Dogs and Deeres

The monsoons finally let up enough for a campfire last night so we did the dogs and marshmallows.  1 dog for Trish, 2 for me, 3 dog night.  I didn't do a body count on the marshmallows.

As for the other dogs:

Ranger and Artie posing for the media at Natural Arch, El Malpais NM.

Ranger.

The old gentleman.

He and Artie get along great, have regular wrestling matches.

Above and below pix taken by our good friend Lisa in Buena Vista, CO.  She's a pro photographer and  uses her talent - on a volunteer basis - to help shelter dogs find homes.  She takes attractive pictures of the pooches for newspapers, bulletin boards, etc.

Artie.

The young rascal.

Don't let that angelic look fool you.

She likes to sit in it but can't plow worth a darn.

Picture taken in South Dakota at Trish's friend's farm.  I opted out of the farm tour: been there, done that, and besides it was time for my siesta.  This rig has full cab climate control with A/C, GPS, FM stereo and God knows what else.  Probably has a fridge and microwave, too.   Back in my day when men were men, there was no such thing as enclosed-cab tractors.  We sat on hot steel seats with maybe 5 golf-ball size 'ventilation' holes for comfort; spend several hours on that bugger and you have severe linoleum butt.  We ate dirt, baked in the sun, sweated buckets. 

Farmers nowadays are such pussies!

Walnut Canyon NM

Walnut Canyon National Monument is located 10 miles southeast of Flagstaff.  Yesterday we stopped in at the visitor’s center, watched the introductory film and toured the museum.  There are steep trails that wind 400’ down into the Canyon but we opted out on those.

 

Between 1125 and 1250, the Sinagua Indians built and lived in 100s of small cliff dwellings tucked under the rock shelves that line the canyon walls.  They farmed on the rim, growing corn, squash and beans.  They had to haul drinking water up the steep canyon slopes from Walnut Creek.  The Creek dried up for about 3 months each year so they stored water in clay pots to tide them over.

Taken from near the Visitor Center, cliff dwellings are in center of picture.

They moved out of the area in the late 1200s, probably because they had exhausted nearby supplies of wild game, and timber for cooking and heating.  It is assumed that they were later assimilated into the Hopi tribe.

At 10x zoom, a close up of the dwellings barely visible in the above picture.

Souvenir hunters discovered the dwellings in 1880 and for the next several decades, proceeded to decimate them, even using dynamite to improve access and provide light to the dark interiors.  The hunters didn’t leave much for the archaeologists to find so little is known about the Sinagua way of life.

Walnut Canyon, looking east.

We’ve been camped at Fort Tuthill Park near Flagstaff for 3 nights and will stay 2 more before heading back to the barn.  We bought firewood upon arrival, hoping to enjoy a couple nights of roasting our weenies, warming our buns and (Trish) toasting marshmallows stuffed with dark chocolate.  That hasn’t happened though, due to daily torrential rains.  This area has received roughly 5 times more precipitation than the historical average.  The weather is supposed to improve so maybe we can still roast and toast.

Artist's conception of Sinagua life in the summer.

Winters can be severe at 7000' elevation so they had fires inside the dwellings and swapped out their lightweight cotton summer loincloths for the heavier, warmer, wool ones.  Or the fur ones if it got really cold.  

I wonder: did they climb up to the rim in the frigid winters to conduct their personal business or just hang it over the side - bombs away?  I'm guessing it was the latter and that's why my dwelling would have been located just below the very top shelf.  Talk about your slippery slope!  "You want me to climb down through that mess and fetch a pot of water?  Up yours, Dances With Gophers!  Get it yourself!"

This scenario gives rise to another theory regarding their reason for moving out of the area.  It may have been due to the accumulation of waste rather than the depletion of resources.  After putting up with the waste for 100+ years they just couldn't take it anymore: they were crapped out. 

Grants and Movies

Grants, NM
Once known as the uranium capital of the world, Grants is a sleepy town of 10K souls about an hour east of Gallup.  Nowadays, Grants doesn't seem to have much going for it; tourism and a couple prisons seem to be the main industries.  We're leaving this AM after spending 2 nights.  The RAM has been playing nice since we left Buena Vista.  Maybe it just doesn't like altitudes above 8000'.

El Malpais NM sandstone bluffs overlook, with lava field in background.

The tops of the sandstone bluffs are worn smooth and have several shallow basins full of murky water.

This 6' x 4' basin is full of little polliwogs. 

