Seniors Outdoors! Durango, Colorado seniorsoutdoors.org

SO! Highpoints Year 23, Issue 3 June 10, 2021

SO! Highpoints of Interest:

SO! Resumes Full Activities…. page 2

Jeff Brame displays the geology of the Coyote Buttes area…. page 3

Picnic Details...page 13 Getting to Know…. Lorie Hansen page 15 Van Vonnos page 17 Gail Davidson page 20 Margaret Mayer page 23 Poetry…. Kate Martin page 18 Margaret Mayer page 22 Vaccines….page 19 Chris’ Photo Tips— Flowers…. page 25 And Much More….

We’re Back !!!!

  SO!  is roaring back full  force! Ou ngs  ...Mee ngs ….Picnic …   All ac vi es are  limited to fully vac-cinated  members,  so  if  you  haven’t  pulled  the  trigger  yet….  get  your shot!  For loca ons see page 19.  

This may be our last SO! Highpoints for a while.  The newsle er was re-vived as a  way to keep SO! and its members connected during the Covid pandemic.   The club owes  its  sincere gra tude  to  those members who have contributed such interes ng and entertaining materials.   

With full SO! ac vi es resuming, the need for and interest in the news-le er naturally wanes.    If  there  is a demonstrated need and  interest  in the  future, with sufficient contribu on of materials,  the newsle er will con nue  on  that  basis.    Otherwise,  let’s  all  get  back  to  our  monthly mee ngs,  social  gatherings,  and most of  all… our  SO!  ou ngs.     Editor   

Seniors Outdoors! is an outing and social club providing orga-

nized year-round activities and related educational oppor-

tunities

SO Board Gail Davidson—President

Clark Lagow—Vice President Kevin Conroy—Secretary

Mary Moorehead—Treasurer Harding Cure—Outings

For contact information, and other administrative officers, see the SO! website.

Membership To Join Seniors Outdoors!

Contact Hugh Brown 970-403-3089

Or email: membership@seniorsoutdoors.org

Membership Forms are available on our Website.

SO! SubGroups

SO! Social Fred Greeley

Wednesday Wanderers Shelley Leader Easy Walkers Dell Manners

Monday Bike Rides John Martin

Thursday Bike Rides Rick Boebel

Downhill Skiers Bruce Rodman

For contact information, see SO! Subgroups under the Schedule tab of our website.

Newsletter Editor Harding Cure

outings@seniorsoutdoors.org

ORGANIZATION

DON’’T MISS IT!

ANNUAL SO! PICNIC - JULY 15 Chris Park

See Page 13 for Details

President’s Message… see page 20

SO! Resumes All Activities

Monthly Meetings & Programs:

Monthly Membership Meeting: August 10, 2021 - 5:30-7:00 PM. At the Durango Rec Center

Social time: 5:30 Program: 6:00

Program: "Restoring Beavers' Sacred Role Within the Web of Life" For details, see note at page 21

Outings Committee:

The June outings schedule is posted on the website. The schedule for July and August will be published late this month. In September, the usual quarterly schedules will re-sume. The current Covid rules for SO! outings are: Vaccinated SO! members only Face masks are not required Carpools are encouraged. Those who choose to wear face masks or social distance will be respected. SO! Needs Outing Leaders! See page 16

Board & Committee Meetings:

SO! Board Meeting: July 15, 2021— 5:00 PM At the home of Clark Lagow

Members are welcome to attend all Board Meetings

SO! Outings Committee Meeting: June 17, 2021—5:00 PM At the home of Harding Cure

Members are welcome to attend all Committee Meetings

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Landscape Scenery and Geology Along The Coyote Buttes (The Wave) Trails

Jeff Brame 

A longtime dream of mine was fulfilled on April 26, 2021 when my wife Diane and I along with our good

friends Lorie Hansen and Ron Liljidahl were able to spend an entire day hiking around The Wave area, a world

renowned, breathtaking outcrop of the Navajo Sandstone. The Wave is a part of the larger Coyote Buttes North

area managed by the BLM. Visitation to this area is limited through a permit system to preserve wilderness char-

acter and limit damage to this fragile area. I was lucky enough to secure the highly pursued and coveted permit

for four people though the lottery and we set out for one of the great adventures of our lives. Our good fortune

continued as Ron obtained an in-person permit for us to visit the adjacent Coyote Buttes South area on April 25

which guaranteed us two full days of cavorting around some of the world’s finest landscape scenery. Following

is a brief description of our Coyote Buttes adventures with area location details, photos, and, of course, a bit of

geology narrative.

General Information about Coyote Buttes North and South

The Coyote Buttes North and Coyote Buttes South areas are a small part of the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs

Wilderness and exhibit some of the most visually striking rock formation outcrops in the world. Located mostly

in northern Arizona with a small portion in southern Utah, Coyote Buttes is bordered to the south and east by

Vermillion Cliffs National Monument and to the north by Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Vehi-

cle access to both Coyote Buttes areas is from House Rock Valley Road, a lightly maintained unpaved road,

which runs between Hwy 89 in Utah and Hwy 89A in Arizona.

