Superorganism

Every so often I read an outwardly dense, technical, and mind-numbing tome that at first glance should remain on the shelf as a reference book for experts, but from the first page it holds me "with its glittering eye", and I remain as still as the wedding guest, lost in the beauty of the world it has awakened for me.

The first XXII pages of Hulten's "The Flora of Alaska" opened the trans-continental new world of Beringia, telling the story of how once the great Steppe country stretched from England across Siberia, over Beringia, down Canada and through Kansas. That explained how all the plants over several continents could be similar and how tiny refugia along the Yukon River could sprout sagebrush and flowers from my childhood in the Rockies. Soon, I was host to Russian and Alakan botanists who systematically scoured Yukon-Charley, Denali, and Bering Land Bridge National Parks in Alaska. I spent the next 25 years working on projects for the Beringia International Heritage Park, still a work in progress.

In the early 90's Holldobler and Wilson published "The Ants". The first three pages, "The Importance of Ants", mesmerized me; I couldn't put it down as I began to realize the complexity, extent, and importance of the ant world, a place I had probed as a child, but had mostly forgotten as an adult. Thankfully, Holldobler and Wilson had remained childlike in their enthusiasm for a life of work in the field. The detail of the drawings of each ant drew me into the ant hills as though I had shrunk to their size, (or vice versa!)

So when I saw the announcement of "Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies," by Holldobler and Wilson, again I rushed to buy the book, knowing in advance that I was going to be drawn into an undiscovered realm. It continues the research of the past 20 years on the Ants and is written more for the lay audience and filled with more of the facts that a reader like myself craves: a wider world of the social insects, including the bees, termites, and wasps. Rather than an anatomy lesson, it is the story of the social insects, their impact, relevance, and behavior. I was sucked into their world and am the richer for it.

REBECCA CASE VISITS OURAY

Each winter I travel to Ouray, CO, for the coldest, darkest Alaska months. Ouray is light and has tons of great ice for climbing at the ice park and in the backcountry; and the San Juan mountains have tons of great snow for backcountry skiing.

Rebecca Case flew down during the Christmas holidays, so we decided to make the most of it and see the Southwestern Colorado and eastern Utah landscape. Rebecca arrived Christmas day and had a long flight and drive, so we spent Friday recouperating. After a day in Ouray, we set out for Arches National Park Saturday, drove over and hiked into Delicate Arch. It was great! However there was a lot of ice on the 2-mile approach, and the temperature only reached 21 degrees.

We ate dinner at the Moab Brewery, a fun place, if a bit low on the food quality; after Alaska, Utah cuisine leaves a bit to be desired. The next day we drove down to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. As we drove the snow covered Route 221 into Indian Creek, we encountered a couple from California who had slid off the road and wrecked their car. We drove the wife back up the hill to cell phone coverage and called AAA for a tow. By the time we reached the park, the temperature was still only 21 degrees, but there was little snow on the ground, and we headed to Elephant Rock for a nice 5-mile hike into the Needles. Tons of fun, beautiful scenery, trails across slickrock and through joints in the red sandstone.

After a long trip, we spent the next day enjoyin Ouray, visiting every store, buying gifts, and checking out the Victorian homes on the east side. We drove up to Red Mountain Pass to see the big peaks, then cruised down the other side to Siverton and had a beer and pizza at the Brown Bear Cafe which sports a beautiful old bar, newly restored from a warehouse in Durango. The waitress was a local, and we enjoyed talking with her about life in the town.

Since we were in Ouray, Rebecca had to try ice climbing in the park. It was a blast! The ice was good, the sun was out, and there were a lot of climbers in the area. That afternoon we got a call from Jim McCarthy and Ellen Latham who wanted us to have dinner with them. We met in Ridgeway at Drakes where we had a wonderful time talking about every subject. We pretty well closed down the place.

We hadn't ever been to Telluride, and since it was a whole different world from what we regularly experience, we decided to go see it. It was a warm and sunny day as we strolled the streets, looked into every store, and enjoyed a Mexican lunch at a tiny cafe on the main drag. Since it was New Year's Eve, we were invited to dinner at Jim and Ellen at McCarthy's lovely home on Log Hill in Ridgeway. A fine dinner of salad, scallops, and excellent wine. When we got back to Ouray, the fireworks display was underway!

Thursday was New Years Day, and it was also Rebecca's flight out to Anchorage. On the way back, we stopped to visit with her great friend Christy, and her parents, Bud and Carol who live together in Beulah, CO, near Pueblo. Carol fixed a wonderful lunch; Rebecca had a great visit with Christy; and I talked woodworking with Bud who had been a shop teacher and had built the house, its beautiful kitchen woodwork, and was nearly finished with a fine new addition to the house. We drove to the airport, got Rebecca on the plane, and I made it back to Ouray before midnight.

