I am done buying guitars. At least, that is what I tell myself these days – No Mas!
With that mindset, I loaded up the car and headed to the Colorado Roots Music Camp south of Divide, CO (west of Colorado Springs). I planned a leisurely scenic drive from San Diego, getting my kicks on Route 66 over to Needles. From there I would work my way up to Flagstaff and ultimately Monument Valley, then take in Bear’s Ears and Four Corners country on my way to Mesa Verde and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison via Durango and the Million Dollar Highway.
Outside of Monument Valley I dry camped under the stars about three and a half miles off the paved roads on some private property. I was putting my guitar back in its case after a few tunes when a scraggly dog meandered out of the desert and sat down and looked at me. It curled up next to my sleeping bag for the night.
The next morning it left as I packed up. I asked the landowner about the dog and was told that the end of the road was a dumping ground for unwanted dogs and they made their way to the campground because there was water there. But other than that, they were left to fend for themselves.
When I got back to the car the dog was sitting by the door, just looking at me. Alright, I thought, get in. After driving all day through southeast Utah, I finally found a shelter in Cortez, CO and left the dog there.
The Colorado Roots Music camp was great. I met some fantastic instructors and got out of my comfort zone by taking mandolin and swing guitar classes with Raul Reynoso, Sylvia Herold, Dave Firestine, and Gerald Jones. There was a lot of after class (even pre-class) jamming going on, starting at 6:30 in the morning.
I will tell you though, music camp at 9600 feet above sea level is strenuous, even if you are in good shape. The buildings are all built on the side of a mountain. Consequently you are either walking up or down the entire time, and those ups are serious business!
After a week of music camp, I picked up my wife in Denver and we headed back to SoCal. The general plan was to cruise through the Rockies with some sightseeing, then mountain bike in Moab and visit Arches, Canyonlands, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon on the way back.
I must say that Canyonlands National Park is absolutely stunning. If you haven’t put it on your “must see” list of national parks, then consider adding it. Arches is nearby and also a worthy visit.
I was disappointed at Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon for two very different reasons. In order to visit the cliff houses you need a ticket to a guided ranger tour. I arrived early in the afternoon and the next available tour was at four pm. As it takes forty-five minutes to an hour to drive from the Visitor Center to the sites it just wasn’t feasible since my plan was to reach Montrose for the evening. As it was, I only made it up to Ouray.
The North Rim of the Grand Canyon is much less congested than the South Rim and will be my preference for future visits. However, there was a large fire that had been burning on the South Rim for several days, and the resulting smoke filled the canyon and obstructed those famous views.
Somewhere along the way my wife asked me, “When am I going to meet Luna?”
“Who is Luna?” I responded.
“You know, the dog that found you in the desert.”
It doesn’t take Carnac the Magnificent to figure out how that was going to end.
CK
