"Garufi Point" - A Scenic Point In Buena Vista, Colorado (Photos & Video

Garufi Point is a beautiful spot. A faux hike. A tiny hill dwarfed by larger mountains. But a special place nonetheless.

Okay ... Okay ... let me have my fun here. Today I ventured to the summit of a small hill east of Midland Hill in Buena Vista, Colorado. It's just a teeny tiny hill really. And so I gave myself the liberty of giving this summit a name: Garufi Point. According to my topographical map, this point is 8,430 feet. That's not too shabby! :)

On a serious note, I could not find any information about a name for this hill. It likely has no name. About naming mountains, there are official rules that I've heard from others. Firstly, a mountain can only be named after a person if he or she is dead. Since I'm alive, this takes away any (ahem!) selfish ambition for myself. Even better, it could be in honor of my late father, my late grandfather (who died in 1953 and I never met) or perhaps both. Mountain names must also be used regularly by locals in the community for an extended period of time, and it is a long and hard process even after establishing those two criteria.

Having said all this, I named this spot Garufi Point and darnit, I'm making it stick until I see or hear otherwise. Below are my photos and video detailing my modest ascent of Garufi Point, alt. 8,430 feet. :)

	Where is Garufi Point? Garufi Point is the teeny tiny pointy hill in the adjacent photo. See the road cut to its immediate left? That is Chaffee County Road 304. (Photo taken on Highway 24 in Buena Vista.)
	How To Get There: From Johnson Village, travel east on Highway 285. Turn left on Chaffee County Road 304 (the same turnoff for the Collegiate Peaks Overlook). Travel on County Road 304 which eventually turns left onto the old railroad grade as seen in the adjacent photo.
	I did not measure the distance, but the adjacent photo shows Garufi Point coming into the view on the right from Chaffee County Road 304. Yay!
	Now this road was once the old railroad grade for the Midland Railroad, and there are a few spots narrow enough for only one car to pass. When I approached the curved road turning right, Garufi Point was directly to my right!
	I parked past the narrow portion of road. Not a shabby view of the Midland Hill summit from this spot! :) All my pages for Midland Hill: Midland Hill (2006) Midland Hill (2007) Midland Hill Via Northeast Ridge (2009) Midland Hill (2009)
	It was a relatively short walk, but there are some steep spots. Near the summit is this old barbed-wire fence. Garufi Point may be located on private property, but I just pretended this was the Wild West - maybe 1873 when this valley was Ute Indian territory and buffalo herds roamed freely! ;)
	There I am at the summit! *Garufi Point!* Garufi Point is a beautiful spot. A faux hike. A tiny hill dwarfed by larger mountains. But a special place nonetheless.
	Three photos of the views looking west toward the Arkansas River Valley. TOP: Facing northwest with the town of Buena Vista in view. Mt. Yale and Mt. Columbia are two "14ers" in the background. MIDDLE: Facing west. Bald Mountain and Sheep Mountain are in the center. BOTTOM: Facing southwest. 14ers Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton are in view. More pages from this area: Fourmile Region Autumn Foliage at Cottonwood Pass Trout Creek Pass Traffic Light in Buena Vista, CO Mt. Princeton Sunset Hot Air Balloons
	So many great views at Garufi Point! Facing south, I zoomed-in on the Sangre De Cristo Mountains way out there. Sugarloaf Mountain is the dark green lump of a mountain in the center of the photo.
	Facing SSE with Chaffee County Road 304 in the foreground.
	I zoomed-in on the lovely village known as Johnson Village. :)
	I captured two photos of Mt. Princeton and one of these will make it on my Mt. Princeton web site. TOP: I had a nice view of the prison from Garufi Point. BOTTOM: On my way back, I captured a photo from Chaffee County Road 304.