June 1998 Campfire Tales

by Larry Heck of

PASS PATROL

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Exploring the Delores Wedge

What! You never heard of the Delores Wedge! How can that be! Why shucks fire! I ain’t never heard of nobody who didn’t know about the Delores Wedge … ‘cept maybe a few people commonly referred to as the entire population of the world.

That’s because I made it up. Yup! That’s what I did. Sittin’ right here in my little ole chair in front of my Pentium 200 computer. I was trying to think of a name for this story when I … well I kinda dozed off. Now, don’t be too surprised. That stuff happens to a fella once he turns fifty. I can be sitting just about anywhere as long as I’m kicked back and relaxed, I just kinda do a shutdown.

Well, this time, I was holding a glass of Pepsi and after I dozed off that ice cold glass of liquid slipped out of my hand and … well, I won’t say where it went … but I guess you could say I went from shutdown to cold start in a heartbeat. That’s when I came up with the name Delores Wedge. Don’t know why. The name has absolutely nothing to do with anything else, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

We weren’t supposed to be there anyhow. We were supposed to be on Longwater Road that weekend. Now I’ve been rained out, froze out, and even kicked out of places before but that was the first time I had ever been burned out. You see, somebody set the forest on fire right about where Longwater Road is. The last thing anyone in Pass Patrol wanted to do was camp in the middle of a smoldering forest, so we decided to take off for Fruita, Colorado instead.

Our maps showed all kinds of neat places to go south of I-70 but when we got there, we found most of the roads were closed. First of all, the State of Colorado has fenced in some sort of Wildlife preserve that shuts down a dozen or so roads including an original Ute Indian trail. Then there’s Colorado National Monument that only has one paved road across miles and miles of beautiful county. Once we got past all that, we found most of the other roads blocked by locked gates across private land.

I won’t say it mattered much. The whole group was in a kick-back mode of operation and since this was all new country to us, we were having a great time. We found formations like the “Water Jugs” and “Steam Engine” (pictured at left). All the roads we found open were on the Street Atlas 5.0 CD so the Tripmate GPS displayed our exact position on my Laptop as we traveled.

The fun began at the small town of Glade Park. The main road through it is County Road DS. We began exploring side roads off it.

After a whole bunch of short trips with locked gates, we got onto BS Road. The map and the CD showed it as a through road so we became hopeful. It went back for miles but we came to another locked gate at a very scenic overlook for Seiber Canyon. This time it was a BLM gate with no explanation as to why it was closed. Just another BLM management plan I guess.

We backtracked to DS, then took another sideroad past Miracle Rock but it ended at a Rancher’s locked gate. We camped a short distance from the Miracle Rock Picnic Area.

The next day, we got back on DS, then turned on A2/10 Road. We followed it to a road with no name and followed that across country toward Tom Canyon Spring. That is the road past Steam Engine and Water Jugs. A narrow dirt road continued past Tom’s Canyon and King Canyon all the way to the Utah border. Once into Utah, we found nothing but locked gates.

We backtracked to County Road DS. At this point, we gave up on side roads and just stayed on County Road DS. It took us across the border into Utah. The road became less traveled and somewhat rough but never anything requiring four wheel drive. The scenery became very spectacular at that point with scenic views in every direction. We had the Manti LaSal mountains to the Southwest and massive gorges cut out on both sides of us from the Colorado River and the Delores River.

The two rivers form a wedge shaped section of land enclosing many square miles only accessible by County Road DS out of Colorado. Once the road crosses into Utah, it is unnamed on the CD and the map. The Utah Atlas calls it Triangle Road.

The road goes all the way to the Delores river’s edge and the map actually shows the road going across at that point but it was far too deep for us to try. Maybe in the fall.

If you would like to visit the Delores Wedge, go across Colorado National Monument to Glade Park and follow DS Road all the way to the River. The side roads are all dead ends but fun to explore.

School of Hard Knocks - Tent Camping

It gets cold up there! If you are not prepared for it, your whole weekend could be miserable. A few dollars invested in the right equipment combined with a little knowledge about how to use it and your experience will be one you will cherish all your life.

When selecting a tent, be sure it has a fly that shields the entire tent from rain. The top of the tent under the fly must be made of breathable material. That will keep moisture from forming on the inside of the tent.

For a family of four, it is better to have two small tents than one big one. First of all, it's easier to find a neat location to put small tents and secondly, they stay warmer inside. Buy a tent that is easy to set up. Fishing tent poles through channels in the tent is a lot of work. The tent must be free standing meaning it is not necessary to use stakes. It is difficult to drive stakes into solid rock. There are many great brands of tents to choose from. A good quality tent with full fly normally sells for about $100.

When selecting a sleeping bag, get one that is rated for at least zero degrees. I prefer a rating of -15. Keep in mind that the rating on the bag does not mean you will be comfortable at that temperature. It simply means you probably won’t die. My –15 bag is already getting a little chilly at +10. I have tested it but not on purpose. Colorado and Utah can get mighty cold all of a sudden if the wrong front catches you in the outback. A zero degree bag is comfortable to slightly below freezing.

The choice of mummy bag or square bag is one of preference. In my case, I like to roll over many times during the night so a mummy bag is out of the question. Be sure the bag is extra long. The bag I use is large enough that I can completely disappear into it. Your best bag warmer is your own breath and that just won’t work if you can’t get far enough into the bag to cover your head. When you do cover your head, be sure you have a large enough opening at the top for fresh air.