Natural arch a few miles south of the sandstone bluffs.

El Malpais National Monument is the primary tourism draw, and the Visitor Center is right across the road from our campground.  We stopped there yesterday, prior to driving into the Monument area on highway 117.  El Malpais means 'badlands'.  It's a huge area of black lava flows, extremely rough, the result of several large eruptions over the last million years.  Mt Taylor, one of the volcanoes, lost an estimated 6000' of elevation when it blew its top (bet that scared the crap out of the elk).  Driving south on 117, you see beautiful sandstone bluffs on the left, a vast expanse of lava flows on the right.

Dueling cameras on the natural arch path.

Movies
When we're near a town and have electricity at our campsite, we often get a movie from the nearest Redbox.  Usually, I research potential movies on Flixster, which provides ratings by both critics and random viewers - a very helpful selection tool.  Both Redbox and Flixster are free apps that I've installed on my smart phone.

I neglected to check the rating on the movie I selected 2 nights back.  It had several very accomplished actors and I thought, 'Wow!  With all that talent, it has to be fantastic!'  And it was: fantastically disgusting, gross and mean-spirited, the worst movie I've ever seen.  Partially seen, I should say; 20 minutes was all we could stand.  The name was Movie 43.  Monumental talent monumentally wasted.

When we returned that movie we got another one: Quartet.  It's Dustin Hoffman's first directing attempt, starring Maggie Smith.  I did check the ratings this time.  They were favorable and we found the move quite enjoyable.

Blog Stats

Most bloggers already know this but non-bloggers probably not: there are all kinds of statistics available in the Google blog system.  These include:

1.  Total and per-post hits per day, week, month, year, all time.

2.  Sources of hits by referring website or URL.

3.  Audience stats that list the number of hits by country.

It's this last one, countries, that got me amazed, curious and suspicious.  By far, the most hits are from the USA.  Russia is in second place, followed by Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, and the UK.  Latvia, a newcomer to the stats, is in 8th place and coming on strong.

Russia?  Latvia?  WTF?  Latvia had 147 hits in the last few days, all on one 2-year old post about a remote campground in northern Quebec.  Said post had a total of 245 recent hits so not all are from Latvia.

I've researched and determined that my suspicions were justified.  Most, if not all, of the Eastern European hits are from surfing spammers using automated techniques, hoping you'll get curious and click on the referring URL.  If you do, you'll get a website selling porn or other nasty stuff.  Spammers are good at hiding their tracks: the hits that appear to be coming from Russia/Latvia could be coming from anywhere, including the USA.  Eastern Europeans are popular fall guys these days.

USA Pro Challenge

The USA Pro Challenge bicycle race is America's answer to the Tour De France.  It starts in Aspen/Snowmass and ends in Denver and has 7 stages.  The route, which includes 12,095' high Independence Pass, is the highest-elevation pro circuit race in the world.  Yesterday, we watched the racers zip through Buena Vista on stage 2.

A few posts back, I reported on the Leadville 100 MTB, a mountain bike race with 3,000 participants, most of whom were amateurs.  Other than high grueling terrain, the 2 races have little in common: 7 days vs 1, pros vs amateurs, entirely different equipment, highway vs mountain trails, live national TV coverage vs local newspapers, and, last but not least - $.  Big $ vs zero $.

This first group of 5 break-away riders were a good bit ahead of the main group,

perhaps because some riders crashed a ways back, slowing down those behind the crash and allowing those ahead of the crash to gain a substantial lead.  The yellow-green 'silo' on the left, and its counterpart across the street, are sprint markers: first rider across the line that runs between the 2 silos wins a cash prize put up by one of the sponsors.

The Challenge riders are backed by deep-pocket sponsors.  In the hour or so that we waited for the riders to appear, dozens of race-related vehicles passed by, including law enforcement in all shapes and sizes (but mostly motorcycles), race marshals and photo teams on motorcycles, Nissan 'official race vehicles', a loud-haler car blaring out the names of the current leaders and expected arrival time, EMT vehicles, an airplane, a helicopter.

The rest of the pack.

  Unlike the Leadville race, where the riders finished over a 6-hour period, the pros passed by in mere seconds, going about 50 MPH.

Closely following the riders, were the sponsor support cars, each with several spare bikes on top.  Everything - riders, bikes, cars, support crews - were decked out in team colors sporting sponsor logos.  Quite a spectacle!

