED FOR. SAME GOES FOR THE WAGON, NEW AND HAND MADE.

YOU CAN SEE TRADER’S ROW IN THE BACKGROUND OF THE PHOTO WITH A PILE OF BUFFLER ROBES FOR SALE IN THE FOREGROUND.

THE SITE ABOVE WAS ALSO OBVIOUSLY THE KNIFE AND HAWK AREA. THESE DUDES ARE PLAYING MUMBLY-PEG WITH BIG KNIVES. NOTICE HOW FAR APART THEY ARE. THERE WERE SOME CLOSE CALLS BUT NOBODY GOT STUCK.

AND HERE IS THE TRAIL WALK, RIGHT OUT IN THE SAGEBRUSH, 20 STEEL TARGETS, SOME LARGE SOME SMALL, SOME CLOSE, SOME LONG, A BUCKET OF WATER AT EACH STATION IN CASE A PATCH STARTS A FIRE. I MANAGED TO HIT 16 OF THE 20 TARGETS WITH A GREEN RIVER RIFLEWORKS LEMAN HALF-STOCK THAT I HAD JUST AQUIRED AND NEVER SHOT BEFORE. SOME FEW DEADEYES HIT THEM ALL, ONE DID 16 OF 20 WITH A SMOOTHBORE, BUT I KNOW HIM AND HE CHEATS. HE ACTUALLY PRACTICES.

THE MOST ENJOYABLE PART OF RENDEVOUS, FINDING A CAMPING PLACE IN THE SHADE BETWEEN A COUPLE OF COTTONWOODS, RIGHT NEXT TO THE ORIGINAL OLD HOMESTEAD, WITH VERY LITTLE AMBIENT NOISE IN THE DAYTIME AND ABSOLUTELY NONE AT NIGHT. THIS WAS THE QUIETEST RENDEZVOUS I HAVE EVER ATTENDED, SO PEACEFUL. READING IN THE SHADE IN THE HEAT OF THE DAY WAS A JOY. SO WAS LUNCH. YES, I KNOW, IT ALL DOESN’T LOOK VERY PRIMITIVE , AND IT ISN’T. THE FAMILY AND I CAMPED IN A TIPI FOR YEARS, EVEN TRAILED ONE THROUGH CALIFORNIA ON A FAMILY TRIP BACK IN THE 1970’S, BUT THE BIG KIDS, WHO WERE SUCH A HELP WITH THE TIPI AND THE CAMP CHORES, ARE ALL MARRIED AND GONE, JUST ME AND THE WIFE LEFT, AND WE ARE NOT UP TO THE EFFORT IT TAKES TO DO A TIPI CAMP RIGHT. SO WE BRING THE TIN TIPI. AT LEAST, WE ARE HERE! THAT’S A LOT BETTER THAN SOME CAN SAY.