Jurassic Moments

WHAT IF I told you the Colorado River was originally called the Grand River? Would you believe that the T. Rex once walked the streets of downtown Grand Junction? Were you aware that over 150 Million Years Ago this entire area was a giant plateau? It's like something out of Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth or better yet Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World. It seems I can't go anywhere without closing my eyes and transporting myself back in time, blocking out the modern world and visualizing only what was. It almost feels a little "Wellsian".

The Grand River, now known as the Colorado River, swept through the Colorado territory and merged with the Gunnison River. Where these two bodies of water

met a junction was created. People moved in, built habitations, planted crops, raised stock... this place became known as Grand Junction. (Bonanza theme playing in background) Grand Junction is now the home to over 40,000 individuals. It's the same size as Bend when I moved there over ten years ago. It is actually not much different to Bend. Resting at a similar elevation around 4000 feet, it's within driving distance to deserts, mountains, and streams & rivers. There's plenty to do outdoors year round. Their summers are hot and their winters mild. While hiking the many trails and paths carved from the layers of sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks and igneous rocks it would be no surprise to find oneself bumping into Will, Holly and Chaka rounding a corner, chased by Grumpy , a very large Tyrannasaurus rex. This entire area feels

very Land of the Lost. Who would have guessed that this Jurassic wonderland once had an atmosphere of 3x the CO2 rate of today. Could it be that all Global Warming is, is a means to return to that swampy tropical environment of overgrown lizards?

I LOOK OUT over the Grand Valley. The redness of the Mesa and the Monument, which make up part of the greater Colorado Plateau, remind me very much of my trip to Australia's Red Center. The bright aquamarine sky contrasting against the deep reddish orange of iron in the soil, Uluru and Kata Tjuta's bulbous formations, the short scrub of arid desert. And although the Aussie center is at a much lower elevation than Grand Junction Colorado, it too was created by the brutal forces of erosion. The old stirrings of earlier adventures come back. I can smell the eucalyptus of the backcountry, hear the Galas, see the touch of haze on the horizon. This earth is deeply connected in many different ways and even here in Colorado I find examples of shared geologic features, representative of a time when the earth was once one giant piece of land, Pangea (Greek for Entire Earth). This may or may not be true, however my scientific self asks how can two things so geologically

uniform; in color, texture, mineral makeup, and genesis be in two different places? Did they originate from an identical experience? Were they once physically part of similar environments? I wonder.

Here in the semi desert pinyon pines, mountain mahogany and junipers cover the landscape. The songs of ravens, jays, and wrens echo off the canyon walls, while desert bighorns, coyotes, mountain lions and even collared lizards and rattlesnakes find niches for themselves in the scrub and rock work. This immense piece of terra firma holds its secrets close to its breast. Each season reaps its own surprises. Spring rains bring cascading waterfalls and overflowing river outlets. Summer paints a carpet of blooms of Indian paintbrush, a variety of cacti, Yucca and sages. When the snow falls in Winter it collects in the cracks and crevices of the Monument, the Bookcliffs, and the Mesa. The white frozen water accentuates the ornamental beauty of this landscape. Then when the evening sun readies itself for bed, its last rays of the day radiate hues of sunset golds, copper reds, and fire oranges, a kodachrome of color across the expansive plateaus and canyons. It is this last image that conjures up the memory of Fall for me.

