August 1, 2011
Dear Family and Friends,
Just having finished the detailed write-up of our
trip to the Canadian Rockies, we thought a brief newsletter is in order. A lot
happened over the past three months, but there are several highlights:
•Weather
We’re certain that no matter where you live, this
spring and early summer has brought weather extremes that may have
likely set records for heat, rain, floods, etc. in your area. That was
true here in
the mountains where this spring was one of the wettest
on record. The
monsoon rains (which are normal, but usually come toward the end of
July) combined with an unusually heavy winter snow pack that began
melting at around the same time created a whole
lot more water than this area has seen in some time. Actually, we
remember in
1995 our road turning into a river of mud and
water that washed out much of the surface of the road and left deep
gravel ruts. That April water rushed downhill to the house and we had
2"-3" of water in our lower level. What a mess!!
This year was much the same: lots of rain and snow
melt, though we are more prepared this year with a stronger road
surface, gravel in the driveway circle, and trenches on both sides of
the road to divert a lot of runoff away from the house.
Don't get us wrong. We’re not complaining by any
means. We don’t have the very high temperatures and humidity levels
that many of you have had, and we don’t worry about the kind of
flooding devastating so many other parts of the country. Just fires.
•Visitors
Judy’s Massachusetts niece, Lisa, took some time
away from a conference in Denver to spend a couple of days with us. She
joined Judy for several runs here in the mountains, and we were
impressed with how well she ran in spite of the altitude. As much
family as possible gathered here to see Lisa and enjoy a Thanksgiving
dinner. We introduced her to the “sport” of geocaching in
this area,
which is really an excuse to go hiking. And the weather was glorious in
the middle of May! We were successful in finding all but one cache that
eluded us: we did not fully anticipate that the cemetery in the nearby
ghost town of Caribou
would be under at least six feet of snow, making it difficult to get to
and impossible to dig out the cache hidden there. We’ll find it later
this summer, take a picture of it, and send it to Lisa. The ammo box in
the foreground of the photo of Judy and Lisa contained a cache we had
found earlier hidden in some rocks behind the tree in the back.
Old friends Dick and Trish (it’s hard to believe
they were once students of mine!) blew in from Ohio for an intense
visit that included a fine dinner at the Gold Hill Inn (a treat for us),
rides on the carousel, and several games of Shanghai Rummy (which we
had been looking forward to since we heard they were coming). Their
visit was cut short because of family illness and they had to return to
Ohio about as quickly as they drove out. However, their unplanned
departure was probably just as well; we were unkind hosts at the game
table.
•Running
Bolder-Boulder 10K.
Judy did not join a training group this spring to prepare for the 2011
Bolder-Boulder 10K, but she won her age group by four minutes
anyway—and
knocked six seconds off her time from last year! So she earned her
umpteenth first place medal, a ribbon for beating her age, and will
receive another jersey for next year’s race indicating that she was the
age group winner for this year. You can see her in the photo in her
orange age group winner’s jersey (and black shorts) as she finishes
this year’s race in Folsom Field at CU.
Four on the Fourth
4K. Judy won her age group for the second year in this local
event sponsored by the Avery Brewing Co. of Boulder. This new race is
gaining in popularity perhaps because the age group winners bring home
a case of Avery beer. Last year she chose a case of White Rascal Ale;
this year she picked up a case of Avery’s IPA. Both are practical
alternatives to another medal or trophy.
Rocky Mountain Relay.
A few years ago Judy joined a group of twelve older (masters) local
runners won the Mixed Masters group (over 50, six men and six women) in
the Wild West Relay,
a 200-mile run from Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs. Last year the
same core group (with a couple of subs) ran the Reach the Beach
relay from Franconia to Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, and won their
Mixed Masters group also. This year most of the same runners (with a
couple of new folks) won the Mixed Masters group in the Rocky
Mountain Relay from Colorado Springs to Crested Butte, also about
200 miles (over 12,000' Cottonwood Pass, if you know the area). As in
the other
relay events, each team member ran three legs of the route, which began
at
about dawn on July 22 and finished the following afternoon. Running at
night is part of the fun and the challenge. So she’ll tell you.
In addition to running on Sunday mornings with the
Boulder Roadrunners Club, Judy has
also been a member for some years of the Purple
Runners, an informal group that runs Saturday mornings except
during the summer. They meet at different locations in the Boulder
area, run about 5K, keep times and award points for how they finish,
and occasionally give annual prizes to the top male and female point
winners.
•Travels
You already know more than you had thought possible
about our Canadian
Rockies excursion. Looking back, it was truly a great getaway to
arguably one of the most beautiful regions in the world. It is
certainly worthy of being a World Heritage Site.