PS to Dodge Service Sucks!: I forgot to mention that I emailed the Dodge dealerships in Grand Junction and Salida long before calling the Salida dealership and making an appointment.  I never received an email reply from either dealership.

Dodge Service Sucks!

Thursday 9 AM: Delivered RAM to Salida, CO Dodge service department to fix drive train slippage and squeaky brakes.  Told manager: we’re traveling, needed to get on our way ASAP, keep us posted.

Thursday 5 PM: No word on RAM status.

Friday 5 PM: No word on RAM status.

Monday 8:30 AM: Called service manager; he said tech that worked on it was on test drive and that he’d get back to me when the tech returned.

Monday 11:30 AM: Called again, manager on phone, left message.

Monday 3:30 PM: Called again, service line busy, hung up.

Monday 3:35 PM: Called Chrysler national customer service, told them Salida outfit wouldn’t return my calls.  They called Salida, got ‘em on line, service manager said they couldn’t duplicate problem and diagnostic computer was down.  Said they’d checked and cleaned brakes and they were fine, didn’t squeak.  I told them I’d pick up RAM at 9 AM Tuesday.

Tuesday 9 AM: Returned loaner and drove RAM back to Buena Vista.  The brakes squeaked.

Shit happens.  Computers go down.  I understand.  I do not understand and have zero tolerance for businesses that don’t keep their customers informed and don’t return customer phone calls on a timely basis.  Those businesses shouldn’t be in business and sooner or later they won’t be.  Their competitors – the ones that do things right – will get all the business.  I take great pleasure in giving for-shit businesses a boost, hurrying them along to their ultimate destination: down the toilet.  I do hope my call to the national organization was beneficial in that regard.

So, tomorrow we head on down the road in an iffy rig, but a different road than planned.  Our planned stops were the Colorado Nat’l Monument near Grand Junction; St George, UT; Henderson, NV -crossing the Rocky Mts from east to west.  Not a great route for a tow rig with drive train issues.  Instead, we’ll head straight south, pick up I-25 in NM and hang a right on I-40.  We’ll do a couple 3-4 day stops en route, arrive LHC about 9-1.

High Country Recreation

Mt Massive, near Leadville, CO, is the highest golf course in the USA at 9,640'.  Terry and I played it last Friday, perfect weather, quite enjoyable.  Trish and I had hoped to play Mt Massive when we were in Leadville in June, 2010, but it was too cold.  Now, I have bragging rights (such as they are) on having played the highest course in the USA, and also the lowest course in the entire world, Furnace Creek in Death Valley, 214' below sea level.

Furnace Creek is rated as one of the '50 Toughest Courses in the USA.'  At my skill level, 'tough' really doesn't mean anything: I shoot triple bogies on nearly every hole on every course, be they tough, semi-tough or easy as pie.  The one positive thing that can be said of my golf game is that it's consistent - consistently horseshit.  Still, I enjoy playing the game - for reasons that are becoming increasingly obscure.  Terry, on the other hand, is an excellent player.

Tennessee Pass Cafe in Leadville.

Very popular, very busy, very slow.

Whilst we were golfing, Trish and Lisa did the 2.5 hour scenic/historic train ride on the Leadville Colorado and Southern Railroad.  They met Terry and I for lunch at the cafe pictured above.

A typical summer morning scene in Buena Vista.

Rafting enthusiasts board old school buses towing trailers stacked with rafts.

Buena Vista and Leadville are major summer recreation meccas.  Rafting and kayaking on the Arkansas River are popular, as are biking, hiking and fishing.  The headwaters of the Arkansas are near Leadville.  Near downtown BV, there are several little waterfalls, man-made I think, where kayak acrobats do somersaults and other stunts in runty little craft no longer than a bathtub.  I've yet to figure out where they put their legs in those dinky things; they must fold 'em up like pretzels.

This footbridge spans the Arkansas River, a few blocks from downtown BV.

On the far side are a number of trails that attract hikers and mountain bikers.

Looking upriver from the footbridge.

Kayak stuntmen do their thing in those bits of white water. 

Tin Cup, CO

Yesterday, Terry and Lisa took us on a scenic drive over Cottonwood Pass to Tin Cup, a semi-ghost town.  The Pass is through the Collegiate Peaks of The Sawatch Mountain Range.  The Peaks, all 'fourteeners', are named Yale, Harvard, Columbia and Princeton.  My alma mater didn't make the cut.

