04 April, 2009

The Road to Jerusalem #3


Mount Silverheels- Boreas Pass





Its a Big Mountain.....a REALLY BIG Mountain. The massif of Mt. Silverheels is three miles (4.8 klics) in diameter above 12,000 feet (3,600 m.). She stands alone, distinct from her more famous Mosquito Range big brothers, the famous 14'ers: Mt.Lincoln, Mt.Bross and Quandary Peak. Still, Silverheels is high, 13,822 ft, (4213 m.) and a gorgeous peak from all sides.




From the 9'200 ft. (2,800 m) floor of South Park the peak runs along the western side of the Park. She is a gentle giant, rising in a slow swell above the valley floor, marking the division between the Tarryall Creek drainage and the South Platte River drainage. Both rivers converge at Eleven Mile Canyon on the far nor'eastern end of South Park.






Mount Silverheels was named after a dance hall girl who was called Silverheels because of the German Silver decorations on her dancing shoes. Evidently, during an epidemic of smallpox in the nearby mining camp of "Buckskin Joe", she was the only woman who stayed in town to care for the ailing miners. The story is told that she worked tirelessly to tend for the sick until she contracted the pox. Whether she died or was so disfigured that she no longer felt she was desirable is not known. However, she did disappear. The survivors took up collection. They raised $5,000 to help her. When the town fathers went to give the gift, they found her cabin deserted. No one ever saw her again.


Legend has it that there is still a beautiful ghost of a woman, dressed all in black who visits when the veil between the worlds is thin. She leaves flowers on certain graves in Buckskin Joe. And yes, she has bright silver heels on her shoes. Her memory lives on, it seems, along with a selfless spirit of caring.




Mt. Silverheels is not an easy climb simply because the massif is large. It requires a long, long approach time. Unless of course, you have a good, high clearance 4WD vehicle. There is a poorly marked road that heads out of Fairplay that will take you close enough to the summit to make a picnic lunch hike....at 13,000 ft. (4,000 m.) if you can find the trail....and if the capricious weather has left open the the 4WD road.




Most people know Mt. Silverheels as just another peak to the north of Highway 9 between Fairplay, Hoosier Pass and Breckenridge. Further north, there is another road that leads past Mt. Silverheels. That would be the seasonal road leading over Boreas Pass (11,481 ft./3499 m.)out of the little town of Como. Boreas Pass was a simple horse path until cut and raised as a narrow gauge railroad track in the late 1800's by the Denver, South Park and Pacific R.R. and later widened into a stage coach road.





Yours truly on the Boreas Pass road at the 10k ft (3050 m.) overlook on a blustery day in early July of 2008. Silverheels is in the back ground. There is still a good amount of snow on the peaks and ridges.



There are remnants of the town of Boreas at the summit of the pass. It was a railroad encampment manned by maintenance workers who toiled to keep the rail passage open during frequent and brutal winter storms. It is now maintained by the National Forest Service and the Summit County Historic Society. The railroad, a division of the Union Pacific, ran from Breckenridge and Leadville into Como where there was a large roundhouse and maintenance facility. Remains of the Roundhouse still exist, an historic site, almost a 120 years later.




What does this have to do with the road to Jerusalem?




Well beloved, the tale of a dance hall girl who gave up her worldly life to serve the sick, knowing full well that she would probably contract a deadly disease, that in itself is indicative of God's Holy Spirit at work in a most unlikely place, within a most unlikely character. To have a beautiful mountain named in her honor calls us to recollect and celebrate other unlikely, worldly angels and mostly unknown folk.




There is another name associated with Boreas Pass. It is the ghost town of Dyersville just to the north of the summit. It is named after... "Methodist minister and prospector John Lewis Dyer, better known as "Father" Dyer, built a cabin in a secluded location along the upper reaches of Indiana Creek in January 1881. He was soon joined in his seclusion by miners and merchants connected to the nearby Warrior's Mark mine. The community named itself after its first resident, Father Dyer." - Wikipedia


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Father John Lewis Dyer 1812-1901


"John Dyer, a hearty man of God, skied his preaching circuits in pursuit of his religious commitments.



Dyer was one of the first Methodist ministers to tour Colorado's high country mining camps. He came to Denver, Colorado, from Minnesota in 1861. In Denver, he received orders to take over the Blue River Mission in Summit County, Colorado, in 1862. The following year, 1863, he received new orders and a new circuit. The new circuit encompassed Park City (Alma), Fairplay and Leadville. John Dyer was 50 years old when he began the mining camp circuits and he became acquainted with Norwegian snowshoes from split pine logs. The tips were boiled and turned up for his trips over 13,188 foot Mosquito Range where snow often drifted 20 feet deep.



