A young gentleman asked, "If I subscribe to the Chama Journal am I assured a place in heaven?"
This is a question beyond my ability to answer as I don't have a direct
line to the allmighty. Then again, reading it may earn you a favorable
glance from the almighty because I have the ability to commune with a
holy man every Sunday morning. This guy has to be a real shaman because
he certainly has chicken bones in a bag and all those doll things with
pins and stuff somewhere under all the books in what is laughingly
called "his office", then again maybe it is a KFC dinner buried in
there.
In any event you don't have to subscribe, it is a free
read to use, or trash, as you wish and in the least it certainly would
make good virtual toilet paper.
From Dr. Strangelove to Canada and beyond, the journey's and memories of my life with G.
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
A sunset drive and perpetual mysteries.....
You didn't really think it would be other than a railroad? |
It was particularly weird day with a fair amount of upset
over a botched mechanical job on Nate’s truck and the unseemly reaction of the
mechanic when asked to make it right. A bit
of conversation at home and some calm consideration was called for. It didn’t rectify the actions of the mechanic
but it did bring peace to Nate. With
that Nate, went on to a meeting while G and I decided to drive to Kampsville
for an iced cream.
The trip is around 12 miles from our home on Blue Ridge to
Kampsville with Michael about half way.
The drive is on a good two-lane highway and we set the cruise control at
55 mph to have a leisurely drive. It
took about 20 minutes due to the slow speeds down Rocky Hill and through
town. The iced cream was good and I got
a headache and chocolate dribbles all over my trousers. Just like a little kid.
On the way back I realized the distance between our home and
Kampsville is about the length of a section on the Cumbres and Toltec.
In the late 19th century the Denver and Rio
Grande divided a given section of track,
such as the journey from Antonito to Chama, into sections for
maintenance purposes. Each Section house
was responsible for the repair and maintenance of a four to five mile
section. This was the distance a track
crew could walk or travel by hand car to properly repair track work. Using this formula the 13 mile distance
between Chama and Cumbres was two full sections consisting of:
Chama to Cresco 7 miles – Cresco to Cumbres 6 miles.
The Cresco Section House was responsible for only six miles
of track because of the heavy 4% grade.
The bottom 4 miles were one-half of the Chama Section with
the remaining 4 miles running west on the now removed railbed to Dulce, New
Mexico.
The Cumbres Section House was responsible for three miles of
track down the helper grade toward Cresco on the west and four miles down the
tanglefoot curves toward Los Pinos Section house on the east.
And so on to the east through Los Pinos, Osier, Toltec,
Sublette, Big Horn and on into Antonito.
In 1938 essentially every other section house was removed as
the track maintenance work was mechanized.
There are now only four Section Houses still remaining all of which are
National Historic Sites and the 64 miles of railroad now neatly divide westbound
out of Antonito into 5 relatively even sections:
Top of Whiplash Curve |
15 Miles - Antonito to Whiplash Curves (Former site of Big
Horn Section House), a Telegraphone Booth remains at the location of the
Section house which was removed in 1968
11 Miles – Whiplash Curve (Former site of Big Horn Section
House) to Sublette Section House (A National
Historic Site)
Westbound #4 at Sublette, NM |
12 Miles – Sublette Section House to Osier Section House
(The second National Historic Site). There are many other structures and an explosives bunker not included in this picture Notice the color, that is another story.
Osier, Colorado |
Cumbres Section House being Restored |
Chama Depot |
Well then, you didn’t know we have a railroad between Hardin and Kampsville.
However, consider this have you noticed the relatively even
spacing of existing and former towns in the County? Were you also aware that the typical survey township
is 6 miles square with 36 sections one of which was as a “School Section”? Makes you wonder exactly why these township dimensions
were originally decided upon way back in the 19th century and the
answer to that is lost in the mists of time. I don't have a clue and it is not another story I will ever
research.
Some things are simply
meant to be a mystery such as why artists think black is a color and, did the big bang make a noise and why lint collects in ones navel.
Outhouses - the necessary "Facility"....
Recently I wrote a post about Siloan Springs State Park in
which I described the forests and campgrounds.
I had the opportunity to chat about this place with an avid camper and
she mentioned seeing the place but not wanting to camp there because the camping
sites were confined among the trees and the facilities were outhouses. “Too primitive” was the final assessment,
mostly based on the facilities and not the camp sites.
Over the years we have backpacked the high Rockies and then
camped in remote campgrounds in both National Parks and National Forests. Early on you learn to use the outhouse
facilities which sometimes were not very well maintained or just plain filled
to the brim. This was not unexpected
because in my youth our family had a small farm in the rough hills of western
Pennsylvania. Still, personal facilities on the farm were
crude in comparison to the relative palaces of the National Parks and
Forests.