Canyonlands Hike

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Indian Creek, Part Two

After a few days at the Creek, Jim Donini invited me to drive over to Ouray on Sunday, climb in the afternoon on the pool wall with him and Dan and some others, then have dinner together at the Bon Ton. It was a nice drive over the desert and through Old Lasalle, Paradox, Naturita, Norwood, and Ridgeway to Ouray. We climbed with Eric Weihenmayer, Chris Archer & Sarah Spaulding, Rob Raker and his wife, Annette Bunge. It was a really nice day on the rock, and I was glad I had made the trip. At dinner time I called Charlotte Fox who just happened to be driving over from Aspen and was just at the junction in Ridgeway. She drove her snowmachines to the house and joined us at the Bon where Dan treated us to a great meal.

The next day Jim headed to the Black Canyon with Dan, and I headed back to Indian Creek for another week of climbing. Once there the whole climbing world descended on Creek Pasture camping site. Charlotte was there, and I called Dr. Debbie Wheeler who drove her camper over and joined us. Jay Smith and Kitty Calhoun arrived. I had a nice campsite at the north end where everyone could camp. Kristin arrived and climbed with Charlotte. Many others, too numerous to name arrived, including Micah Salazar, Mark Soot & Kay Fisher, Tom Engelbach & Karla Shaw, Jordan Campbell, Kirra ?, and tons of others.

Christian Beckwith, the day after Alpinist Magazine folded, joined us and I ended up climbing with him and Jay Smith the next day. Here Jay Smith belays Christian:
Jim Nigro was camped next door and climbed with us the next day:

It was a great day of climbing!

Indian Creek, Part One

Every year I have made a point of traveling south from Alaska to the warmer climes of Indian Creek to climb the cracks with old friends. It's my favorite journey of the year. Jim Donini has always been the gracious host, guide, and guru, and living in nearby Ouray, is always up for a trip to the "Creek" at a moment's notice.


The standard campground for the gang is "Creek Pasture", and Donini had asked me to save a large campsite, since the whole tribe would be arriving for the weekend. I arrived without a climbing partner, so the next morning I decided to take a hike and made friends with Erin and Grant who were camped next door.

We searched near Sparks Wall for Anasazi ruins, but were skunked, having a great day nevertheless. Donini came in the evening with his friend Dan from Kentucky. Around the campfire, we made more friends. It's my favorite camping spot on earth.

By morning we had a posse ready to lay siege to the Cat Wall.

Jim, the master of Indian Creek, on "Unnamed".

After a few morning climbs on the Cat Wall, the sun started to cook, so we hiked back down across to the shade of Reservoir wall. Tom Engelbach, Karla Shaw, Mark Soot, and Kay Fisher had already wandered across.Donini found a hard crack and showed us all up with a tense ascent while I looked on with admiration. The evening brough even more friends. Next morning Jim and Dan were off to do some classic cracks; Tom, Mark, and Karla went to Lightning Bolt Crack on North Sixshooter; I headed to Supercrack Buttress with Kay Fisher. I had only been doing half climbs up to now, being the first time I'd climbed this year due to an accident on a fishing boat in June. But today, it was a fantastic time for me, climbing on "The Wave", and "Incredible Hand Crack".

Christmas cactus blooms

The Christmas Cactus bloomed this past few weeks and now has about a hundred blossoms, with buds ready to open at the end of every succulent segment, perhaps another hundred blossoms by the end of the month. It is the most beautiful blooming in the history of the plant.

Another view, but it is hard to do it justice with a photo; all of the blossoms are much richer and darker than this pale semblance. I don't know what I've done, probably benign neglect, rather than knowledgeable care, has done the trick.

VISIT TO MANCOS

After a week climbing at Indian Creek, I drove to Mancos, CO, to visit Fred and Sheri at the Alpacka Factory. Here's the Alpacka Factory on the right.

The Alpacka Factory sits on Sam Perry's ranch, a half of the giant shop in back of the homestead. Here Fred stands at the front door ready for work.

Sheri, owner, designer, and entrepreneur, at the sewing machine.

The new taping/sealing machine shows how professional the new factory is. Here the boat sections are bonded together.
Nick is cutting the silky silicone-coated nylon for the stuff sacks on the 16' cutting table.

A raft in the making: after the tubes are assembled, a floor is attached and spray skirt sealed to the top.
Grab loops are attached with the RF welder.

In the evening Fred took me to his beautiful new home nine miles to the north.
The house is beautiful, inside and out. Here is a beautiful table in the living room. Fred is a master cabinet maker and is building a shop in the back of the house.

As the sun set out his front porch, we enjoyed this great view of the lake in the foreground. It was a wonderful visit.