Occupation of Independence

Recently the reader caught me preening over my adult attitude regarding "peak bagging" in Colorado. But there are those who disagree, even in my own household. My little poodle has made it clear that he will not forgo any orographic conquests that would redound to his glory. Recently we hiked up the small mountains on the east side of the Arkansas River valley, near Buena Vista, CO. An early start kept us cool in the shade, while off to the west the morning sun warmed a wall of Fourteeners. You have to admire the pluck of a 12-year-old, miniature poodle, who scampered up the short, steep climb like a puppy. At the top he insisted on struggling with the last couple steps before officially signing in at the cairn. Clearly he had no sympathy with accepting old age with quiet resignation. We could read the poetry of William Blake to find inspiration about what happens when men and mountains meet. But that might mislead us into thinking that perspicuity on a mountain p

If you had to choose the western state that was most physiographically endowed, which would you choose? Many people might choose California, and I might agree, although I seldom set foot in that state. I have spent a large fraction of my full time RV years in Utah and Arizona. Great eye candy, those. But I never cared for the culture in either state. Let's just say that I feel no affinity for the LDS culture of Utah, nor the LA-style cities of Arizona, nor the senior-ish snowbird culture of Yuma. I haven't spent that much time in the eastern half of the Four Corner States, Colorado and New Mexico, until this summer. What an eye opener it has been. Presently the Arkansas Valley of Colorado is delighting me, day after day. It's too bad that this revelation took so long. Perhaps other travelers will admit to geo-bigotries about certain states, which tend to detract from their RV lifestyle. There is a relaxation that you feel in a culture that you are in harmo

Yesterday, rain. Last night, clear skies and heavy frost. Now it's melting, an hour after sunrise. Click photo to enlarge.

It is a rare pleasure for me to hike with somebody else, besides the little dog. Recently two RV friends in the area came over for a short hike, right from my trailer door in the national forest. I don't know why it is so satisfying to go on an outing right from the door, but it is. I decided not to take the little dog along, partly for practical reasons; but more importantly, I wanted to honor the occasion of having human companionship for a change. Since the trail was unmarked we started off with low expectations, intending to improvise as best we could. The dirt road up the steep ridge turned into an ATV trail, which finally turned into a single track. The forest had been kept semi-open by selective logging or firewood cutting back in the days when they actually did such things in Colorado national forests, so we had nice views of the valley most of the way up. After two hours of rigorous uphill grinding, we rested and turned around, as was our initial agreement. Th