Coyote Buttes North (The Wave) and Coyote Buttes South area location map.

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Overnight accommodations while visiting Coyote Buttes are most convenient in Kanab, Utah or at a small

BLM campground near The Wave trailhead. Coyote Buttes North containing The Wave area is accessed from

the Wire Pass parking lot and Buckskin Gulch/The Wave trailhead along House Rock Valley Road 8.5 miles

south of Hwy 89 and 47 miles east of Kanab. We hiked in the Cottonwood Cove area of Coyote Buttes South

which is best accessed by BLM road 1017 that turns east off House Rock Valley Road about 9.5 miles north

of Hwy 89A.

Road access and trailhead locations in Coyote Buttes North (The Wave) and South areas

Coyote Buttes areas are limited to day use only and do not contain any developed trails or facilities. It is wil-

derness area, so hiking anywhere is permitted. Dogs are allowed but must be listed on your permit application

and must be under control during your visit.

Coyote Buttes geology

The Coyote Buttes area lies on the northeast flank of the eroded Kaibab Uplift, a large geological uplift

through which the Grand Canyon has been incised to the southwest. Coyotes Buttes area exhibits an exten-

sive outcropping and exposure of Jurassic age Navajo Sandstone which was formed in one of the largest sand

dune systems known in earth history around 160 million years ago. This type of sedimentary rock has very

distinctive internal layering which is often not arranged in more normal parallel fashion due to the nature of

wind-blown dune sand deposition. The unusual style of sandstone layering (or bedding) orientation is called

cross bedding in which individual sandstone layer sets are arranged at sharp angles to adjacent layer sets.

Sandstone cross bedding of this scale is only formed in wind-blown sand dune environments as the dunes mi-

grate across the sandy desert. The spectacular coloration of the Navajo Sandstone in Coyote Buttes area is

caused by various iron oxide pigments deposited within the sandstone layers by groundwater prior to the

sandstone being exposed at the surface.

The Wave consists of intersecting U-shaped troughs eroded into the uplifted colorful Navajo Sandstone, first

by water processes and currently by wind processes. The troughs are eroded along fractures in the sandstone

caused by the geologic uplift.

Coyote Buttes North and South permit system

I mentioned that visitation to both Coyote Buttes areas is limited by a permit system and here is how it works.

For each day at Coyote Buttes North (The Wave), 48 people are awarded permits through an online lottery

system, in which you apply at Recreation.gov any time during a month for four months in advance. You can

apply for any of three days for as many as six people in your group and winners are notified of their awarded

day on the first of each month. In addition, 16 other people are awarded permits each day through a next day

walk-in lottery held in Kanab, Utah. That makes a total of 64 persons given permits for each day which was

recently increased from the long standing 20 people per day. Still, it is a tough prize to win.

The permit system for Coyote Buttes South is a bit different in that visitation is limited to only 20 people per

day. Half of these permits are awarded online as described above and the other half are available as walk-in

permits in Kanab the day before you want to hike. These permits are considerably easier to obtain than those

for The Wave area because the Coyote Buttes South scenery is perceived to be less spectacular and because

trailhead access is much more difficult.

Day 1: Coyote Buttes South

Ron and I had researched Coyote Buttes South area after I won the Coyote Buttes North (The Wave) permit

to determine if a visit to the South area was warranted during our trip. The scenery in the South appeared to

be very desirable for exploration even if it was not quite as striking or unique as the scenery in the northern

Wave area, so we decided to go for it. Ron won the walk-in permit for the day before our Wave hike, and we

set out to explore the southern sibling to The Wave area on April 25. Coyote Buttes South has two

“trailheads”, Cottonwood Cove and Paw, although there is no sign of developed trails anywhere in this sec-

tion (some GPS expertise is necessary here). We made the long arduous drive to Cottonwood Cove parking

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area along BLM roads 1017, 1066, 1081, and 1082 (see road access map above). The roads are quite sandy,

requiring 4-wheel drive vehicles with high clearance. With Ron as our designated GPS master and cool scen-

ery locator, we headed west from the parking lot and were soon astonished by the landscape. As seen in the

photo below, you are quickly greeted by several of the classic Navajo Sandstone buttes from which the Coy-

ote Buttes area derives its name.

The Coyote Buttes South area contains many of the classic Navajo Sandstone buttes.

As we walked further into the area guided by Ron’s particularly useful attention to GPS, we encountered larg-

er, more colorful sandstone buttes.

Diane and Lorie observing the large sandstone butte while Ron plans our next move.

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We continued hiking and crossed over the ridge to see westward across the Coyote Buttes South area and view

the western Utah high plateaus and Bryce Canyon National Park in the distance. We also encountered rem-

nants of eroded Navajo sandstone sculpted into odd shapes.

Looking west across the Coyote Buttes South area towards Bryce Canyon National Park in the distance.

