Purple Martins in the Mist. We've never seen them before. We knew just
where to go to see them. Specific directions. Glenwood Springs, drive
another ten miles to Sunlight Ski area. Locate lift number two. Follow it
up to tower number eight. Look for purple martin nests in the aspen forest
to the left. We got there early, before the afternoon thunderstorms.
First, we found the client's office in Carbondale where we'll go to work on
Monday. How hard could that be in a little mountain town like Carbondale?
Harder than we expected. Then we drove on to Sunlight Ski Area. We found
lift number two. First, though, we found the hummingbird feeder, complete
with broad tail, black-chinned, and Rufous hummingbirds. By the time we
headed up the slope to find the purple martins, the mountain was shrouded in
mist. We walked up in a light rain. There was no trail, we just made our
way up the hill through the grass and wildflowers. The rain started. We
weren't turning back. Not while we were this close to purple martins. The
rain got heavier. We looped around the aspen grove and climbed up to the
path of the chairlift. We were too high. We tracked the chairlift back to
tower eight. There we were: standing in the pouring rain, now with thunder
and lightning. We should be surrounded by purple martins. Guess they had
sense enough not to go out in the pouring rain.
We did see one, perched on the back of a chair on a distant lift. We got to
see a purple martin, but it wasn't exactly the experience we were expecting.
