Utah Musings – Pt. 3

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The full moon delights, amuses, and entertains us Saturday night!  Who needs technology.

So..we took another lovely hike down Woodenshoe Canyon.  This area is not spectacular or stunning, but oh so sublime; not wild, but soothing, silent, and solitary.  We saw very few other people and no one on the trails, always a bonus.  This area had an extra delight, old growth ponderosa pines!  When I hugged one, I could not even get my arms around half of the tree–a 12-15 foot diameter.

Wise, old Ponderosa towers over me!

There is something about ‘old growth’ areas that is beyond special.  So what is old growth–just really old trees really that have not been messed with for hundreds of years.  It is actually a rare occurrence in our world and especially our country.  I have been fortunate to be in several old growth areas, the closest to home being the HD Mountains near Bayfield, Colorado and then once in the Smokey Mountains we hiked maybe 1 mile past the masses of people and there we were in a magical forest.  It is the quietness, the majesty, the girth and height of the trees, and some indefinable quality that just seeps in when in the presence of living things that are hundreds of years old.  Oh, Oh I am sounding almost spiritual!! 

Woodenshoe Canyon, Dark Canyon Primitive Area, Utah

The trail followed a canyon and narrowed, crossed the creek (no water, it is Utah) several times, with towering rock walls.  All in all a wonderful few days of hiking and just being out in the woods with my dogs and husband.  Nothing better in my book (well, having my kids along–but those days are long gone and would not have involved long hikes and solitude!)

Utah Musings – Pt. 2

So…we studied our maps and decided to take a 4 wheel drive road to Peavine Canyon bottom and do a hike up a ways.  Now, frequently these roads are really mislabelled.  We have taken regular old cars on many supposed ’4 wheel drive’ roads.  I guess the fact that the last time we were in this area we did get our van stuck and it took quite a bit of rearranging dirt and placement of branches just so to blast our way out, should have been a cautionary note for us.  Luckily we were in a real 4 wheel, high clearance Jeep because the road we choose was horrendous.  It was a white-knuckle, hold-your-breathe drive down with no real way to turn around.  We were very glad we did not meet any other vehicles, because I have no idea what we would have done with sheer drop-offs on one side and sheer walls on the other for much of the road! 

Peavine Canyon trail

So down we went…the hike was devine, a lovely green narrow canyon, not too steep with a gentle breeze caressing you, blue sky, and lots of solitude.  Then, we did have to drive out (well, Michael had to).  It was actually more stressful, exciting, adreniline pumping on the way out because you had to keep up some speed to get up the steep pitches, of which there were many.  Michael gripped the steering wheel, got into his best back-road driver mode, and up we went!  Lo and behold… we did make it out in one piece with only a minimal amount of scraping and no tipping over!!

Look who wondered into our camp—JINX

So…here is the story on Jinx.  After our hike, a bear tracker arrives at our camp with 3 coon dogs in the back of his truck, dressed in camo, reeking of bear blood.  He was a nice young guy who was looking for his missing tracking dog, Jinx, who he lost the day before.  This is how bear tracking works, you have these trained coon dogs who chase the bear and try to tree it.  You then follow the dogs.  Nowadays, the dogs have radio or gps collars so you can find the dogs who have treed the bear.  Then the ‘hunter’ (really?) shoots the bear out of the tree.  So our bear tracker (not to be confused with the hunter) lost track of one of his dogs, a young one, the day before in this canyon below our campsite.  He was very sure he would find the dog as he had a device to locate the dog by his radio collar.  Oh, how high tech everything is these days!

Well…8 am next morning I am enjoying a pleasant sleep in the tent and Michael is gazing blankly over the canyon with his morning coffee with our dogs wondering around the camp (really lazing around).  Then all hell breakes loose:  barking, howling, growling, coffee spilled, me leaping up to see what is going on.  Yes, Jinx wondered into camp!  After we got the dogs separated and tied to trees, we realized Jinx was starving (2 nights out on his own) and really, really sweet.  So I fed all the dogs and Jinx ate all the extra dogfood for the rest of the weekend.  We pondered what to do with our new found friend.  Luckily the bear tracker man had mentioned that he lived in Blanding, but not his name.  We did not see any tags on the dog,  so Michael, being the ultimate good samaritan, drove into Blanding (1 1/2 hours away) and found the owner to return Jinx.  And buy more dog food for our loyal hounds. 