Eroded sandstone spires with almost grotesque shapes.

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We completed our Coyote Buttes South hike by late afternoon after exploring a small portion (5-6 miles of

wandering) of this no-trail area and then Ron’s GPS acumen led us back to our vehicles. We drove back to

House Rock Valley Road via a shorter route along BLM roads 1079 and 1080. One stretch of these roads be-

tween Paw Hole TH and House Rock Valley Road is very sandy (see notation on road access map above) and

suitable only for going downhill to the west as we did while leaving the south area. All agreed that the extra

day at Coyote Buttes South was a great experience, and we recommend it even if you cannot get The Wave

permit.

Large, very colorful sandstone butte that displays spectacular dune sand cross bedding as described in the text.

Day 2: Coyote Buttes North (The Wave)

After an enjoyable night in Kanab, Utah, the four of us left early on April 26 to experience the big prize,

Coyote Buttes North, home of world famous The Wave. I had overcome great odds to win the North area

lottery and we were psyched to explore this revered area despite forecasted cloudy skies, possible rain, and

wind gusts of 50 mph. We drove down House Rock Valley Road from Hwy 89 to the Wire Pass parking

area and trailhead. The BLM volunteer checked our permit and we started our adventure. The first part of

the hike is on the Wire Pass/Buckskin Gulch trail until you veer right after nearly a mile and head toward

The Wave area along a mostly unmarked route. You are guided by rock formation landmarks described in

the BLM brochure until you see The Wave in the distance. This pre-Wave part of the hike has spectacular

eroded Navajo Sandstone scenery and should not be slighted in anticipation of The Wave.

Ron and Lorie standing before a large cross bedded Navajo Sandstone butte along the hike to The Wave area.

You hike by one breathtaking landscape feature after another until you reach The Wave itself. In silence and

with great reverence, you enter The Wave and suddenly gasp. You are surrounded by the finely layered, up-

lifted, eroded, colorful Navajo Sandstone outcrop that is unique to the entire Earth. It feels like being in a fun-

house at the carnival.

Lorie standing in the entrance to the wave. She looks excited to be here as were we all.

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As we moved about inside The Wave, we were pleased with the small amount of people there. It was fairly

easy to get photos with no other explorers in the background. The beauty is indescribable.

Diane and I enjoying the magical presence of The Wave in this classic view of the feature.

Diane standing in another part of The Wave

After exploring The Wave area proper, you can return to the parking area using your same entry route complet-

ing a 6.5 mile roundtrip hike or you can proceed south and west of The Wave and hike a loop back to your en-

try route. The loop option only adds another 1.5 miles to your hike and affords opportunities to see other ex-

traordinary North Coyote Buttes landscape features. We had researched this loop route and Ron had a keen eye

on his phone GPS, so we found a lunch spot, then left The Wave and proceeded along the loop route. This

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route involves a bit more scrambling in places, but we had little trouble moving along slowly. We hiked

through an eroded sandstone area known as The Second Wave and then to a reported, but not verified by us,

dinosaur boneyard (Lorie scrambled up the large rock hill to investigate). Finally, there are actual dinosaur

tracks proving that those big guys did live during the Jurassic Period.

Diane, Lorie and Ron enjoying our lunch spot overlooking The Wave. Note the attire as it was chilly and really windy with sand blowing in our faces. The weather did not prevent our

happy explorers from smiling.

View looking southwest across The Wave area with the high part of the Kaibab uplift (Grand Canyon area) in the distance.

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The Second Wave area along the loop hike southwest of The Wave area.

We fought substantial wind gusts and face blasting sand along the loop hike back to our original entry route,

but we would not be deterred and were still incredibly happy to be here. The clouds somehow enhanced the

beauty of the sandstone buttes as we hiked back to the parking area.

Striking examples of the namesake sandstone buttes with classic complex cross bedding unique to sandstones formed in wind-blown sand dune envi-ronments.

We completed our North Coyote Buttes exploration in late afternoon and drove to Page, AZ for overnight lodg-

ing before returning to Durango the following day. We all agreed that Coyote Buttes was one of the most

unique hiking and exploring experiences of our lives to be remembered and treasured forever. Spectacular land-

scape scenery, fascinating geology, and great friends. Jeff Brame

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Hello SO! Friends, Goodbye Pandemic—Save the Date

SO! Big Barbeque Bash July 13th, 5 pm- 8 pm

Chris Park, Haviland Lake

It’s time for an SO! Reunion and an opportunity to celebrate a new year of hiking and outdoor ad-venture programs. On July 13th from 5 pm – 8 pm, SO! is sponsoring a Big Barbeque Bash (BBB) to take place @ the Chris Park Camp #3 Pavilion, near Haviland Lake. The BBB will be catered by Animas Concierge. No need to bring anything but individual plates, glasses, cutlery, place mats & beverage of your choice. The menu will include grilled burgers, brats and veggie burgers (with all the fixings), potato salad, baked beans, mixed green salad, veggie pasta salad, watermelon slices and sweet things. Since the entire affair is “on the house”, it is incumbent upon attendees to RSVP their individual choices of main entrée. Chris Park regulations limit the number of attendees to 150. Please RSVP only if you are certain that you will be able to go. Please do not show up if you have not RSVP’d. Your RSVPs and Menu Choices will be solicited later this month. More information will soon be forthcoming via email. Volunteers will be sought for set-up, clean-up, food drive collection and serving. The BBB is only open to SO! members who are fully vaccinated and dues-paid. Sorry, no dogs in the picnic area.

