Today, we turned the car around so that it faced west. Then we put the foot down and headed for the great Pacific. We calculated that we spent twelve days in New Mexico. As we mentioned previously, there are less people in this state than in San Diego. We don’t know what that means but for us, the rugged nature of the terrain was wonderful and gave us much enjoyment. We would offer a guess that the people in this state are also a little on the rugged side. However, we say this from a brief observation rather than as a value judgment. After all, we like tough people, too. We would like to see a few more in the nation’s capital. However, that may be wishful thinking on our part.
We sat in the car as we journeyed towards Flagstaff, Arizona. We have spent much time in this great state. We prefer the central and northern parts. In fact, we are very fond of them. As for the southern region, we are not that crazy about it. Perhaps we should sell it back to Mexico. Sorry. That was not an appropriate statement to make in these times of extreme sensitivity. People ‘fly off at the handle’ for the strangest reasons. For instance, people seem to get very upset when a law is enacted and the authorities have the chutzpah to want to enforce it. This is all too complicated for us. We do not have the sophistication to see behind the intricacies involved. We mentioned earlier, we are not intellectuals.
Talking of ‘crazy’, we came across a wonderful saying in Ouray. In that region, there are many mountains and dangerous areas for driving and climbing. People say ‘you don’t have to be crazy to cross or climb a mountain but it sure helps if you are’. We wish we had thought of that. Later when we were at the top of the tramway at Sandia, we noticed another sign. It stated ‘No outside food inside’. We deduced that they must grow all their food in the kitchen. We were very impressed with that concept. We wondered if you could have inside food outside. No time to think of that as our editor is ‘making with the eyes again’.
We set off to climb Mount Kendrick in the Kaibab Forest, north of Flagstaff. There is a station at the top that is our destination—the crest is deceptive as the mountain sits well back from the trailhead. The statistics tell us a different story. Rated strenuous, 8.6 miles round-trip, 2600 feet gain. It is a steady climb the whole way with wonderful views of the valley and surrounding mountains. The path is on the outside of the mountain so we spend most of the 4 hours on a ledge. It is a long climb, giving us time to tell you what we learned today.
The hut at the top is the place for ‘fire-spotters’. Every day we gain valuable knowledge. In fact, on the way up, we overtook a young man carrying a full backpack. Later when he arrived to open the hut, we realized he was a fire-spotter. We eventually reached the summit after crossing the ‘saddle’ from another mountain and sat to allow our muscles to relax. The spotter arrived and we watched him get down to business. By this time, we were very curious to understand what a spotter does. We also get a lot of pleasure when we watch other people work—it is relaxing. He puts down his things, takes a drink and ‘fires-up’ the radio. We presume he is talking to the base station. We are also very interested in different jobs because maybe we could also be spotters. We wonder about the qualifications but we are confused. Perhaps we should ask him about the idiom ‘when he sees smoke, is there fire?’ We decide against it after being jabbed in the ribs by our editor. In the meantime, we continue to think and ponder and realize the spotter has much time to ponder and think on the job, too. Our eyelids begin to get heavy just watching him at work. We think if we are so tired from just watching, imagine how exhausting it must be for him. We feel very fortunate.
We wonder how they rate his performance. Should there be no fires, has he achieved much, we are thinking. However, if he spots fires then he is doing a good job but in the meantime, the whole forest could burn. This happened in 2000. So who wins, we contemplate.
"I'm not moving--muscle seizure"We are resting from the strenuous climb and thinking that it is another 4.3 miles down to the car. This is not a pleasant thought. People think it’s all downhill from there. Yes, that is true. However, it is not like riding on wheels. We think we should suggest to the editor that we sign up immediately for an opening as a fire spotter. That is when the real troubles begin. We did not mention earlier that while we were hiking up the mountain, the black clouds were forming and the lightning flashes were again scaring our editor. She wants to ‘bolt’ down while we are still recovering from the upward journey. A person can probably see a flash-point building. What to do. We believe strongly in marriage and so we abandon plans to become a fire spotter. We are now thinking of becoming a conductor—a lightning one……… Forgive me, I am very tired after today.
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