Making the turn

Take a breath. Don’t turn on the heat yet. We’re not touching on the individual yellow leaves starting to be seen falling on the trails. They’ll proliferate soon enough…and at the right time they will be absolutely beautiful. Now is not the time. But we have started the turn.

Thank goodness Tuesday morning seems to have indicated the turn to wrap up a good two-week+ monsoon run. As much as we all appreciate the wonder of rainbows, more than a few people were on the water’s edge of mental stability. It wasn’t just the constant, sometime sudden rain but the rolling thunder and crazy lightning that pushed people’s sanity. There were windows of time to get out and about and getting out and about is a big reason many of us live here. It normally takes no effort to find some backcountry solace or hit a trail for a quick hike or ride. This monsoon period made it hard work. Come on, no one wants to work super hard at 9,000 feet.

But Labor Day weekend is here and that honors work and the labor movement. The old CB saying of work hard and play hard is still valid here but for too many, you have to work a lot harder to play at all. The cost of living here is higher than ever and the return isn’t as lucrative. Used to be you could work a couple jobs and figure out a way to own a roof over your head and enjoy the amenities of the place. That hasn’t actually ever been easy since even when things were cheap back in the day, the economy didn’t provide much bank. But these days it is ridiculous. Now it would take four or five good paying jobs to be able to own a free-market condo in the North Valley. In the old days, at least you knew you could leave work, go home to the drafty rental, grab a bite and be in the backcountry within a matter of minutes. Now there is a daily commute factor for many workers.

As pointed out in a letter in this week’s paper, even the Whetstone ‘affordable’ housing project includes rents that seem pretty darn high. The income needed to pay those rents seems pretty darn high too, but I can’t imagine this is still a place where a single ski bum can easily live and love the life making $15 an hour or $30K a year. 

The idea is that those Whetstone rents won’t go up much, and income will continue to rise so there is opportunity. There won’t be much equity gain in the deed-restricted units so people might feel frustrated 20 or 30 years hence when they would love to tap into their home appreciation to pay for the kid’s college or a beach retirement but can’t. But people will make the sacrifice to live in this beautiful valley and the community as a whole is doing a good thing to provide people a chance to live near where they work. That’s important. Maybe everyone signing up for a Whetstone unit should take a one-hour class on how to save money and build wealth without depending on their dwelling unit in a mountain paradise.

And we do live in a mountain paradise. Another letter in the paper this week extols the virtues of CB as it came across to him on a first-time visit. That is a good reset after the chaos of summer. The end of summer tourist season can be a time of frustration as over-the-top busyness, bad weather and fast changes in the valley can push our individual limits. You might start questioning the things unique to a small town — the public aspect of relationships, small town government impacts, the higher taxes that come with a resort, more expensive food and gas, the small-town politics, and the fact it is harder to get anything else compared to most other Americans. It can be frustrating. 

Heck, I experienced local frustration simply trying to get a dang parking space near Elk Avenue on a rainy Sunday evening when spaces that were there not too long ago have been eliminated. I’ve been a critic of the town policy to eliminate parking spots in the effort to deter vehicles in town. The upcoming discussion of taking away public spots near Mountain Express bus stops this winter (primarily in business districts or vacant residential areas) doesn’t make sense to me. It used to be we’d make decisions on how to make things better for the general community instead of harder, and then those visitors and second homeowners of like mind would embrace our direction. Now it seems the goal is to make things harder for people not living in the town proper.

The fact that we as a community (we’re all responsible) haven’t exactly kept up over the years with the infrastructure needs of not just more visitors in the valley but significantly more people living here full or most of the time doesn’t help. While it seems to me some in town are attempting to address the new reality part of the equation (kudos), they miss the mark by just pushing the punitive part of the equation. But again — the reset — we live in a mountain paradise.

There is a group asking for feedback on a potential piece of traffic mitigation infrastructure. It involves a long talked about path between CB South and Crested Butte. Two basic alternatives are on the map — one is a simple path that is separated from but follows Highway 135. The other is a cooler, less direct but probably more spiritually fulfilling path threading the needle through private property and ranchland. Seems to me the first thing to decide is to define what the community purpose is. I could argue the priority should be for a convenient commuter path between two population hubs now that e-bikes are gaining in popularity and functionality. That would seem to call for the quickest-to-accomplish path possible that reduces highway traffic and is e-bike compatible. Take the time to take their survey that will soon be making the rounds.

Ahhh, then there’s Snodgrass. As it has for more than three decades, the overall summer route was closed at the end of August as a good part of the traditional trail crosses private property. The Allen Ranches use that property to graze cattle which doesn’t mix well with bikers or hikers and especially dogs. 

There is some confusion and misunderstanding about what is now open and what is closed. After talking to a bunch of the stakeholders this week it seems simple that the only part of the trail that is closed is the part that crosses private property. Given the trail alignment, that makes it not usable for a good bike ride, but you can still get a taste on the Gothic/Mt. CB side of Snodgrass. 

There is also a public access easement in Meridian Lake that leads to part of the Snodgrass trail that lies on Forest Service land on the Washington Gulch side. But it is basically a mile of land-locked trail situated between the private property boundaries. It might be good for a quick hike or photo adventure when the leaves change. However, keep in mind that there is a grazing permit in that Forest Service area so you and the pooch will be sharing the woods with pooping cattle at the same time. It’s always a treat to give a dog a bath after he or she rolls in a pile. 

For me personally, it makes sense to steer clear of the ranching operations that are happening there in the fall. There are other wonderful local aspen groves to experience such as the Woods Walk, Strand, Baxter Gulch to touch on a few close-in options. I want to keep working ranchers as neighbors up and down the valley so don’t have any issues giving them some room when they need it. 

You are certainly legally allowed to use the sections of the Snodgrass trail on public land this fall, but in the big picture, there are alternatives that allow your neighbors to work without the recreation-ranch conflicts. It seems the situation is ripe for a USFS-CBMBA partnership to have the mountain bike club do the heavy lifting and realign the trail to get it off private property and onto public lands. They’re really good at that.

And finally, speaking of really good…it seems the local high schoolers have taken to heart a good lesson about partying in our backyard. After being called out publicly about their lack of respect for the backcountry and impacts to our valley when doing what kids do, word is the end of the summer party was held in a drainage away from the usual gathering spot. Smart move! Sounds like there was a big fire and wee hour raging but at the end of the day the fire was kept in a fire ring, there was no trash left at the site and a (respectful) good time was had by all. Thank you, kids, parents, and anyone else who helped reinforce community values into the growing members of the tribe. 

We are turning to one of the best months in the valley. Slower but busy enough to put money in the bank, the rains will soon go away for good, the leaves will change for good and there is room to breathe deeply. We are in a mountain paradise. Breathe.

—Mark Reaman