The Hospitality Committee looks forward to an evening of fun and frivolity.

The Chris Park Amenities The Chris Park venue offers SO! so many benefits. We will have four charcoal grills, plenty of ta-bles for food service and set-up, a beverage station, potable water sources, multiple outlets for elec-tric plug-ins, two very clean bathrooms and ample parking for more than 50 vehicles (but, please consider carpools). Plus, the lighting in the pavilion is conducive to a late evening experience.

Soliciting SO! Entertainers The Campsite also feature a horse shoe competition area, volleyball court and a bonfire amphithea-ter ready for some SO! musical talent. We are soliciting anyone who wants to do après dinner sing-ing with instrumental accompaniment (or not). The following entertainment will be highly consid-ered: solo or group vocals; keyboard, guitar, ukulele, banjo playing; karaoke machine performance (karaoke machine needs to be provided); juggling, kazoo playing, miming… you name it. Just notify Michele Mals or Jackie Frederick of your interest in performing and we will place you on the playbill.

Yes, You Can Stay the Night Finally, since we secured the entirety of Camp # 3 from 2 pm July 13th until 12 noon July 14th, SO! members are invited to take advantage of this campsite for overnight tent camping. It can accom-modate up to 150 people—there are many spots for tents. If you are interested in staying over-night, please let Michele Mals or Jackie Frederick know in advance. (Cont’d next page)

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RSVPs at the end of June

So— Please RSVP and provide menu choice in late June upon request by email (this is the only requirement for attendance, besides vaccination & current SO! membership) RSVP ASAP. Chris Park rules limit attendance to 150, so its first come first serve. RSVP for tent campsites Consider sharing your musical talent Remember that there will be a Food Drive for the Durango Food Bank Volunteer to help with set-up, serving, clean-up Our best,

Michele Mals michelemariemals@gmail.com

Jackie Frederick jackiefrederick@me.com SO! Hospitality Co-Chairs

Membership Renewals—Hugh Brown

We added 27 new and renewed members in May, giving us a cur-rent total membership at the end of fiscal 2021 of 429, of which 136 were also SOS members. Renewal forms for the 2021-22 year have been sent out. SO! activities are currently limited to vaccinated members only, and SO! outings require current liabil-ity waivers, so send in your forms and fees ASAP so you can join the fun. Those members who paid last year are not required to

pay this year, but the liability waivers must be signed and returned. Renewal documents may be requested from Hugh at member-ship@seniorsoutdoors.org or can be found on the SO! website at the “About” tab then the “Join SO!” tab. Or go directly to here.

$$$$ - Discounts Seniors Outdoors! members receive a 10% discount on regularly-priced merchandise at the

following retailers: Backcountry Experience, Brown’s Shoe Fit, Brown’s Sport Shoe, Gardenswartz, Pine Needle Mountaineering, and Spaah Shop. Just tell the merchant you are

an SO! member

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         Getting to Know…...

Lorie Hansen 

I grew up on a farm right smack in the mid-dle of the Midwest in Iowa with nine siblings. I had never seen a mountain until I escaped to college in Greeley, Colorado. Then like many others, it was love at irst sight. However, it was in Iowa after meeting my husband that I actually started camping and hiking. Not the most exciting place. Our irst camping gear was all made from Frostline Kits and our own designs. Anyone remember those? A win-ter cross country ski backpacking trip in Yellow-stone in my 20’s cemented my desire to live in the west. It only took 40+ years to get here. I had two careers, irst as a clinical social worker then as a senior archaeology techni-cian, aka, a glori ied shovel bum. My husband attended medical school and two residencies, compliments of the United States Army. Upon his discharge we settled in a small town in west-ern North Carolina, in the Blue Ridge Mountains for the next twenty plus years. Careers and raising two kids consumed most of our time. Unfortunately, they didn’t turn out to be hikers or campers. So, when they left for college, we started backpacking again. As the lightweight movement was just getting started, once again we ended up designing and fabricating our own gear. After years spent vacationing in mountainous/canyon country we headed west to retire. We chose Durango in 2017 after a lengthy relocation search, complete with an excel spread-sheet. Seniors Outdoors! was a major factor in our choice. It allowed us to quickly make won-derful like-minded new friends. I now serve on the Programs Committee and as a Trip Leader on hikes. My weeklyworkschedule, seasonal dependent, consists of hiking, pickleball, swimming, paddle boarding, skiing, snowshoe-ing, camping and yoga, in other words a typically Durangoan re-tired lifestyle. Hiking is my number one passion, especially tak-ing the unmarked trail. In the verbiage of the late Paul Harvey,fortherestofthestory ask me about, my solo piloting light, having a client pull a gun on me, unknowingly going to a nudist kayak school, solo backpacking a thousand miles, sleeping in cemeter-ies and attending goat-packing school in WY. I love hearing life stories of others, so please feel free to share some of yours with me.