We also spent a week in the warmth and sun of
Sedona, a place we try to
visit once a year. The buildings and
facilities at Los
Abrigados Resort and Spa are inviting and attractive, and the
setting along Oak Creek is relaxing. The town of Sedona has, since we
were there last, added some bike lanes to area highways that make long
rides safer and attractive. We managed some hiking in some new areas,
and climbed the sides of some of the red rock formations in search of
hidden geocaches. Some required a pretty stiff climb, as shown in the
photo on the right. Dinner at Judi’s was an outstanding
addition to our list of good restaurants in the area: superb service, a
diverse and attractive menu, and a quiet atmosphere. We’ll return
there the next time we visit Sedona.
After nearly ten years of vacationing in Sedona, we
finally made the drive to the Palatki
Heritage Site and a few miles away to the Honanki
Heritage Ruins, both places where the Sinagua people, ancestors of
the Hopi, built small dwellings in the hillsides and lived there during
the 10th–12th centuries. The sites have suffered some vandalism but are
now under the protection of the US Forest Service. Getting to each
requires a short hike and, in the case of the Honanki Ruins, a sharp
eye to dodge rattlesnakes. The two sites are not close to town, but the
drive
over good gravel roads was worth the time and dust we
accumulated. Along the road, we stopped to look for hidden treasures
and added a half dozen more geocaches to our list of finds. The ammo
can Judy’s holding is just one of many we found that afternoon.
•Local
Doings
We share Monday morning duties at the Carousel
of Happiness, which draws visitors from all over the country who
have heard or read about this marvelous attraction in newspapers,
television programs, and by word of mouth. We welcome the visitors as
they come in the front door, sell them tickets and souvenirs if they
wish (Judy shown here with Trish and Dick), and watch the delight they
have in the 31/2 minute ride. Young and old all have a wonderful time.
The Cutthroat Duplicate Bridge Group meets at least
once a month, depending upon who is in town and not traveling. For the
first time ever we
finally got a chance to play together last month and we took home the
trophy for high score. We do not take lightly such a victory in this
group.
We have continued to volunteer off and on at the
Visitors Center and at the Backdoor Theater most of the time we’ve been
in town. We missed a lot during the winter and all of the month of
June.
•Wildland
Fire Very Close to Home
We have always said that the only real natural
threat in this area is fire. We don’t worry about floods, hurricanes,
earthquakes, or tornadoes. But in what has been a long-term drought
throughout the western mountains, we worry about wildland fire. Last
year there were several tragic and horrific fires in Boulder County,
two of which were within a
few miles of our house both of which resulted in reverse 911 calls to
evacuate. We take the warnings very seriously.
Given the near record rainfall and snow melt this
year, what happened last week would seem highly unlikely. A lightning
strike, during one of the many daily thunderstorms we’ve had for the
past two weeks,
hit a tree on our property on the slope between
the house and Boulder Canyon. It happended sometime on Wednesday, July
20. The strike apparently caused a tree to
smolder for two days until Friday morning when a small fire flared up
about 10:30 in the morning.
[Note:
GPS and a sophisticated computer program that monitors lightning
strikes allowed fire investigators to almost immediately identify the
specific tree that was struck on a specific day and time as the cause
of the fire. There was no guessing about whether it was an unattended
campfire, a cigarette butt, or any other human cause. That tree right
there, they said pointing down the slope, on July 20. It smoldered for
two days before igniting Friday morning. Amazing!]
Fortunately,
the winds were light, blowing from the
north and west, and therefore away from our house or any others along
Ridge Road;
Fortunately,
neighbors Brian and Tracy saw the smoke
and called in a 911 smoke report, and then called to alert Hughes who
was home (Judy was running toward Crested Butte);
Fortunately,
Nederland fire fighters responded
quickly with lots of water and personnel, as did the US Forest Service
and six other area departments; and
Fortunately,
the fire was quickly contained to less
than an acre, no injuries were sustained in spite of the heat and
rugged terrain, and there was no damage to any buildings.
Given the devastating consequences of
several recent fires in our area, we were very fortunate indeed. It has
prompted us to do what we have talked about doing a year or more ago:
putting together an evacuation plan—what to take, where to store
valuables, and how to proceed if “the big one” comes our way.
All in all, the spring of 2011 is a time we will
remember well for a variety of reasons. Our lives the past three months
have been at least interesting, and we recognize how important it is to
have friends and family and neighbors we care about and who care about
us.
All good wishes,
Judy and Hughes
