Travel and commuting - The Durango Herald

‘Into the Wild’ lures the unprepared into Alaska’s wilderness

After numerous deaths, footbridge over dangerous river proposed

DATE: Mar 7, 2020 | CATEGORY: Travel

Are city passes worth it? Here’s how to tell

At first glance, the Lisboa Card looked like a terrific deal. For just $44, it offered three days of unlimited access to mass transit as well as Lisbon’s most popular museums and other attra...

DATE: Mar 6, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Raphael fever hits Italy but art isn’t immune from virus

ROME – The paintings, drawings, tapestries and sketches in the most ambitious exhibition of Renaissance superstar Raphael’s works are collectively insured for 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) ...

DATE: Mar 5, 2020 | CATEGORY: Travel

Silverton to Dolores: Be wary of allowing OHVs on town streets

Economic bump might not be worth the trouble

DATE: Mar 4, 2020 | CATEGORY: Regional News

Sand Creek Massacre site draws indigenous people who pray for victims of genocide worldwide

EADS – The site sits hundreds of miles from any major city. There are no statues to admire, no gift shops to buy postcards, and no cheery activities for the kids. To get there, one must driv...

DATE: Mar 1, 2020 | CATEGORY: Travel

Strategies for vegans to eat well on their next vacation

If you’re an omnivore who thinks good food is hard to find on vacation, try traveling while vegan. Plant-based diets are growing in popularity, but most tourist destinations still...

DATE: Feb 28, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

Virus fears keep guests trapped in sunny ‘luxurious prison’ in Canary Islands

MADRID – They signed up for a bit of a beach holiday to break up the winter. Instead, hundreds of holidaymakers, mainly from northern Europe, are set for a two-week lock-down as a result of ...

DATE: Feb 27, 2020 | CATEGORY: Travel

Airline, cruise stocks pummeled on fear of spreading virus

The stocks of American Airlines and several cruise lines were among the worst performers in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index Monday, as investors fret that the new coronavirus could take hold...

DATE: Feb 24, 2020 | CATEGORY: Travel

Traveling back in time to Tombstone, Arizona

Visitors come for the famous shootout, but there’s much more to see

DATE: Feb 23, 2020 | CATEGORY: Travel

Why travelers don’t value their time – and what it means for your next vacation

How valuable is your vacation time? That can be a difficult question to answer, even for someone like Mike Golpa, a busy dentist from Las Vegas. “I have taken longer flights and e...

DATE: Feb 22, 2020 | CATEGORY: The Travel Troubleshooter

SpaceX aims to launch up to 4 tourists into super high orbit

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX aims to launch up to four tourists into a super high orbit, possibly by the end of next year. The private company is working with Space Adventures In...

DATE: Feb 21, 2020 | CATEGORY: Travel

Santa Fe officials want daily flights to LA amid film boom

SANTA FE – Economic development officials are seeking the return of daily flights between Santa Fe and Los Angeles to support the ongoing growth of film production in New Mexico’s capital ci...

DATE: Feb 16, 2020 | CATEGORY: Business

Photos: Durango High School boys golf competes at stateDemons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Demons finished 14th after two rounds at Fox Hill Club in Longmont

Photos: Cowboy Gathering Social and Parade

Photos: High County Cattle Auction

High Country Cattle Auction brings top-notch stock and country charm to Southwest ColoradoFamily run, generational business dates back to 1940s

BREEN – The family-owned and operated High Country Cattle Auction is “in the bones” of the Cugnini family, said third-generation owner Chris Cugnini. The business was founded by Chris’ grandfather, Pat Cugnini, in the 1940s. Pat then passed the business down to his son, Duane Cugnini, who then turned the business over to daughters, Becky Hawkins and Chris Cugnini, whose daughters plan to take over the family business one day. The auction, which takes place once or twice a month from April to January at 13062 La Plata Highway (Colorado Highway 140) near Breen, attracts ranchers, farmers and those in the cattle industry from far and wide.

Former Durango resident Steve Greenburg has been attending the High Country Cattle auction for more than 40 years, and continues to travel to Breen all the way from Arizona, where he now lives. He attended the September auction last week, where around 1,200 animals were up for sale. Greenburg said effective bidding takes concentration and a practiced hand. “You want to make sure you don’t pay too much,” he said. “And if you do, you want to buy the business.” Amber Belvin, employee of 15 years and Chris’ operations “sidekick,” said bidders are most often looking for signs of good health in an animal, like a plump, filled-out body. If bidding on a herd, a look of uniformity among the animals is key to a good purchase, she said.

Despite Greenburg already having a handful of filled out bidding cards marking the cattle he had won within an hour of the Sept. 23 auction, he said the day was young. One sale day last year culminated in Greenburg taking home 22 semi-trucks worth of cattle, he said. Chris said Greenburg is one of the auction’s longest-term and most generous supporters. “(Greenburg) pays top-dollar,” Chris said. “And (that) makes me feel good, because we’re giving back to (the sellers). I know these people around here, and they’re the hardest working people on the planet. If I can get them 10 or 20 cents more per pound, then that makes us happy.”

Cattle auction prices have gone up in recent years, both at High Country and nationally, Chris said. This year, animals are going for $2,500 to $3,000 a head – double and triple the average prices from last year. The increase, Chris said, is in part because of a screw worm making the rounds in cattle in Mexico, which has lowered the number of cattle coming in from the south, along with people subdividing and selling cattle branches, and local cattle herd numbers diminishing, which has increased demand.

Chris called the price increase “good and bad.” “It’s great if you’re a seller, because there’s prices that you’ve never seen before,” she said. “Older men come in, (and they) can’t believe the prices. Some of them do this for a living, and they count on that, so they’re so happy.” Belvin said some smaller farmers opt to buy less cattle during price surges like this, but echoed Chris’ sentiment about sellers being ecstatic about the unprecedented profit.

Local cattle farmer Lawrence Martinez entered 59 steers and 95 heifers in the auction Tuesday. Martinez has been involved in the High Country Cattle Auction “pretty much forever,” but recent years have been especially fruitful for sales, he said. “These last few years, we’ve been coming here to sell, because this is the place to go,” he said. “I wouldn’t sell anywhere else. (The market here has) been so good.”The auction’s community roots and generational touch doesn’t stop at the Cugnini family: Shane Hatch, the auctioneer, took over the job after his father’s death, Belvin said.

The auction serves as an opportunity for community members to get together and bond, Belvin said. “When we do have an auction, it’s a great place where local farmers and ranchers can get together and talk,” she said. “They come to the cafe, and they talk about the hay, and the drought situation, and I think it’s a good connecting point.” Chris and Belvin both expressed feeling glad the auction can supply so much generational value to the local farming and ranching community. “I mean, what other business can you think of around here that’s the same, right?” Belvin said. “We’re fair, and we’re very meticulous at our jobs. We take it very seriously, because this is (some peoples’) livelihood.”

For the Cugninis – and long-term employees like Belvin, who have become an honorary part of the close-knit High Country Cattle Auction family – the heart of the business aligns with the heart of the local farming and ranching community. “We’re just good, hard working people – Americans – that want to make a good living, and live off this great land,” Belvin said. epond@durangoherald.com

Family run, generational business dates back to 1940s