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Be A Leader !!!

Our Outings Leaders are the lifeblood of Seniors Outdoors! We currently have a list of just over sixty outing leaders, but only about thirty of those are cur-rently active in leading outings. Many of our past leaders have become less active in recent years, as might be expected with normal attrition from aging,

involvement in other activities, or burnout. That can be normal at-trition, but for the club to continue to thrive we must have replace-ments. Whether you are a member with many years in the club, or a spanking new face, or someone who has been enjoying our outings but just hasn’t taken the step to become a leader…..now is the time for you! SO! needs you! To be an SO! Outings Leader you do not have to be a trained wilderness guide or a graduate of Outwardbound, or even a former Boy or Girl Scout. You just need to enjoy the outdoors and our outings, and be capable of some very basic organization. The procedures for our leaders is spelled out in great detail in the procedure manual on our website. See https://seniorsoutdoors.org/leader-guidelines/ Don’t just complain about the lack of good outings… lead one! If you think you may be interested in becoming an SO! Outings Leader, please contact one of the members of our Outings Committee or any one of our leaders and they will be hap-py to answer any questions you may have. Don’t be shy…..Be a Leader !!! Outings Committee Harding Cure - hardingcure@gmail.com Chris Blackshear - chris.blackshear@gmail.com Steve Schnarch - salivedgo@gmail.com Judy Mack - tupelo16@gmail.com Chuck Rancatti - chuck.rancatti@gmail.com  

Volunteer Opportunities

Looking for a worthy outlet for that social isolation energy? Here are two of our worthy com-panion organizations for the outdoors inclined:

San Juan Mountain Association: Recently merged with Durango Nature Studies, SJMA offers multiple opportunities of various difficulty and ability. You might even get to work the Christmas Tree Lot with Will Rietveld. Check their website at https://sjma.org/

Durango Trails: Formerly Trails 2000, this group will give you a workout on our local trail systems. For current trail conditions, check their amazing website:

https://www.durangotrails.org/trail-conditions/

         Getting to Know…...

Nicolaas (Nick) & Louise van Vonno 

Nick and I met each other in South Florida. There is not a place in the coun-try that is as different from SW Colorado than South Florida but we traveled here early in our relationship and realized we were much more suited to the lifestyle here than in Miami.

When we met, Nick owned a 46’ motor cruiser sailboat called Toucan and his dream was to sail across the Atlantic and explore the planet for several years. He was getting ready to retire from United Airlines where he had been a captain for thirty years. Nick was born in the Nether-

lands and sailing was in his blood. I was ok with that plan except for the Atlantic crossing part. We started traveling immediately as I was a Commercial Real Estate Broker and eager to get away from my desk. It was not a well-suited career choice for me but it paid the rent and put two daughters through college. When Nick asked if I was ready to retire, it did not require much arm twisting.

One of our irst trips was to Arizona, where my parents live and we took a road trip from there through Sedona, St. George, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon. We had to skip Es-calante and Capital Reef as a deer totaled our rent-a-car outside Torrey, Utah so we had to cut our trip short with only two days in Moab. We rented mountain bikes throughout our adven-ture and decided to come back to visit in the winter and ski Telluride. We found we were a great match for each other and a great match for the area. We lew out in June, 2014 to attend the Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, where we had some friends who had moved from Miami. It was on that trip that we looked at each other and said why would we stay in Florida when we can move here? We had closed on our house by August and moved in October of 2015.

We immediately joined the Seniors Outdoors club and loved the people and the hikes we were introduced to. The irst hike we signed up for was Jura Knob with Chris Blackshear. He grilled us on our itness level and was skeptical that a couple of sea-level im-ports could keep up, but he agreed we could join his hike. It took a few days to recover but we were both hooked on hiking the beau-tiful San Juans. One of our highlights was summitting Engineer with Lynn Coburn!

Since then, we acquired a few Duckies and have loated down the San Juan River four times, and the Animas countless times. We really enjoy mountain biking here and in the sur-rounding areas. We have taken up cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, and of course downhill

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at Purgatory. We both have had to slow down on long high altitude hikes due to knee, hip, and other issues, but we are ready to start up again for 2021.

You will notice if you spend any amount of time out playing with us that we call each other “Vern”. Nick started calling me Vern early on and it was so annoying to me that I just started calling him Vern back. We are known to some as “The Verns” and when you take a couple of city folk and they buy a house with 3.5 acres and a tractor, the name Vern seems suitable. That makes us the Vern van Vonno’s. Marina, our nine year old Shepard mix from Florida, is “Vern Dog” therefore we call our humble abode the Triple V Ranch.