Stories involving the outhouse are near legend in many families still having the memory of them from youth or through family stories. Families often swap tales of practical jokes that revolved around the outdoor facility. The best trick was placing a sheet of tin
under the seat in the outhouse on a cold winter’s evening. Then you waited until Aunt Bessie went out in
the dark for her evening toilet before retiring. The shriek when she sat down could be heard
in the next county.
We heard stories of two story outhouses but thought them a
joke until we found that they really did exist.
In very snowy areas the served a definite purpose as the snow piles up
six, seven or more feet. Hopefully
everyone had good aim because it must have been a real mess cleaning out the
lower level when the snow melted. Some
replicas have been built which invariably label the upper facility “lawyers” or
“politicians” and the lower “clients” or “tax payers” which shows the amount of
respect we have for the “lofty” view in which these so called professionals
hold themselves.
The first time on the Cumbres and Toltec for the first time
we rode in the relative “luxury” of the Parlor Car. It was filled with very pleasant old farts,
like us, and we had a lot of conversational chatter but little interpretation
of what we were seeing. Noticing neatly
painted small buildings along the track we naturally assumed they were placed
there for the convenience of someone, but who?
The Parlor Car had a rather opulent facility and the other passenger
cars were also all equipped with facilities, though less pretentious than the
Parlor Car. The train crews all had
facilities available in the passenger cars or caboose if freights. So who was using outhouses in excellent
repair that seemed to regularly recur every four or five miles?
In the very early years of the Denver and Rio Grande San
Juan Extension communication with the Division headquarters in Alamosa was by
telegraph. Telegraph was a single wire
through which a direct current was generated from a centrally located dynamo to
a common ground at the far end. A signal
could be sent through this wire by sending a pulse through the line from a key
located at various places along the wire.
The other stations would receive the pulse from the sender in the form
of a series of coded clicks called Morse Code.
Telegraph stations were strategically Though we do not have any pictures of the
buildings and they are now long gone, the one at Toltec Tunnel, also called Tunnel
#2 and Rock Tunnel, was typical. In the
illustration from 1884 steps to the telegraph station can be seen on the left
side.
located along the track.Telegraphone Booth - Toltec Section House |
By the 1990’s, shortly after construction of the Extension,
telephones came into general use. Telephones,
unlike the single line of telegraph, require two lines one for power and the second
a common, or ground. Power for the line is again supplied at a
central point and is grounded at the same central point. With a large investment in telegraph
equipment but lacking the superior communication qualities of telephone, the
Denver and Rio Grande employed a less than perfect alternative by using a voice
communication system using the single telegraph wire with a ground, in the form
of a long copper rod driven into the soil, at the location of the speaking
device. This Telegraph Phone had a
limited range of about 4 miles due to the poor quality of the grounding. Thus, every four or five miles a facility had
to be constructed to house, and protect, the telegraph phone and the grounding
rod.
So there you have it, the little outhouses were a facility
but not for personal business but rather for railroad business. To this day they remain in excellent repair
due to the efforts of the Cumbres and Toltec Volunteers. Each and every one is also a National
Historic Landmark.
Monday, May 23, 2016
A new orifice... NO, This is not a naughty thing.
Anyone for a new orifice? |
I called the RV dealer and they drew a complete blank, said we should contact the appliance dealers.
Let's see, furnace, water heater, stove, oven and fridge. Lots of phone calling so I took to the Internet and yup there can be problems from over 3,000' up. Does that impact us? Well Lamar is over 4,000' and Chama is near 8,000' so maybe there is a problem- hmmm.
Went back to the Internet and all sorts of problems were mentioned but few specifically related to "orifices" which are the tiny holes which the vaporized gas flows through.
So here's the solution. Orifices would have to be changed every time we move the cabin from low to high altitude and back. The thin air at high altitude normally takes a larger orifice - (?) Changing them requires a specialist and takes time so that isn't going to happen.
Sub zero cold is a problem at high altitude because the propane freezes if you are below -10F. THAT ISN'T EVER GOING TO HAPPEN!
They will work as-is but put out a little carbon. Not bad but is does soil the pretty exterior of the Cabin.
The water heater and Fridge run on propane or electric. Electric is supplied in the site rental - problem solved for these two appliances.
The furnace needs propane. Our mattress is heated by electricity - yes, it's true the mattress on the murphy bed is heated. So much for the furnace.
The range and oven need propane. High Country is less than two miles away and the Box Car restaurant less than a quarter mile away. Expensive and fattening but the problem is partly solved.
Sandwiches and salads for supper and bagels with crème cheese for breakfast - so much for the range and oven.
Wasn't that easy? We don't need additional orifices.
Sunday, May 22, 2016
“Hoodoos”, the thing that time does so well…
But first a little prehistory:
Formations in La Garita Caldera |
A few years ago, about 28 million or so, a volcano
erupted in what is now south central Colorado.