We visited the Tin Cup cemetery, which is in a beautiful setting with graves scattered here and there in a couple acres of woods.  There are separate areas for Catholic, Protestant and Jewish. 

Tin Cup was one of the many mining boom towns that came and went in the late 1800s.  It once had a population of 1500.  Now, it has several seasonal residents and a handful of full timers.  Should you be in the market for a small home with lovely views at 10K+ elevation, there are plenty of vacant vintage log cabins to choose from.  Bring your own porta-potty, ice chest and generator. 

Our stop in Buena Vista to hang with T&L was open-ended; we were thinking 5 days or so, enough for a nice visit without overstaying our welcome.  Turns out we'll be overstaying our welcome big time: 14 days or more.  That's because the RAM has the sickies and is going into the shop today.  The transmission's gone rogue/spastic.  Most of the time it's fine, but sometimes, for no obvious reason, it goes bat shit crazy: engine roars and revs up, transmission won't downshift, no pattern, no rhyme, no reason.

I've checked RAM forums, Technical Service Bulletins, recalls, found squat, no history of sibling RAMs having this problem.  Hopefully, the problem will be isolated and corrected in short order.  Or: that little rogue/spastic sumbitch that's hiding in the drive train totally eludes the techs, they can't find anything wrong, don't do anything to fix it, we continue on our way, the tranny goes totally tits up on a remote mountain road, we kick both RAM and Cougar over the cliff, we stick out our thumbs, we hitchhike home.

On the bright side, the dealership is providing a loaner car so we won't be stranded or begging rides from T&L.

Gold Rush Days

Doing the final adjustments to the pack.

This burro, one of the largest in the race, is teamed up with one of the oldest 'miners'.

Burro is Spanish for donkey, aka jackass or simply - ass.

Haul Ass!

The more competitive racers sprint from the starting point.

Here's the tall burro and elderly gent pictured above, top.

This group is well behind the sprinters and going at a leisurely pace.

Buena Vista, CO Gold Rush Days include a Triple Crown burro race.  It simulates the race to stake the best gold claims back in the day.  Burros are loaded with 33 pounds of mining gear, the 'miner' grasps the burro's halter and races over a cross country course.  Last year's winning time was 1:33 on a 13.5 mile course - and that, my friends, is truly hauling ass!  This year, there were 2 courses: 11 miles and 18 miles.  Some racers are professionals who train their asses rigorously; their burros are highly trained, too, of course.  The races started 64 years ago and are held in several CO cities, Leadville and Fairplay being the other 2 Triple Crown events.

Immediately after the start of the burro race, there was a reenactment of a killing that took place in the Lariat Saloon in 1882.  That's Doc in the black suit; he squinted down at the victim, nudged the body with the toe of his boot, announced, "Yep.  He's a goner!"  Terry and I tried to incite the crowd to lynch the killer but the sheriff held his ground.

Next event: toilet seat races by age group, starting with age 6 and below.

That's TJ and his son Thomas on the left.  The seats have 3 small wheels and tip over easily. 

Thomas plunges across the finish line!

Proud winner Thomas, holding his trophy.

Thomas is a delightful young man, a bit serious for his age, very well mannered.

Here's the short course winner approaching the finish line with a time of about 1:35.

Trish and I were sitting in the shade eating ice cream cones when they went by.

Leadville 100 MTB

A bunch of us went up to Leadville yesterday to watch TJ finish the race.  Scattered thunderstorms are a near daily occurrence here in August, but the cyclists lucked out with great weather this year.

The finish line at 6th and Harrison in Leadville.

The last 3 blocks are lined with people who cheer, clap and ring cowbells as the riders pass by.

Approaching the finish line.

The cyclists are well spread out after 8+ hours.

About 30 riders finished in the 45 minutes we were there.

Right to left: Linda and Tom, TJ's parents; Thomas, his son; TJ.

TJ's father-in-law, Terry, is the proud owner of the protruding beer belly on the far left.  As beer bellies go, it's not that impressive but hey, it's a work in progress!  Terry works diligently, following a strict daily regimen of beer belly enhancement - which is only natural, it being his only significant physical attribute.

TJ's time was 8:24, some 35 minutes less than his 2011 time - a huge improvement!  I fully expected TJ to hit the sack the minute he returned to the house.  He'd been up since zero dark thirty and spent 8.5 hours going full out balls to the wall on his bike.  Nope: he still had plenty of energy left and was still up and about when I sacked out at 9 PM.  You duh man, TJ!