AS DAVE and I cycle the Connecting Lakes of the larger Audubon Loop we are reminded of the diversity of this area. Along the Banks of the Colorado River, which the trails follow, Cottonwoods (Populus sp.) still have a bit of bright green mixed with their new Fall fashions of yellows and oranges. A Blue Heron stands at attention watching the fish circle between his long greenish legs. Not a muscle moves...then BLAM! His sharp bill spears dinner. We stop often to watch birds. Dave has taken an interest in learning the different birds and over the past three month he has identified over 50 different species. It's AWESOME. It is only as we pause to watch two Corvus caurinus fight over a meal that Dave discovers his two flat tires. The latest victim of goat heads. It had been me earlier in the month. We will eventually solve this problem with green slime and tire liners. These wetland areas along the Colorado River are lush and very different to the higher canyons and mesas. The tall reeds of cattails, the invasive thorny Russian Olive and feathery Tamarisk, even the willow makes its home here. Together they create a riparian habitat for many birds, mammals and retiles. Beavers log the surrounding area for timber for their woodland homes, Killdeer, Redwing Blackbirds, and Mallards build their nests along the grassy shore. I have been lucky and the only snakes I've seen have been the garden variety, with a number of lizards mixed in for good measure. There is so much to discover and in our short time here have only just scratched the surface. We are already compiling a list of places we'd like to visit on our return next summer.

One of those places we'd like to revisit is the Grand Mesa. We had the opportunity to camp at Mesa's Jumbo campground in September. We headed up on a Friday and had two glorious days of Fall weather before the storm blew in. That Sunday morning Dave and I were hiking along one of the many ridges of the mesa, looking for letterboxes. There is a Lord of the Rings series containing 41 boxes close to where we were camping. Two hours into our adventure the rain came pouring down, so after finding 15 boxes we headed back. By the time we arrived at the campsite Dave's brother's family were all huddled into their camper keeping dry and

playing a game of Sorry. Shedding our wet outerwear we settled in and waited for the calm. By noon Mark and his family headed back into town, leaving Dave and I to weather out the storm. We had some lunch, read a little and by 2:00 pm the rain and wind had stopped and blue sky was once more above us. Agreeing to head back to the ridge we donned our gear. The views from the top of the ridge were magnificent. We had four boxes left when the clouds moved in. Dave watched the weather while I stamped and logged our finds. It was as if Saruman had called the storm in himself, the lightening and thunder hit so close, the rain pouring down and the clouds low and enveloping us. Even the umbrella we carried was not enough to keep us dry. With final stamp in the book, and the boxes re-hid we headed down the mountain to the truck. It was like a line from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, "Thunderbolts and lightening, very, very frightening me". Wow what a rush! Once again we pealed our wet things off and couldn't stop laughing. It is moments like this that one never forgets and the telling only gets better as one gets older, sitting on the porch in our rocking chairs sipping sweet tea and lemonade.

WESTERN COLORADO has some of the best sites in the West. If you have not visited this area already it is a must on your places to visit before you die! The history, environment, people and art are spectacular. Although we certainly never planned on being here for as long as we have, we are blessed to have been able to keep our calendar open and our time frame flexible for these opportunities. It seemed only appropriate during our visit that we should read Sue Henry's book Serpent's Trail, a mystery set in Grand Junction, where the sleuth is traveling in her Winnebago. A definite fun read for those mystery buffs.

Soon we will be pointing our rig south and making a stop in Rico, one final time before the snow really comes down. No dinosaurs, no Colorado or Gunnison Rivers. Here it is the Dolores River running through a town built on the side of a mountain and pock-marked by gold and silver mines. It is a town surrounded by the San Juan National Forest, not bordered by semi desert plateaus and home to ancient sea beds. Instead it harbors large game, cold winters and a population of 250 year rounders.

We do not know what is around the next bend, or what the next surprise the truck has install for us. We don't even know where we will find our next job. What we do know is that we are together having fun and making the best of the situations that are presented to us. We do not question our past choices or decisions, those are past. We do not play "what if"s" as it is those "do's" that shape our future. We can only look forward finding the joy and love in each other and those around us. It is because of friends and family that we have came as far as we have. Winter is on our heels and though we hope to be somewhere warm for these next four months, we know wherever we are we will be safe and warm and happy.

Life is a miracle and living it happens only once in a lifetime, so why not make the best of both!

We wish you all good health, and a Happy Halloween.

Dave, Vanessa & Sackett.