You just never do know what will happen the next minute in your life.  We tend to think of this when bad things occur: deaths, accidents, financial disasters, etc.  But sometimes good things or at least pleasant and interesting ones pop up as well.  Many people like to attribute the good to a ‘god’ (like certain football players saying how “blessed” they are when their team wins!) and when the bad happens they cannot understand how their ‘god’ could allow it.  Fortunately, I am not burdened with these contemplations, and I attribute it to the randomness of the world (which can be equally baffling and difficult to accept).

Yet more to come…..

Utah Musings-part 1

So…we snuck over to Utah for a few days of R & R.  Actually, taking a break in the spring to Utah, New Mexico, or Arizona is a long-standing tradition for us Coloradans.  We are basically greedy and spoiled.  Having one of the most spectacularly beautiful states is not enough for us and we feel the urge to visit our 4-corners neighbors every so often.  In my Aspen days, I first became acquainted with the tradition of taking a vacation after a winter spent skiing, partying, and even working a bit.  It seemed like a good idea and I have continued with this pattern ever since.  When my kids were small, other families would take their spring break to Disneyland or Sea World or some such place, but we would take off camping to Canyonlands, or wonder to Southern New Mexico or maybe Arizona.  We would be seeking warmth and sun and solitude.  Although the kids would have been happier to pursue man-made amusements (not an option on our budget at the time!). 

On one classic trip to Canyonlands National Park with a group of Celtoids (our friends who played and/or enjoyed Celtic music), the kids rebelled against yet another hike and holed up in a cave, chanting “We won’t go!”, when the adults were getting ready to depart.  Michael offered to stay with the kids and let them just run around and climb on rocks while the adults took off for a few hours of trekking.  Well…a good thing as the hike turned into a bit of a death march as the ‘loop’ ended up being many miles longer than originally thought!

Kermit in Blanding, Utah getting a bit of TLC!

But I digress (again).  We loaded up ‘Kermit’, our trusty 1990 Jeep Cherokee (that we nominally gave to our daughter for her college graduation, but fortunately for us she has not come to claim it yet!) with our ‘car’ camping gear and the dogs.  Dante and Bailey were thrilled to be coming with us for a change and settled into the back seat amidst the blankets, pillows, and random stuff.  Out here in the wild west, the route took us through Dove Creek (pinto bean capital of Colorado), Monticello (home of a real, live coffee house-The Peace Tree), Blanding (well, bland really), and Bluff.  We were headed to an area on the Manti-LaSal National Forest which is south of Canyonlands National Park and a bit higher, really low forest mixed in with canyons rather than slick rock country.  We planned to hike in the Dark Canyon Primitive Area.

We have been to Utah many, many times, but still find new areas to explore.  It is an endlessly fascinating place that I love to visit, but probably not to live–too dry and barren and there are those really strange liquor laws, lots of conservatives, and some scary politics.  I do find it interesting that some folks will go back to the same spot year after year and be totally content with it.  Whereas although we do revisit places, we love to check out different areas with slightly different rocks, vegetation, topography, and features.

We had an unscheduled stop in Blanding, (refer to my posts on our vehicles), where Michael had to do a bit of wrenching–something about loose belts.  He did get incredibly greasy, but we wisely stopped at the Visitors Center which had lovely bathrooms I am happy to report.  There also was a nice park area for the dogs and I to enjoy and a small Frontier Museum to amuse me.  I was even given a gift bag for signing the guest book that oddly contained Shaun White (the crazy red-headed snow board trickster who spent the winter of 2010 in Silverton, Colorado at a secret half-pipe training and terrorizing the town with his entourage) gum among other fairly useless stuff! 

View from our campsite.

After a relatively short amount of cruising around on dirt roads, we found a campsite we had been at 3-4 years earlier on the very edge of a canyon with a fabulous view, great rocks, and a good tent site!  We settled in and set up our little home away from home for a few days.

Campsite overlooking canyon.

