They say, if you are truly lost, you will go around in a great circle and finally come back to where you started. This is a personal story of my youth.
In the 1959 to 1961 time period when I was in my pre-teens, the family took several week long vacations to stay at the Six J's guest resort south of Gunnison Colorado near the Powderhorn Wilderness. It was then a 40 mile trek from Gunnison on dusty gravel roads. Now Highway 149 skirts Blue Mesa Reservoir to the old community of Powderhorn then only 10 miles of dusty gravel road. On our travels from Gunnison to Lake City we took a detour to see if the Six J's still existed over 50 years later.
The resort is now known as Powderhorn Guest Ranch. It is unoccupied, but recently, maybe only one season. It is for sale and could be made operational again. Whether there is still a market is questionable. Perhaps if I had looked here 20 years ago.....
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| We approach the bridge over Cebolla Creek at the entrance |
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| The manager's residence and office. |
The operation was run by a manager couple, I remember them as Bob and Peggy. They had one hand to tend the horses. Other than that, they did all of the maintenance and all of the hospitality.
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| The Main Lodge |
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| Another View of the Lodge |
The Lodge was the gathering place for the resort. It was composed of a Lobby, a small store, and a Dance Hall
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| The Dance Hall |
Looking in through the window of the dance hall I remember the square dances that were held here. Construction details show that this was a well built and beautiful facility.
The workshop was located south of the Lodge. Bob made sure to keep a large pile of cut and split firewood here for all to use. The only heat in the cabins came from wood stoves. Dad would rise early every morning and get the cabin warming. The ranch hand would fetch the horses from the meadows along the creek and have them saddled and ready for anyone who wanted to rent them. We did quite often.
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| The Ranch Hand's Cabin. |
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| Our Cabin |
As best as I can remember, this was our cabin. At the time, we were a family of 6, Mom and Dad plus Jim, Jack, Jane, and Joe. (Sorry John) So we had 4 J's in our family. The owners of the resort (I believe their name was Franz) had 6 girls, all with names starting with J's!
A tributary from Cebolla Creek was dammed to form the "Polar Bear Wading Pool". A foot bridge crossed over the pool to a picnic area and here I found the only reference to the Six J's.
Overlooking the valley that held the resort was a grave on a small knoll. I never discovered the history that the grave marked.
A number of trails left the resort and climbed up adjacent canyons into the high mountains. We took pack trips into the East and Middle Forks (of what I now know as Powderhorn Creek in the Powderhorn Wilderness).
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| The current entry sign |
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| Any Takers? |
Well, this was fun for me. I found that my memories were vivid and it was quite easy to trace them back to an early time in my life some 55 years ago.
See you down the road...
JIM
Wow! Your memories are terrific! I vividly remember the square dancing. Most of my memories come from South Fork, where we transplanted our vacations to when the Six J's ranch was sold. Thanks Jim!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your memories. It was my grandfather who owned Six J's and my mom is #4 Judy. I too have. Wry fond memories of spending my summers there and all the great square dances and hikes and horse back riding. I will never forget what a special place that was!
ReplyDeleteThis was my favorite place to go for summer vacation! I have a vivid memory of "Uncle Ralph" taking us up to the monument up the hill in his Jeep. He said he would give $5 dollars to whoever could get back down to the cabins first. I was just 7-8 years old, so I didn't try to compete against my older brother and sister. My little sister, Mom and I rode back down with him. When my siblings told him they tied, he tore the $5bill in half and told them would need to share it! I loved going to the stocked fish pond when he would feed them. The summers when I was 15 and 16, I finally tried square-dancing. So much fun hanging out at the lodge with new friends! I really wish I could buy this place and....sigh.....
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the visit down memory lane! I have searched for Six J's Ranch many times. I finally struck gold! I spent a week there every summer with my grandparents from 1970 to 1976. I have thought of the monument up on the hill. It was my secret place to go. I remember a picture of a white poodle on the monument. The owners would also so kindly out Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in the fridge for me. I remember admiring the beautiful aspens running up the valley. Wow. To go back and watch my grandpa fly-fish one more time and hear Grandma complaining about cooking trout at every meal. ❤️
ReplyDeleteThank you for this info! My family from California went there a couple times and hung out with family from Colorado and Texas. Great memories! The pond, the clubhouse where we played pool snd listened to the jukebox (rockin robin was my favorite), played cards, rode horses, and played at the playground. Would love to see it bought so we could do a reunion!
ReplyDeleteWe are planning a trip out there and ran across your post. My husband's Uncle Ralph was the owner of the Six Js then. My husband spent many summers there in the late 60s/early 70s as the Wrangler. He stayed in the little cabin you pictured. It was called the Peewee.
ReplyDeleteHe, too, has many fond memories roaming the mountains, trekking to the "city" for supplies,interacting with guests,and maintaining the ranch with his uncle. He has a vague memory that the grave marker is for the people that sold the ranch to Ralph. In any case, it isn't connected to the Frantz family.
Fun fact...my husband refers to that set of cousins as the Js.
I went there once when I was about 15 in about 1967. The Owner was a retired Cadillac engineer with a laryngostomy. He spoke with a device he had designed and built in a pipe he placed in his mouth with a switch he operated in the bowl. His mechanical voice played through a speaker in his shirt pocket. He had six daughters all named with “J”
ReplyDeleteSo fun! On a whim, I decided to Google Six J’s while in a waiting room killing time. Every one of the previously mentioned details, I recall vividly. My last stay there was a trip down memory lane with two of my brothers and my dad, making our last trip there to fly fish in about 83, just before Dad passed. Fantastic trip! Uncle Ralph and all there created some of my best childhood memories of family vacations with my 3 brothers and one sister. My sister had a crush on a rangler by the name of Gil, as I recall, believe this would have been late 60’s. Remember being a bit scared first time on the ride to the monument with Uncle Raph in his Willie Jeep. Thanks for taking me down memory lane for a few minutes and thanks to the Six J’s family!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the Memories! We made several trips there in the 60's. Mostly during the 4th or Labor day week. I was probably 8 when I first met Uncle Ralph. Such a great time, and a great place!!
ReplyDeleteI worked at the Powderhorn Guest Ranch the summer of 2002 as the camp cook. It was such a fun experience. Greg and Shelley were super nice people. I have great memories of everything from shoveling out the barn to cut throat guest/ staff volleyball games.
ReplyDelete