What I'm Reading

I just finished a non-fiction book about the author of the acclaimed "Big Year" hiking to the top every 14er in Colorado. It is horrible; I'd recommend to no one. I was walking the stacks and the book seemed interesting and the Big Year was recommended to me by a few. Mostly, though, I was just passing my reading time waiting for 2666 to come into the library.

I'm 160 pages into this opus, having just finished Book 1 of 5. I hope to have the 900 pages complete in a week, but it will be difficult. 2666 is already shaping up to be one of the best written novels I've come across.

Strutter

Adaira in her uncle's new shirt. Thanks bro.

Colorado Trail - 7/29/09 dog hike

We went out a few miles on the Colorado Trail this morning for an hour. This is a favorite place, Doggie Disneyland, with water and rising fish if you know where to look. No pics, but if you've been here, you know the place.

Hogback! 7/25/09 dog hike

I took three rockers (hipsters) from the NYC and Seattle up to the top of the Hogback on Saturday morning, before the big party. Great times and a good hike. Had to teather Chris to a rope and lead him down the descent ridge. Just like a mule. Troopers!

The Hogback is just over 1000' higher than my house and probably 4 miles round trip from the front door. Out back in the Test Tracks and a landmark for anyone who's been in Durango.

Horse Gulch

Dogs and I went up into Durango's favorite trail system, Horse Gulch this morning for a 3-4 mile loop around the Meadow. No huge elevation, but a steady steady rise from 6600 ft to a bit over 7000 near Anasazi Descent. Had to get out there early this morning; the heat is coming. I've attached a trail map from Trails2000 and a couple pics.

What I'm Reading

The Stupidest Angel is set just down the coast from SF in Big Sur country. This was the first Moore novel I read and my favorite to date.
Fluke is set in Lahina. A good buddy of mine (Sinslee) lives in Lahina and confirmed some of the pidgin rasta speak. The setting in Lahina was enough to hook me and the story is fantastic (Fantasy). This is light stuff and a fun read.

Moore has sold a lot of books in the last 10 years. He lived in SF and most of his previous books are set in the City. Fluke is one of his most recent books, set in Maui and now his sleeve reads that the author splits time between Sucka Free and Maui. Nice. Moving on up the ocean westside..
Based on the recommendation of a friend, I've been reading Christopher Moore over the past 2 weeks. He compared it to Tom Robins and mentioned one book irreverantly chronicling Jesus during the decades he disappears from the bible. Nice sales pitch; I immediately checked out four of his books from the library.

Bloodsucking friends was published earlier than the others, and I found the author's voice less clear. The following three, though, are all clearly written by an author comfortable with his niche and voice.

Christopher Moore has enough imagination and ear for conversation to appease book snobs (like me). Harry Potter for adults?

Adaira today

Sunday Dog Hike - Engineer Mtn saddle

It was, and has been, uncomfortably hot in Durango, well into the 90s. Too hot to hike the dogs near town, so we went 45 minutes north to Coal Bank Pass for the Engineer Mtn Trail. Engineer Mtn, although less than 13,000 feet, is an iconic peak in SW Colorado. It dominates US 550 heading north to Silverton.

We didn't walk to the top of the peak, but went up to the saddle area above treeline and explored. The hike was about 6 miles round trip with just a little over 1,000 up. Awesome hike with incredible views. Afternoon clouds pushed us below tree line and back into the heat of Durango. Where are the monsoons? Most importantly, the dogs are tired and consequently I feel an enormous sense of satisfaction.

Bear Season

Bear season has arrived in Durango. More incidents of black bears getting into trash, birdfeeders and sometimes houses are being reported. I've only seen sign (bear shit) up on the trails in Test Tracks, but soon I'll pick up some in the back yard after they munch on apples and pears. Here's a pic from a large black bear in our neighbor's yard. Remember, Texans, Black Bears are the only species of wild bear in Colorado anymore. There are no "brown" or "grizzles" in our state.

7 Towers Ruin

7 Towers was tough to find and took me years to finally get lucky and visit. I visited this site on federal land without anyone else nor with assistance. It took research of books, maps, digital archives and luck.

I saw almost no footprints at this remote site, but did see two arrowheads. Both were left in situ along with the thousands of pottery shards and artifact fragments. An amazing place.

7 Towers is geographically and archaeologically close to the Hovenweep NM sites. Hovenweep is an amazing place and shouldn't be missed. Part of Hovenweep's glamor is that the ruins have been stabilized and, in places, rebuilt by early 20th century archaeologists. However, if not stabilized, some of the sites may look like the mass of rubble with anomalous standing tower walls poking through the soil here and there. 7 Towers has not been excavated or stabilized.

Woods Canyon Pueblo

Woods Canyon Pueblo was a late P III Anasazi village of 250 rooms and 50 kivas. Towers lined the cliffs above and jutted out of talus roomblocks below. Cliff Dwellings and/or granaries lined the cliffs between mesa top and talus slope.

At this site I came across my first "wild" projectile point. I believe this to be a knife. The serated edges were still sharp enough to draw blood. The point was left in situ, per requirement of the law and ethic of the Outdoor Museum.

Woods Canyon Pueblo and 7 Towers Ruin - Great Sage Plain Pueblo III sites

My last two Anasazi ruin adventures of the spring season, 2009, took me to two pueblos that I've tried to find for years. Woods Canyon Pueblo (5MT11842) and 7 Towers Ruin (5MT1000) are both located in SW Colorado, on canyon rims of the Great Sage Plain. Both were two of the latest villages to be abandoned in the Anasazi migration out of the region around 1280 C.E.

Crow Canyon has done extensive work at Woods Canyon Pueblo and the adjacent sites: Woods Canyon Reservoir (held 41,000 gallons of water!), the Bass Ruin Complex and the Albert Porter site, probably a Chacoan outlier village. This area was intensively farmed and settled by the Anasazi for several hundreds of years, although no one village was used as the community center for that span. Woods Canyon Pueblo is on federal land and is relatively easy to visit once you know where to look. The Bass Pueblo is also on federal land, but I have not included photographs. A very cool site, but difficult to photograph. The Albert Porter site is on private property and can not be visited. A chapter of Craig Childs' House of Rain is based at the Albert Porter site, although not named.

The 7 Towers Ruin has fascinated me since seeing it's name in the appendix of The Prehistoric Pueblo World, 1150-1300 AD some 10 years ago. The name is so evocative and the raw site data statistics are eye catching: 175 rooms and 43 kivas; A site enclosing wall...

After several searches, I finally visited this site. Anasazi Heritage Center/Canyon of the Ancients archaeologists will not give directions to this site. Visitation required an 8 mile mountain bike ride and a 2 mile, trail-less walk. It's an amazing site that needs protection.

Pics in the next post.

First Entry: Baby Adaira

Here's a pic of a 6 week old Adaira in my coworker's gift. Karen Brehm (Brehmige) bought this beauty when in Seattle for the Rock N Roll 1/2 marathon. Thanks Brehmige!