More to come………

Channelling My Mother

So…as I am sure many, many of you, (especially you women, to be truthful), have thought of your mom at critical moments in your lives.  When I was young (like really young–6ish), I adored her.  She knew everything and always comforted you, etc.  Then sometime around 10, I began to have misgivings about my mom’s decisions–like why did I have to wear tights with sox when I trudged to school (and home for lunch and back and home–of course all uphill!).  I also began to get it that I was not ‘cool’ and wore some pretty bad clothes.  I also was vaguely aware that in a family that was frequently expanding, there were money issues.  So I secretly blamed my mom, but just accepted that was how life was, until those teenage years when I did indeed loathe my mom quite a bit.  That was when the sound of her voice, her expressions, her insistence that I do certain things, (like stay in the Girl Scouts when only the really weird kids did) etc. became something I just hated.  Of course, it was all me, but how was I to know at 17……

Ironically, my mother was instrumental in my attending college and moving away from home.  I did not get it at the time that she was really trying to help me move on and find out who I was and what I wanted to be.  Ah, yes, the selfishness of youth.   But, of course, as I grew older and faced challenges in life, there she was in my consciousness.  At first I was horrified when I was actually acting like my mom.  Then I realized how incredibly fortunately I was to have such a positive role model.  This was really, really clear when I began a family.  When the baby was crying, or my brood squabbling, or money was tight, or I had to say no to my kids when they wanted something (toys or fancy vacations or new clothes) that I could not afford at the time, or I was down about something, it would just pop into my head–WWMD  (what would mom do).  After her death, of course, I had to just channel her.  I know my sisters channel her too and we always will.  We can only hope that our children do the same and someday they will think WWMD and it helps them as much as it has helped us to think What Would Mom Do.  Thanks, Mom!

Speak Truth to Power

So…for the past year myself, my husband, and people in my neighborhood have been engaged in a public process giving input on a proposed development right across the street from my house.

Old Boker Lumber Property

Once upon a time (from about 1975-2005) there was a local lumber yard and hardware store called Boker Lumber that was located right across from my house.  This was a very cool thing….you could just walk across the street (although it is a very busy street, so extreme caution was needed) if you needed that certain screw or can of paint or whatever on a Saturday for a project.  When we built an addition onto our house we had an account there (they called us ‘the family across the road’) and for large purchases like sheet rock, they just drove the fork lift across the street to our driveway!  The owners were genuine laid back local folk who closed at noon on Saturday and all day Sunday and actually went fishing on holiday weekends in the summer.  It was perfect.

But alas, all good things come to an end and their children did not want to run a lumber store and it was closed about 6 years ago.  The building deteriorated and eventually was torn down, leaving only a gaping slab of concrete and pavement beneath a steep hillside.  The property sits on an old rural road that is now a major route in Durango with loads of traffic.  There is a bad curve right at the entrance.  At first glance it seems like the perfect place for some sort of development, but there are access, right of way, and traffic issues.  So it sat for 5 years as the neighborhood waited for the inevitable.

And last May it came.  A developer bought the land and began the process to rezone the property from heavy commercial to residential.  Well…..so began our education in the development process for our city.  It is amazing how nuanced and complicated it is for not just the developer, but for the public.  We have written up comments 4 times to submit to various entities, and spoken publicly at 3 meetings.  We have spent countless hours studying traffic patterns, researching the developer, learning about the Comprehensive Plan and the POST (Parks, Trail, and Open Space) Plan, sifting through the LUDC (Land Use Development Code for those of you who are not city planners),  meeting with the neighbors, haunting the city planning department, and stressing over the ugly and incompatible proposals brought forth by the developer. 

It is always educational when you challenge power and this has been no exception.  You quickly learn not to be too emotional least you appear weak.  You become adept at citing the various codes and plans, slinging around facts and figures, using charts and photos in your presentations.  Oddly, you also realize that those in power (in this case Planning Commissioners and City Councilors) are just regular folks who are not always logical and that often something rather inconsequential that you say clearly resonates with them while your core arguments may be discounted.  Above all you cannot seem to be a NIMBY (not in my back yard–or front yard in this case!). 

Well, amazingly enough we prevailed and the development as present in several forms was denied 3 times!  Now, sooner or later the developer will be back and we will have to compromise and it will be a fairly large residential development and cause parking problems and be noisy and have lights, etc.  But it will be a better and above all safer project because of our efforts.  We did speak truth to power!