Thanks to Covid we have also taken on vegetable gardening . We are very grateful for our friends here and looking forward to reconnecting on the trails this summer.

“Lucky Enough”

"Ifyou'reluckyenoughtoliveinDurango,you'reluckyenough."

Chris Kristofferson, after visiting our fair city

WinterSolsticeSnowshoeHikewithSeniorsOutdoors byKateMartin

'Twas the irst day of winter, with fresh fallen snow

All the seniors were packed up and ready to go

Our leader, John Martin, as usual was there We all said "we'll follow you, just tell us where"

With the strongest out front, trail breakers we hail The rest of us followed on a irmly packed trail

The sunlight did sparkle on the snow like a diamond as up the steep trail all the seniors were climbin'

We are grateful and happy and all pretty tough And we know, 'cause we live here, we're lucky enough

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La Plata County Vaccine Providers   CDPHE Southwest Mobile COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics View the schedule: https://www.mobilevax.us/southwest AXIS Health System Make an appointment: https://axishealthsystem.simplybook.me/v2/ Or call: 970-828-2539 Or email: covidvax@axishealthsystem.org Rivergate Pharmacy (575 Rivergate Lane Suite 111, Durango CO) Hosting weekly Johnson and Johnson (Janssen) clinics on Wednesdays from 9 am – 3 pm Make an appointment: https://form.jotform.com/210736312913146 For questions call 970-375-7711 or email vaccine@rivergatepharmacy.com Mercy Regional Medical Center Sign up for a vaccine appointment from Centura using this form: https://

centura.secureformsubmit.net/FillOutForm.aspx?formname=COVID-19_Vaccine_Notification If you are unable to use Centura’s vaccine notification sign up form, please call 1-866-414-1562 Animas Surgical Hospital (575 Rivergate Ln, Durango) Make an appointment: https://www.animassurgical.com/services/covid-19-vaccine/ Or call: 970-403-1345 Upper Pine Fire Protection District (515 Sower Drive, Bayfield) This clinic is not scheduling appointments right now Please do not call the Fire Administration City Market Pharmacy Durango (North and South locations) Make an appointment: www.citymarket.com/covidvaccine Appointments can only be made when the vaccine is guaranteed to be available, so please continue

to check the link. Or call: 866-211-5320 Albertson’s Make an appointment: https://www.mhealthappointments.com/covidappt Appointments can only be made when the vaccine is guaranteed to be available so please continue

to check the link. Walmart Make an appointment: https://www.walmart.com/cp/1228302 Appointments can only be made when the vaccine is guaranteed to be available so please continue

to check the link

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Getting to Know…...

Gail Davidson

Gail Davidson here! Your outgoing SO! President as of July 13 when we welcome in our new SO! Board. It has been an amazing four and a half years as your President. (The half comes in when I acted as a Co-President with Chris Blackshear in 2017.)

I started with Senior Outdoors! around 2002, when I acquired a couple of llamas to backpack and trek with – just myself and a friend or so, not as an out-itter. The largest animal I ever had was a dog, so I had

no idea what to do with two untrained large animals.

My meeting with Dell Manners at an early SO! meeting got me started. She helped me train them to halter, trailer, take a pack sad-dle and panniers and so much more. We had so much fun over the next years on our adventures. I migrated through a number of llamas and i-nally retired from trekking about three years ago.

I moved from Boulder in 1993 for an exciting and never-done-before adventure. I helped start Heartwood Cohousing. A small group of us wanted to create a community where we could live lightly on the land, share resources and create higher levels of intimacy in our lives. We now have approximately 52 folks in our community living in 24 homes. The homes are clustered in a seven acre village-like environment, leaving the rest of the land for us to steward. We collectively own 260 acres of pinion, pine, pasture and meadow. We have a yurt, a growing dome, organic gardens, horses, pigs, llamas, chickens, a workshop and so much more. We share a 4,000 square foot community house with a large kitchen for our common meals, parties, hap-py hours, guest rooms, play room, etc.

We have built seven miles of trails on which we hike, run, horseback ride, cross country ski and snowshoe. We are in our twenty- irst year of living here and because of our huge suc-cess we are inviting another fourteen homes to join us. For the best overview and some great photos in About Us - Photo and Video Gallery, please visit our website HeartwoodCohousing.

Enough of me and my life. I want to thank my amazing board of directors and all the committed and active committee chairs. You have all been so much fun to work with and have helped make Seniors Outdoors one of the very best outdoor activity groups in the nation! I loved being your SO! President and look forward to spending many more happy and healthy years together.

Senior Outdoors was the irst and best thing that happened to me when I came to Du-rango. In the future, I will continue to love hiking, snowshoeing, and socializing with all of you!

Gail Davidson

Monthly Membership Meeting: August 10, 2021 - 5:30-7:00 PM.