By the time it had erupted at least 7 times over a 1.5 million year
interval a total of about 1,200 cubic miles of volcanic debris, enough to fill
lake Michigan, was piled several hundred meters deep over an 11,000 square mile
area and the ash fall covered a significantly larger area. Then it went dormant.
To put it in perspective it was 100 million times as
powerful as Mt. St. Helens. This was the
La Garita Caldera Super Volcano the 6th most powerful volcanic
eruption in geologic history. This single
ancient caldera exceeded, in total, the eruptions of the Yellowstone caldera and
La Garita was only one of multiple volcanoes within the San Juan volcanic field. Within that debris field is the area in
which the Denver and Rio Grande San Juan Extension is situated. It should be remembered this ancient volcanic
event occurred over 20 million years before the more recent events at
Yellowstone commenced. The last volcanic
event in the San Juan Volcanic Field was the relatively minor eruption of Los
Mogotes volcano lasting 3,000 years or so and that was more than 4 million years
before Yellowstone.
Rio Grande Rife Near Taos, NM |
After La Garita nature began the process of eroding the slowly
uplifting landscape to that seen today in northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado.
The uplifting of the Rockies was
through the process of plate tectonics which in which a series of smaller
plates slid under the North American Plate – subduction. As the surface rose the crust stretched and
in one spectacular instance split and spread creating a rift varying in width
from the San Luis Valley of Colorado on the north to a narrow cleft running as
far south as Mexico. The rift carries
the name of the major river that drains a large portion of southern Colorado, New
Mexico and Texas, the Rio Grande River.
When riding the Cumbres and Toltec one crosses the rift which is far
below the surface of the San Luis Valley.
But, that’s not our story today.
Pantheon |
Before we start, please keep in mind the greatest
contribution to construction invented and passed on by the Romans. It was a mixture of volcanic ash, pumice and
small sharp stone mixed carefully with water in a big bucket, thence poured
into a form to eventually harden. One of
the most amazing structures constructed by this method is the un-reinforced Pantheon
in Rome, which is still standing after nearly two thousand years. You know it as concrete.
Phantom Curve on the C&TSR |
Phantom Curve on the Cumbres and Toltec (Mile Post 312.30 –
by the way all mileage on the Cumbres and Toltec is calculated from Denver but,
that too is another story – earned its name from the ghostly shifting shadows
cast from the locomotive headlights of trains as they traversed the Curve at
night. The gnarled spires are eroded
layers of volcanic rock protected by
hard cap of breccia (“Bresh’-ah”). Breccia
is a hard congregate (“cement like structure") consisting of volcanic ash,
pumice and small sharp stones – sound familiar?
As the ground erodes small fissures opened through which hot water
flowed across and into the ground forming, in places, a breccia or tuff layer –
“tuff” is the same basic mixture as breccia but the stones are smaller and less
angular. Then millions of years of
water, wind and freezing eroded the material surrounding these areas where
breccia or tuff caps shed water away from the underlying geologic structure. A really glorious version of this geological activity is evident to those living in the west routinely see flat
topped plateaus, and mesa's, with flat tops and sloping sides to a lower plane. These are structures with breccia or tuff cap around which with the surrounding land eroded away. Those living in the Midwest, as we do, do not
see such structures because our geological history does not generally include the geological activity associated with such structures.
Bryce Canyon - Hoodoos on steroids |
Where the water erodes a place where a spire results, such as
Bryce Canyon National Monument, you can see vast areas of these eroded spires
looking vaguely like a creepy people which are called Hoodoo’s. In Toltec Canyon there
only a few hoodoos which are a reminder of a violent geological events in a far distant time.
So why are they called “Hoodoo’s”? Good question and this, which is loosely paraphrased, is probably as good an
answer as anything else:
In the a range of mountains in Arizona there are ridges of pinnacles with caps of tuff which local Apache peoples call Hoodoos. It seems they liken them to human figures which formed when the creator loosed a great flood. This corresponds to the universal flood story that is evident in nearly every human society, including Christianity. This legend was based on the idea that the creator favored the Apache people above all and as such provided protection for them. Some greedy people took advantage of this gift by rushing for protection while leaving children, women and elders behind. In anger, so the legend goes, the creator turned all the evil doers into stone as they stood on the ridges. So according to this legend the hoodoos are petrified people who unjustly abandoned the weak in a time of trial.
Regarding both Bryce Canyon National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument, which also has a large display of hoodoos, Wikipedia adds this:
"The Paiute in the area developed a mythology surrounding the hoodoos (pinnacles) in Bryce Canyon. They believed that hoodoos were the Legend People whom the trickster Coyote turned to stone. At least one older Paiute said his culture called the hoodoos Anka-ku-was-a-wits, which is Paiute for "red painted faces"."
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