Now I have long admired that phrase, so actually looked it up and found that it came from the Quakers in the 1700′s and was popularized by the Quakers in the 1950′s through a series of papers on how to achieve peace without violence (now there is a really worthy cause).  Of course their meaning of truth related to love enduring and overcoming hatred and power was defined to be those who hold high office and the American people who are the final reservoir of power in this country–a bit loftier than my endeavors with a developer and the citizens on the Planning Commission and City Council!

Yet, I do feel really good about our efforts and the outcome.  Yes, we did indeed ‘Speak Truth to Power’ and it is a good thing.

New York City

So I was fortunate to spend a week in the Big Apple and see my children all perform!  It is a rare moment in time when they all have events clustered together, but I got lucky!  No way to describe it, but photos:

Off to NYC--yes a very small plane from Durango to Denver.

We fly over the Rocky Mountains.

The set of William's show: Exploidity, part of Target Margin Theater's Lab Production at the Bushwick Theatre, a Russian inspired cachophony of music, dance, and an unintelligible language--yes, a bit odd, but delightful!

Our newest 'Grand-Dog', Finnegan, commonly called "Fin".

Comedy club where Darcy put on her one-woman show and performs with improv group, Cash Only, every Monday.

Cody and Michael enjoy a brew--lots of pubs and bars were discovered on this trip!

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens--lovely!

Jullia and William relax in their tiny, but well-organized Brooklyn apartment.

Julia rocks out in Doll Parts at the Way Station.

Yes--even a baseball game: Mets v. Atlanta Braves (Mets won!)

Courtyard at The Cloisters, a castle museum built in the 1930's for a massive art collection.

Cody and Jenn 'perform' with a fabulous lamb feast!

Cody, Teri, and Jenn make faces!

A great trip, full of amazing food, plenty of drink, unique places, and best of all spending time with family and getting a peek into their lives, meeting some of their friends, and just reconnecting.  It is so interesting to see New York in a totally different way from the average tourist.  And we indeed get to see, as I call it, the “Alt” New York.  No Times Square or Broadway or Statue of Liberty or cabs, but plenty of time on the subway (til 2am some nights!); at all sorts of pubs, bars, and restaurants large and small, Greek, Malaysian, Mexican, American, German, etc.; and enjoying comedy, theatre, museums, and art that is way, way off Broadway!

So it ends!!

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So I did it–survived the ski season!  I achieved all my goals:  skiing every run (well, almost–never did get to the glades or the old gelunde jump, something for next year), logging 20 days (just made it), and upholding the ski bum tradition of fun, fun, fun.  Despite Purgatory getting just below average snowfall, the skiing was amazingly good.  The improvement in grooming techniques over the last 30 years is phenomenal.  I specialized in Fridays: never crowded, lots of oldsters (from 50ish to 75+) and people with flexible schedules–and there are a lot of these people in Durango (realtors, professors, insurance agents, restaurant workers, etc.) and sunny 95% of the time!  I quickly fell into a pattern of arriving at a reasonable hour (11 am), heading off to the backside and Lift 8 (the lifts have names, but I haven’t ever heard anyone use them)–a bit of a trek, but well worth it.  After 6-7 runs there (really the best snow on the mountain, usually, and a nice mix of challenging runs and cruisers), over to Dante’s restaurant for a break and pocket lunch (back to my hiking form with beef jerky and trail mix).  I tried to do a few runs off Lift 5 (the orphan lift, an old 2 seater and slow, but serves great terrain) before heading back to the front of the mountain for a few more runs before hitting the ‘Beach’ or Purgy’s for a well-earned beer (or gin & tonic when it got warm) served by my favorite wait-staff (Paige) .  I found myself a bit timid early on, but just going for it on the steepest mogulled runs by February.  I came to like Elliott’s, Snag, and Lower Hades–all steep and full of bumps.  I have never been a graceful or elegant skier, but certainly aggressive!

Will I do it again next year?  Well, Purgatory has done it again with its perennial anti-management ways, jacking up the price for oldsters and raising the age to 65 (I am grandfathered in for next year at a mere 63).  So I probably will….it was an awful lot of fun and great exercise and so nice to be outside in this beautiful country.  And, it is what I came to Colorado for many years ago!