At the Durango Rec Center Social time: 5:30 Program: 6:00

The SO! Program and Hospitality Committees have jointly planned the resumption of our in-person monthly meeting series with our next meeting being held at the Rec Center on Tuesday, August 10. We will conduct our usual meeting format, but starting one hour earlier than normal. Social time with bev-erages and hors d'oeuvres will occur from 5:30-6:00 with our meeting and speaker presentation running from 6:00-7:00. The talk titled "Restoring Beavers' Sacred Role Within the Web of Life" will be present-ed by Nicole Fox, local beaver enthusiast and founder of Give a Dam. Program summary: Before Europeans trapped beavers nearly to extinction, there were 60-400 million on the North American landscape. This translates to beaver families every quarter to half a mile along waterways. Their sacred function within the web of life as water guardians holds a key to restoring balance for our waterways. This is an educational presentation on this keystone species and the essential role they play in restoring water. Program Chairs: Hospitality Chairs: Jeff Brame Michelle Mals Lorie Hansen Jackie Frederick

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Ah Spring ByMargaretMayer

It's spring and every day a bird song or new lower gladdens the heart. Yesterday heard the irst hummingbird and immediately got my feeders out. Red-winged black birds, the males setting up territories in cattails, singing already in January. Walking the River trail in bushes can hear "Drink your tea" of the rufous sided towhee, as well as sparrows and inches or at my feeder at Tamarron rau-cous Stellar jays, juncos, nuthatches, chickadees and a group of evening grosbeaks now and then as well as a falcon trying to get a meal. At Havilland right now lavender tinged hairy pasque lowers are on the cliffs with delicate pink striped spring beauties and occasional lacey white candy-tuft, yellow cinquefoil and buttercups lattened to the ground to keep warmth and away from wind. Walking the streets of town or 202 irst yellow, purple, crocus were out several weeks ago and now later daffodils, jonquils, narcissus , pansies and white and pink blossoms of apple, peach, pear and cherry trees. Along 202 one sees all these new spring blooms, the green lawns together with hearing and the rushing water in ditches and the creek. Ah spring

The EXTRA Mile

Lotsa kudos this issue! With the big picnic coming up, kudos

to Michelle Mals, Jackie Frederick and others for all their efforts

in putting this complex affair together. Likewise to Jeff Brame and Lorie Han-

sen in scheduling our programs. For this newsletter issue, kudos to Jeff Brame,

Chris Blackshear, Gail Davidson, Margaret Mayer, Kate Martin, Gail Davidson,

Nick and Louise van Vonno, and Lorie Hansen for their excellent contributions.

And with our resumption of outings, the biggest kudos of all go to each of our

Outings Leaders who have volunteered to lead our outings.

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  I  was  born Margaret-Ann Mayer  in  Po sville  PA  and  raised  in Pennsylvania Dutch  (Deutsche-German) country. Back  then, everything was grown  in gardens the size of a house and then canned for winter, which set  the stage  for my many years of gardening. My  father would show me flowers and wildlife in the woods, and once when I was by my-self in the woods, I felt part of the forest and did not want to leave. In this farming area people were cruel and killed any wildlife that was not part of the farm.  At the tender age of eight, I decided I wanted to help others appreciate the beauty of nature and wildlife, which I have done my en re  life as a teacher, ranger naturalist, botanist, ar st, and envi-ronmental ac vist.  

  My  family  moved  to  Ge ysburg  Pennsylvania,  but  I  decided  I wanted to go west to the mountains so for college I went to the University of Colorado in Boulder, where I majored in art and geology.   Every weekend I spent with the Mountaineering Club, climbing mountains and camping.  

  A er my marriage, I lived in Rhode Island where I loved being near the ocean and living in a cabin in the woods.  I wanted to know about the plants around the cabin so I got a Masters in Botany at the Universi-ty of Rhode Island.  My love of plants has con nued throughout my life.  

  My next move was to Sea le, where I taught Biology at community colleges,  led Wildflower Safaris in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains and served as a naturalist to the Brooks Range of Alaska. Washington was a wonderland to explore, hiking with the Mountaineers.  

  Leaving the West,  I moved to Maine where I  lived on top of a mountain with no electricity for five years and taught ecology courses.  While in Maine, I was head naturalist for AMC (Appalachian Mt. Club) at The Highland Center, a lodge high in Crawford Notch in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.   I worked summers as a botanist and naturalist for the Na onal Park Service in the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic Na onal Park, Grand Teton, Acadia, Yosemite, and Cape Ha eras, and as a fire lookout in Lassen Park, where I would take off for days hiking off trail with no tent, just a li le cheese and bread.  In winter, I led snowshoe trips for Jackson Ski Touring.  I have also led field courses in Austria and New Zealand and in Landscape Ecology in Pa-gosa Springs, and helped raise awareness of ANWR with a film crew.                                                                      

  In 2006, I took a posi on at Dine College in Tsaile, Arizona, where I have taught various subjects in-cluding climate change, indigenous geology, botany, and environmental science and also started an animal rescue club for dogs and cats.   