13 Dogs

That's right, there will be 13 dogs here today.  Our hosts, Terry and Lisa, have 3; the other couples each have 2.  Don't know the sizes or breeds of the 2 that will arrive today but so far Ranger is the largest, the rest about Artie's size.  Where is here?  Terry and Lisa's home in Buena Vista, CO.  T and L are LHC friends who visited us in Santa Fe and accompanied us to Puerto Penasco, Mexico.

The Sleeping Indian.

This picture and those below were taken from Terry and Lisa's yard.

With the exception of Trish and I, the dog owners are all family members, here to attend Gold Rush Days and to offer moral and watering hole support to TJ.  Oh yes, also to eat, drink, hang out, have some laughs and just plain enjoy each other's company.  TJ is married to Sarah, T and L's daughter (1 of 3); TJ will participate in the Leadville Trail 100 MTB mountain bike race today.

It's a grueling 100 mile race at elevations of 9,200' to 12,424'.  The race is limited to a mere 3,000 cyclists and they come from all over the world.  Last year's winning time was 6:16; TJ expects to finish around 8:30, a very respectable time for a non-professional.  Lance Armstrong won it in 2009, placed 2nd in 2008.  I suspect Lance won't be there today, given his doping disgrace.

One of these 3 peaks is Mt Antero, 14,269' elevation.

Much of the footage of the reality TV series, The Prospectors, is filmed there.

Many semi-precious gemstones have been found on the mountain.

Most people think MTB is an acronym for mountain trail bike.  Most people are wrong.  The T actually stands for Taint, a part of human anatomy.  Some readers will recognize the term as being a small stretch of territory in the nether region, know medically as the perineum.  Said territory often becomes sore and swollen in mountain bikers due to the rough terrain.  Since this blog is unofficially rated PG13, I'll not go any further with this: if you haven't figured it out, look it up.

The home is set in a broad, flat valley, surrounded by mountains; gorgeous views!

Folks gather on the porch at cocktail hour.

So, I was thinking about those MTB racers - thinking those guys and gals are masochistic nut cases. But then, I think back to my mountain climbing days, climbing mountains exceeding 14,000', with a heavy backpack of gear and emergency supplies, sometimes in temperatures well below freezing.  Okay, I get it.  It's the challenge, the sense of accomplishment, and yes, gotta admit it: the bragging rights. 

Rocky 2

Alluvial Fan with Bridge Goddess in lower left.

Bridge Goddess close up.

She charms the trolls that live under most bridges.

Our last day trip from our RMNP Moraine Campground was a clockwise loop on route 36, with stops at the Alluvial Fan, the Fall River Visitor Center and the Estes Park Safeway.  The Alluvial Fan was the sight of a roaring downhill flood 30 years ago.  The flood ripped out all existing vegetation so now the area has all new growth. 

Fall River Visitor Center.

I love the construction design and materials used in most national park/monument visitor centers and lodges.  The massive peeled logs, the natural stone, the soaring ceilings and huge view windows are awesome.  Fall River Visitor Center is typical, albeit not even close to the most impressive of the breed.  

Which one is the most impressive?  I’d have to think long and hard on that question, but the old lodge on the north rim of the Grand Canyon would be one of the finalists.  Many ski lodges have similar designs and materials; Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood in Oregon is one such. 

Rocky

The park, not the movie: Rocky Mt Nat’l Park.  We planned to stop here 3 years ago but got weathered out.  It was mid June, too early for nice weather in elevations of 8-12,000’.  August is fine, has frequent thunderstorms but they don’t last long.

We've seen this group of 5 buck mule deer came browsing through camp twice.  They're not at all fussed about being surrounded by people.  One was 25' away from me this AM when I stepped out of the trailer.  

Bear Lake is a 15 minute drive from our campground, not counting road construction delays.

Above and below are vistas along route 34, the main drag through the Park.

We had to stop for a few minutes on our route 34 drive to let the sheep cross the road.

This guy is having a really baaaaaad hair day.

Why is this roof inside out?

 Maybe to keep the 100 mph winter winds from blowing it away?

It gets down to -50 degrees here in winter, wonder what the wind chill is.

The store and cafe near the Alpine Visitor Center at 11,796' elevation.

We brought a picnic lunch so didn't eat here.

These elk stags hang out across the road and uphill from a herd of about 60 more elk.

Was the larger group all does?  Couldn't stop on the road long enough to find out because the park ranger was waving everybody along, trying to keep the traffic flowing.