Thursday
It worked. Got the job finished, drove back to South Fork after lunch for
another email exchange, drove back to Creede in time for a long exit
conference, and we're good to go. This is hard work, getting jobs totally
wrapped and done by their due date, but what a way to do it! Hey, guys at
the Denver office, do I really have to come back, or can you just sign me up
for more jobs and leave me out here longer?
Every year we come here, and every year someone asks us if we've been to the
Wheeler Geologic Area yet. It is the local spectacular, but not many people
get to see it. First, not many people come here. Then, even if you start
from here, it's hard to get to. It's a rugged fifteen-mile round-trip hike
if you walk there, or a twenty-eight mile round trip if you drive the jeep
road. They say it's faster to walk the trail than to drive the jeep road.
It was declared a National Monument around the turn of the century. After
fifty years or so, when they still hadn't built any access to it, or
promoted it, they turned it back to the Forest Service to manage. It is a
unique geologic area, but I don't know any more than that. I haven't seen
anything like a good picture of it. All these elements conspire to make
this journey irresistible. We have to go there. We're not going to do the
all-day hike, so we'll have to drive. We have never been able to drive it,
because we didn't tow a jeep, we towed a mini-van. Well, we took care of
that. We tow a Grand Cherokee now. We're ready. We even scheduled this
trip to allow a full day for the adventure.
It's not going to happen. Not this year. Each year before, the road has
been dry the first week of May. This year they got a good snow pack. The
four-wheel drive road is impassable when wet. This year, it's beyond wet.
It's still buried. Maybe we'll pass this way again in the summer, though we
never have before. Maybe next year will be drier again. Maybe. Whatever,
it remains on the must-do list. Meanwhile, we discovered another must-do
this trip. Talking to Mo, the Executive Director, our client, about
Wheeler, he mentioned another barely accessible marvel. Rattlesnake canyon.
Natural rock arches. Remote. It's reputedly west of the Colorado National
Monument, outside Grand Junction, on the other side of the Colorado River
from where the roads are. Who could resist that? Look out, next trip to
Grand Junction.
After work, we drove jeep roads up the canyon. Ended up past the rock ridge
right below the giant marshmallow mountains. They are, by name, the La
Garita mountains; I was just describing their appearance. We got to use the
sunroof as much as the windows to admire the view. Judy observed that was
the roughest road we've been on yet in the Jeep.
Sometimes it's too cold, but it is certainly not now. Highs in the sixties
in the high county is just right.
Back at camp tonight, the two geese do their noisy nightly commute back down
river. We never see them fly upriver, but they fly back down past us every
night. Or perhaps there is an endless supply of geese upriver that would
rather be downriver. Two at a time.
Tomorrow. Our anniversary.