  While hiking in our local mountains, I met the Seniors Outdoors group and began going on SO! hikes on weekends,  which eventually led me to obtain a studio in Tamarron where I am spending my re rement.  I have par cularly enjoyed five to ten day supported hikes on the Colorado trail with SO! and hope they con-nue.   I have also traveled with the Sierra Club to Croa a, Belize and Norway.        

  I am a passionate environmentalist and am very ac ve with environmental and wildlife issues, par c-ularly thru Defenders of Wildlife, The Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, Western Environmental Law , and others.  I o en write editorials in local papers.  I urge everyone to be more sensi ve and ac ve in environ-mental issues of the day.   

Scenery and geology along the Coyote Buttes (The Wave) trails

A longtime dream of mine was fulfilled on April 26, 2021 when my wife Diane and I along with our good

friends Lorie Hansen and Ron Liljidahl were able to spend an entire day hiking around The Wave area, a

         Getting to Know…...

Margaret Mayer 

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Colorado Parks and Wildlife has added a new pass, and new charge, to enter any of the 350 State Wildlife Areas in Colorado. SO! Outings do enter such are-as, and Bruce Rodman advises that he was recently lectured at the Barn Roof trailhead by a CPW ranger, indicating that the pass requirement will be enforced this year. Note, however, that a Colorado Hunting or Fishing license will suffice for this pass, and the fishing license is the same price as the pass for seniors. If you ever fish, you may want to just get a fishing license. More information and SWA FAQ about CPW’s state wildlife areas is available, control click here.

The closure of the Ice Lakes Trail and trail-head area, including the South Mineral Creek campground and road, the Clear Lake road, and other contiguous areas, has been extended to September 15, 2021. For more details see the Forest Service website: control click here For a map of the closed areas: control click here.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife News - Ice Lakes Trail Closure

Durango Weather Guy

Where the locals go, because the locals know!

https://durangoweatherguy.com/

Bruce Rodman advises that  Bear  Smart Duran‐go  has  organized  a  series  of  live  online  bear awareness  educa on    sessions  of  which  three are  remaining  to  be  held.  They  are  free  and 

many  SO!  members  would  be  interested  in  these  programs,  especially the June 16 “Staying Safe In Bear Country” session.  You must register in advance to a end.  For more informa on and to register, control click here.

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Chris’ Photo Tips

By Chris Blackshear

Photographing Flowers    A friend of mine used to teach pain ng classes.  He had me photograph the students’ work.  In the class comprised of elderly ladies, most painted flowers.  Not like Georgia O’keeffe, mind you.  It seemed boring, but you can’t dismiss the allure of flowers.    Flowers mainly provide a big splash of color to enliven pictures (and excite pollinators).  They can be the subject of the photo (e.g. the matrons’ art class work), a par al subject (e.g. landscape shot with flowers in foreground and mountain in back), suppor ng element (e.g. portrait of someone with flowers), or abstract blast of color.  It is common to use flowers as a foreground element to add interest to a photo.  

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  In general, low contrast situa ons bring out the colors of flowers. 

   So overcast days are be er than sunny ones.  One can also tamp down contrast by purposefully shading the flowers, using High Dynamic Range (so easy on phones these days), with a polarizing filter, with fill flash, or with a reflector.    Backligh ng will make the colors glow.  In most cases, having the flowers sharp is good.  Wind is not your friend.  Try to block it.               

      Flowers are small.  Get close.  And maybe get down to their level.  Unusual perspec ves can lead to interes ng re-sults.  Interes ng is good – boring is bad. 

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     Spritz some water on them.  Or take photos with dew or rain on them.  Capture the bugs that graze on flowers. 

.  

  Here the summer wildflowers enhance the beauty of nature.   

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             Have fun photographing them!  

                Chris Blackshear 

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Trail Reports, Personals, Letters to the Editor

Don Zirkelbach:  Pre y elaborate newsle er April Fools.   My 1st hint should have been the  me & date newsle er was issued.  Sucked me in… 

Charlie Berglund:  The Board did a fantas c job on resuming ac vi es.  Your approach is reasonable, ra onal, well explained, and I admire your courage is insis ng that everyone on an ou ng be vaccinated.  That was definitely the right call, and I hope that everyone plays by the rules. 

Bob Thompson (recently deceased):  I read a newsle er that deals with monopolies and came across this  dbit dealing with hiking and the outdoors.  I thought I'd share it with you.  You would be flabbergasted at just how many things are monopolized if you read his monthly material.  Eye opening stuff.  Ahhhhh big business.   

Control click:  https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/outside-media-rolls-up-hiking-affinity

Editor’s Request…If you want this newsle er to con nue, and you have an interes ng tale to tell, preferably of outdoor adventure, travel, or of an educa onal bent, or know someone else who might, please let us know.   Send any materials, le ers, or comments to the Editor at:    outings@seniorsoutdoors.org

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