For 20 years, Father John Lewis Dyer preached the circuit traveling from mining camp to mining camp. As a result, he became known as the 'Snowshoe Itinerant.' The title 'Father' was given to him because of his concern for the people." - The Colorado Ski Museum.


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Yeup, beloved...The road to Jerusalem can lead us through some strange places, introducing us to God's servants where we least expect them.



Disgrace in Boulder


The Ward Churchill Saga


Ward Churchill began the falsification of documents to fit his own agenda after he was drafted to serve in Viet Nam in 1966: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Churchill)




- In 1991,Ward Churchill was granted tenure at the University of Colorado without due process. The previous year he had been hired as an associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, without the required doctoral degree. He was given that tenure based upon questionable writings and unsubstantiated genealogy.





- In 2005, in a divisive break with mainstream AIM (American Indian Movement) politics and policy, Dennis Banks and the Bellecourt brothers (members of the Ojibwa Tribe) denounced Churchill and his so-called Native American heritage. His claims were found to be fraudulent by the AIM Council.





- On 26 June 2006, the Chancellor of the University filed notice of intent to fire Churchill based upon findings that he had plagarized both artwork and literary work and then published them as his own without attribution to the orignators.



- In June of 2006, David Lane, a high profile Denver social justice lawyer and ACLU member, took on Churchill’s defense. Lane subsequently crafted a lengthy and convoluted, and ultimately successful legal battle to clear Churchill’s conviction.



- Now, almost three years after he was fired, on 2 April,2009, a jury of two men and four women exonerated Churchill in what has been called a “compromised verdict.” Read the story here:

http://www.coloradodaily.com/news/2009/apr/02/ward-churchill-trial-blog-jury-university-colorado/



It has yet to be determined if Churchill will be reinstated as a Professor at the University of Colorado.







My own feelings keep me from saying much else with any objectivity.


Ward Churchill was born a seven days before my High School chum, Clayton Charles "Chuck" Kemp.

Chuck Kemp died off the Coast of Viet Nam in January of 1967, serving on a helicopter gun ship. His body was never recovered. He died defending the “rights” of filth like Ward Churchill to lie, cheat, deride and subvert with treasonous acts while living a priveleged and protected life in these United States.












01 April, 2009

There's Sumpin' about a Woman in Uniform

Kronprinsesse Mary, Løjtnant


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She is 37, mother of two children, born in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. On 19 February 2009, she was awarded the rank of Lieutenant in the Danish Home Guard.
She is also the Crown Princess of Denmark, Mary Elizabeth.
The princess has put in her time and training to become a ranked officer.
The Home Guard is a volunteer unit of the Danish military that is tasked with domestic security. Princess Mary joined the unit last year and received basic training
in weapon use and care, basic first aid, marching drills, signalling, fire-fighting and rescue. She went on to officer school for additional training in security and surveillance command. Princess Mary’s attachment will be the Total Defence Region Copenhagen.

For those who are interested, the Crown Princess shoots a Danish military standard issue M-16 variant manufactured by Colt/Canada -Diemaco, designated a "C-7" with variants. Its the .223 Remington/5.56 X 45mm NATO round that has been in service since Eugene Stoner brought it to production just prior to the Viet Nam war.

Evidently, she has taken to her military training with charm, grace....and a goodly amount of gusto, enjoying the firearms and field training. That should not be thought at all unusual, given she is proud to wear the tartan and thistle on St. Andrew's Day....and a proud daughter of Scots immigrants to Australia.

30 March, 2009

Springtime in the Rockies #1


Hit and Run

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We are now in the midst of a very spring-like weather pattern. Yesterday, it was sunny and in the low 60's. Another upslope, hit and run snowstorm has arrived. It is one of three storms which are lined up to spread white gold along the Front Range throughout the week.

Heh.

- Skiers and snowboarders on Spring Break are happy...as are the thirsty city water providers.

- Farmers and ranchers see these storms as mixed blessings. The moisture is needed and appreciated. The cold and wind and snow and ice can be deadly to their recently born calves and lambs. And, it makes it tough to prepare for spring planting.



This is NOT your tinsel-town Springtime in the Rockies!