Strolling The Canyon, 2013 - Entering the Canyon

Remember the commercial for margarine where the woman says, "It is not nice to fool Mother Nature?"  Then she would snap her fingers and something dramatic would happen.  I would suggest that Mother Nature has done that to our Canyon.

(I hope we all keep in perspective what has happened in the area.  Everyone's cabins were spared from the fire, due to an amazing job by hotshots and our own firefighters; no lives were lost; these are our vacation homes, not our primary residences; we have insurance.  In the scheme of things, we were very lucky, and I hope we all support and cooperate with the Forest Service as they try to get on top of our area and the Gallinas area, which I understand was damaged far worse than ours.  That being said, let me tell you about what we found.)

Wasn't the fire bad enough?  It took out many acres, closed the Canyon for the summer, and caused floods when it rained.  I didn't realize that hot fires caused the dirt to become impenetrable so water would just run off it.  And it did.  With every rain, more flooding occurred.  

Despite the continued damage created during the monsoon season, the Forest Service was managing to keep up.  The road would become mudded in, but within a day or two, they were able to get on top of it.

And then the big flood came.  Seven+ inches in four days.  That is a lot of water for anyone, but especially dry New Mexico.  And really especially in a burn-scarred area.  

I knew Mother Nature could pack a powerful punch, but I had no idea how bad.

Our first clue came just after we entered the Holy Ghost.  The road just around the corner from the silver truss bridge was covered in about 9 inches of mud.  On a wet day, it would have been impossible to traverse.  Thank goodness it had not rained since the seven inch monsoon.

Then just beyond the gate, where the meadow is on the left, the culvert obviously could not handle the water that came down the path.  The path used to lead to Brush Ranch before it became impassable due to downed timber. Our family used to walk it at night.  Now I doubt we will ever walk it again.  Look at the ravine and the pile of mud the water created. (The mud stretches over the road, making for a fun ride!)

Just before the Horton's cabin, we got our first glimpse of what could happen in the ravines where it had burned.  We thought it looked bad . . . and it is.  But this is minor compared to some others up the way.  

Standing at the Horton cabin, looking down the road.  The dips and holes in the muddy road are not very obvious . . . until you drive on them.  To the right notice the rock slide (hard to see).  It is the first of many.

Our little road had minimal damage.  The creek, instead of going onto our road, spread over into the meadow toward the chip-seal road, and hence, we could access our cabin in decent shape.  We were glad we had our Jeep, however, as a car could not have gotten past these few spots.  We had no idea what we would find up the Canyon.  I am glad I didn't know.

Gaining Permission

After the fires in the Pecos, the Forest Service had talked about opening the Canyon after October 1 so that cabin owners could get in and winterize their cabins.  That was before the seven-inch rain hit the area.  The road was washed out in several areas, and they weren't sure they could or should let anyone in.  

When we called and talked to the permit administrator, he informed me we needed a permit to get in, since the area is closed.  Before allowing us access, he considered several things.  The road is impassable in many places.  Now I wasn't sure what he meant by impassable, but after seeing it, the road is definitely impassable.  We are lucky.  Our cabin is the second one in.  The part of the road we needed to travel can be maneuvered by a four-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle.  Further on up, that is not the case.  So we had two things going for us:  we have a high-clearance Jeep, and our cabin is below the worst part of the road.  

Second, the weather report for the time we requested was good - 0% chance of rain.  He knew that we could not and should not be in the Canyon if it was going to rain.  After seeing the Canyon, we really would not want to be here in a rain.

Third, he knows that Chris Long is going to be winterizing a number of the cabins.  Yet Chris is also going to be helping to get the road in shape for the winter and next spring.  Lessening the load for Chris is in the best interest of everyone.  And so we were granted permission to come in an winterize our cabin, and I promised that we would not drive our car anywhere in the Canyon except to our cabin.  I was told to pick up our permit on October 1.

Don and I were not counting on a government shutdown, however.  We did not have television on Monday night, since we drove from Clinton and stayed at the Wilderness Gateway B & B in Cowles.  Therefore, we did not know that Tuesday morning, the Forest Service (along with other agencies) temporarily shut down.  Luckily, the Forest Service personnel were still answering the phones.  And we managed to get our permit.  If we could not have gotten it, we would have had to drive back to Kansas without winterizing the cabin.  

Everything worked out, we got in and have had a chance to assess the cabin and our situation.  Then we took a Stroll Up The Canyon.  Read about our stroll over the next few days.

Saying Goodbye to Betty

The Holy Ghost/Tererro family is a relatively close one, relatively speaking.  Although we come from all walks of life, we care about each other, we keep track of each other, we help each other.  I think the feeling has been fostered by the July 4 gatherings at the Noel's cabin, along with the Homeowner's meetings and other events.  

Thus, when we (Don, Kenneth, Melinda and I) showed up at Betty Percy's funeral, we were not surprised to see Huie and Sherry Ley, Brandi and Rich, Nola and Ed, Scott Rice, Scott Johnson, and Dedi Skipper.  There are others who would have been there if they could have been, but it isn't always possible.  They were there in spirit, however.