Set the tent over a tarp. Canvas is best and is normally available at Army Surplus stores. One of the most common errors rookies make is in the use of the tarp. Be sure no part of the tarp is sticking out at the sides of the tent. If it is sticking out, water will roll off the sides of the tent onto the tarp and will be funneled right into the tent.

I like a soft ride, so I use an air mattress. If it is really cold out, I place a thermal pad on top of the mattress with the sleeping bag on top of it. With this combination, I have slept through snow storms and did not even know it was cold until morning when I peeked out of the tent.

During cold weather camping, place the tent in an area where the sun will hit it as soon as it rises. A good tent responds to sunlight with the same effect as turning on a heater. The sun also dries the outside of the tent which is almost always wet after a cold night.

The above combination will prepare you for the coldest summer night in the mountains. The warmer the night is, the less you can get by with. Happy Trails!

Shavano

There are numerous stories based on the Angel of snow that appears every spring on the side of Mount Shavano. According to one of those legends, an Indian Maiden offered herself as sacrifice to the great spirit in return for an end to the drought that was killing her people. He transformed her so she could return each spring to make the valley fertile with the water from her melting snow.

The Angel is easily picked out from many vantage points in the surrounding Salida area. This photo was taken from the Walmart parking lot during the first week of June.

Expedition

We gave it a good work out beginning with the Delores Wedge on page two, then headed off into the National Forest. The Expedition does a good job of absorbing the bumps and pot holes. It’s suspension provides good wheel travel keeping all four tires firmly planted. This is a big truck and may not be the first choice to take on narrow ledge roads, but there is plenty of room inside for a family of four to take a weekend camping trip along major National Forest Roads.

On the highway, the Expedition has good road handling capabilities providing a comfortable ride. It has plenty of power to spare for mountain highways.

Butch Cassidy

Before arriving in Telluride, Colorado, Butch Cassidy (Robert Leroy Parker) had done nothing more serious than steal a few horses. He managed to stay out of trouble in Telluride for about five years. Then on June 24, 1889, he stepped over the line of no return when he assisted Matt Warner and Tom McCarty in the Telluride bank robbery. They grabbed $21,000 and were out of town before the bank tellers were able to cry for help.

The original bank building burned a few years later and was replaced by this one.

Ames

Thomas Edison believed the best power to use was DC. He had already proven its worth and all the mines in the San Juans were operated on DC. The problem was that DC could not be transmitted long distances and it was very expensive.

Westinghouse believed AC power would work but that was one of those unproven ideas that looked good on paper. Then a fellow from Ames, Colorado by the name of Nunn, came along. He and Westinghouse came up with the plan to test AC by building the first AC power generating plant in the world. That plant is still in operation today.

After going over Ophir Pass from Silverton, you pass through the town of Ophir and come to the highway. Instead of turning on the highway, go across it and follow the dirt road to the first major dirt road going to the left. You can see the power plant from that intersection at the bottom of the valley. Tours are not available but it is possible to see inside through huge windows.

Nunn was quite a fellow. According to rumor he had the first indoor bathtub in the area and turned a good profit from local miners using it. Especially in the winter.

School of Hard Knocks
Survival 101

Selecting the food supply and keeping it from spoiling on a long trip is of major importance. Especially if you do not intend to be anywhere to get more supplies along the way. We have a simple technique that works great.

The first step is to get a good quality cooler. Be sure the lid seals tightly when closed. The cooler should be tall enough that a two-liter soft drink bottle will stand straight up. It must be roomy inside to hold everything mentioned on this page.

Don’t put anything in the cooler that won’t spoil or does not need to be cold. Leave that space for ice and food that spoil. For example, you may have several bottles of your favorite drink but you only drink one at a time so only put one bottle in at a time. Meat items should be put into sealable bags. The bags should be placed into a sealable container. The container I use is large enough to stand up in the center of the cooler and holds all my sealable bags for a seven day supply. For a family of four, you will probably need more than one cooler for a week-long trip.

Get the two liter bottles used for soft drinks. Fill them with water and freeze them solid. The size of the cooler and the length of the trip will determine how many you need. Place them in the outside corners of the cooler. Put the food container in the center. Pack the rest of the cooler with chunk/cube ice. Avoid crushed ice because it melts quicker. Put the ice chest inside the vehicle and cover it with a blanket or sleeping bag. Using this method, I have still had crushed ice at the end of a week and the bottle ice will often last even longer. As the bottles thaw, they become your drinking water.

The choice of foods for the trip should be based on what you like to eat. Some of our members prepare food ahead of time, put it in self sealing plastic bags, and freeze it. For example, they can prepare a beef stew dinner by simply placing the bag in boiling water for a few minutes. I prefer easy to cook items such as steaks, pork chops, bacon, eggs and lunch meats.

Always carry a good supply of canned goods such as ready to eat soups and stews. I normally plan for a can of soup every evening to reduce the amount of spoilable food to carry. Keep plenty of canned goods around as emergency rations. I carry enough emergency rations to last a week longer than I plan to stay.

Be sure you have plenty of batteries for the flash lights and don't forget the matches. Fire starter can be handy if you are expecting damp weather. Be sure you have plenty of water, especially in the desert. A first aid kit should be handy and every vehicle should have a tow strap.

Carry at least one hydraulic jack. Bumper jacks raise the vehicle too high so you need one that will go under the axle. In one quick summary, "Be prepared."

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