The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
We are entering the good news/bad news part of the year when fall links us between the high summer tourist period and ski season. It is the start of off-season, a time to breathe and slow down. A time to take stock and remember why one lives here. It is a time to enjoy the mountain life. A time to wander and just think. That’s the good news.
It’s also a time when the paychecks might be slimmer, when the days get shorter, when there is time to look around and realize the sh*t is hitting the fan and changing fast. There is time to look outside the bubble. There are local disputes over developments, second home taxes, affordable housing projects. Neighbors are passing, the world is in chaos, bears are breaking into houses and starting fires while Donald is still wreaking havoc as he bullies his way through what’s left of his obviously consequential but arguably soulless life, threatening our Colorado election system, dismissing public lands and padding his already fat wallet. Go Canada.
The good news is that it is raining again. Not the giant monsoon rains that would come every afternoon like in the old days but raining enough that a Gor-Tex jacket with a hood came in handy while walking around town Monday afternoon. Not enough that anyone scurried for shelter and even the lazy dogs stayed put, relaxing on the driveways and street corners as the raindrops fell after a summer of hot, dry days and warm evenings. But enough to see puddles form and the trails tack up.
The bad news is the hot dry summer has helped escalate the drought in the valley. Blue Mesa is rivering again. The Slate River by Brush Creek is an algae dotted trickle. The backcountry didn’t receive enough moisture to water the food our neighbor bears need to sustain themselves … so they are desperately seeking any food in the local population centers. For too many, that leads to the chance of being “euthanized” or killed as they become beyond hangry. That is sad for everyone and everything involved, and really has cast a pall over the whole area as the human-bruin conflicts result in death.
The good news is that more than 23,000 votes were cast nationwide in the RMBL Fat Marmot Contest during the inaugural Fat Marmot Week at the end of August. According to a RMBL press release, “a marmot named Dawn defeated G in the final round of public voting on Friday, Aug. 28, receiving 3,734 votes to G’s 2,437, or nearly 61% of the 6,171 votes cast during the championship round. A total of 23,060 votes were cast during the weeklong competition, which invited the public to choose the marmot they thought best exemplified healthy preparation for hibernation. Fat Marmot Week was created to help the public learn more about yellow-bellied marmots and the science behind their remarkable seasonal transformation while celebrating one of the Rocky Mountains’ most charismatic residents.” The marmots were written up in publications and made the TV news around the world bringing a spotlight to decreased science funding in the U.S. and having some fun at the same time.
The bad news is that while heading over Cottonwood last weekend the beginnings of the fall golden tinge were starting to emerge. Upon returning Sunday, leaves were changing. It’s only accelerated faster since then. Who knows what a lean snow year and dry summer will mean for high alpine fall colors. It appears the first indications are that the yellow and gold could come upon us quick. Part of that is due to previous year aspen stress but colors emerging starting in August is a red flag from the last several wonderful autumns when the gold could last into October. And who knows, that could happen again, but it seems even a few leaves turning yellow and falling off the aspens this week is a bit of bad news.
The good news is it is chilly. An actual jacket came in handy on the after-dinner walk this week. It feels good.
The bad news is that it’s chilly. And being chilly this time of year signals it isn’t that far away that I’ll be flipping the switch to turn on the furnace. Ouch. Can’t wait for those utility bills to start climbing.
The good news is that we are on the literal line of the super El Niño. Looking at weather prognostication maps, the edge of what could be a deep snow season this winter or what could be an average (or less) pow year seems to fall right over Crested Butte. But after last ski season, even just getting close to anything called a super El Niño is a step up. We can’t have another El Nono year. It’s not only bad for the skiing, it’s bad for everything that comes after it, as evidenced by this past summer and a somewhat lackluster (with spots of awesomeness) wildflower season and the distress of our bear friends.
The bad news is this community seems on another cusp of significant change. Change is always happening and not something to fear but there seems to be a dispute about how much we are guiding this latest chapter. There is conflict with how to manage an attractive place that will likely draw more climate refugees fleeing 105-degrees in the asphalt jungle to come to 9,000 feet and a high (weirdly for us) in the 80s. Do we just build more and more for the ones that can afford the luxury of 60-degree evenings in July and then build more and more for the people who work to accommodate their needs and wants? Do we choose to accelerate the growth or choose to tap the brakes? That seems to be undecided at the moment.
The good news is we are still at the cusp of major change and can make choices. Do we want to be a small town — or another small city in the mountains? I don’t know where we end up but I understand that there will be pressure to grow and bring all the things that make this valley community a small city like a Breck or Frisco, including the conveniences. But those are choices to be discussed, debated and made sooner than later.
The weird news is that I agree with Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. This week she wrote an opinion piece focused on the danger of getting comfortable with those Flock Cameras. She noted the automatic license plate readers are turning American streets into zones of constant, warrantless monitoring. “Since September 11, 2001, Americans have been asked repeatedly to trade pieces of liberty for promises of security,” Boebert wrote. “The justification was almost always the same: ‘If you’re innocent, you have nothing to worry about.’ That phrase has become the soft rationalization for hard erosions of privacy.” She’s right on this one and Gunnison County should rid themselves of the five Flock Cameras recording us…
Ahhh, off-season — a time to ponder…
—Mark Reaman