Larry Percy spoke about his mom in familiar terms.  Although I didn't know she started Meals on Wheels in Clinton, I should have guessed.  She always put others first.  Of course, Larry mentioned the ice cream, the sitting on the porch at the cabin, and other memorable Holy Ghost events.  We each have our own stories about Betty and her selfless attitude.

On Tuesday, we were given permission to go into our cabin to winterize it.  We were grateful to the forest service for granting us permission to do so, as we had a couple of things we really needed to do before we closed up for the winter.  But there was a hole in our heart.  Earlier in the summer, we had planned to see Betty and Harry at the end of September.  Things changed quickly on May 30 with the fire, then again on September 13 with the flood.  But the biggest blow was on September 25 when Betty left us.  

We walked up the Canyon, taking time to stop at the Percy's cabin and sit on the porch.  

We took a few moments to thank God for Betty's influence on our lives and for the privilege of knowing her and her family. It will not be the same in the Canyon without Betty, but next summer, God willing and with a little help from the Forest Service, we will be able to sit on the porch with Harry, knowing Betty's spirit is on the porch, enjoying her daisies, the fresh air, and the creek.  

Betty

When I was a little girl in the Holy Ghost, I would walk by a most beautiful cabin.  The sign on the porch said "Bradford," but I never met Mr. and Mrs. Bradford.  Soon the sign changed to "Percy."  My cousin, Bob, would talk about Mr. and Mrs. Percy.  We later learned that the Bradfords were Harry's parents and the cabin was still in the family.

After our children were born and we began to spend more time at the cabin, we would see Harry sitting on the porch, drinking his coffee.  We would stop and visit, sometimes as early as 6:30 a.m.  What started as an infrequent thing became a "must do" as we frequented the cabin more often.

We would sit on their porch, waving as cars drove by.  Harry always had a pot of coffee going, and he would refill Don's Southwest Chief cup as often as necessary.

If we were there in the afternoon, we might even be offered some of Betty's homemade ice cream.  I don't know how many ice cream freezers she went through during her years in the Holy Ghost, but I know it was several.  She was well known for her delicious ice cream!

When Don and my kids surprised me for my birthday last May, Don made sure to include the Percys in the celebration.  On Sunday morning, we all went to Frankie's for brunch - a Sunday morning Percy tradition.

We returned to the cabin over Memorial Day and saw Harry and Betty several times.  We left on the Thursday after, the fire started that day, the Percys were evacuated, the forest closed, and we did not get to see them again.  We just counted on seeing them both again next year.  But it is not to be.  

Thursday we received the news that our dear friend Betty had gone on.  It was like a kick in the gut.  It couldn't be.  Betty was not supposed to leave us so soon.  But I guess that is not for us to say.

We are planning to go to the cabin next week to winterize it.  The trip will be bittersweet.  But when we are there, we will take some time to reflect on our good times with Betty, to thank God for her presence in our life.  We are grateful that she shared her children and grandchildren with us, that she was so giving of her time, that she treated us as friends.  The world is a better place because of Betty Percy.  May she rest in peace.

My Poor Little Babs

My poor sweet Babs.  She has lately been driving me to distraction. I have tried to be patient with her, but her eating habits are about to get the best of me.  Sunday night she was awake until 2:30 a.m.; Monday night it was 3:30 . . . I was really tired on Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon, I went to get a manicure.  I was gone an hour.  When I came home, I didn't immediately see Babs.  But as I walked into the family room, I noticed the phone had been pulled to the floor, and Babs was lying on the floor between the couch and the table.  I quickly went to her and discovered that she had tangled herself in the power cord and could not move.  I suspect she fought it for awhile and then just resigned herself to laying there until someone could come help her.

It was one of the saddest things I have ever seen.  I extracted her from the cords and stood her up.  She just stood there for about 5 minutes.  I put her outside to walk around, and although I know she was not hurt, I think she was exhausted.  She did not eat, and she slept through the night.  Not exactly what I was looking for to get a good night's sleep.

I can tell she is better today but she is still sleeping a lot.  I think a McDouble is maybe what she needs to get going.  At least I am going to try it!

Back to Reality

We have been home nearly two weeks, and finally we are settling in.  We still have several items to put away, we have a lot of work to do on pictures, but in general we have hit our stride.  And compared to our trip, it is rather mundane.  I loved having plenty about which to blog.  Now I don't.

I have been trying to think of something to write about.  I could document how many nights I have been up with dog, but that would just make me grumpy.  I could tell about art class or lunches with friends or KSU football or myriad other things, but they just don't have the pop that "Fire in the Sky" or "Skishy" have.

Eventually I will probably write about the only book I read on the trip . . . it is definitely worth the read.  And I am sure I will find other interesting things to say.  But for now, it all seems so ordinary.  So bear with me while I get my land legs about me, and I will try to rise to the challenge!

We Are Family!

Having both of our children, both of my siblings, both of the "members of the family by marriage," and two friends join us was definitely a highlight of our trip.  Luckily we were able to document many of our activities.