I had to catch-up on some emails, blog, and finish a report I'd somehow let slip through the cracks before I left so I was on the computer most of the afternoon, while Karma watched TV and napped. It was amazing how quickly I felt my shoulders hunching up and the tension returning to my lower back. After more than a month on trail, it only a few hours on the computer to bring back all the stess of the real world.
We made an appointment for the massages the next morning, Memorial Day, and whiled the rest of the day away eating and having a few beers. We returned to the same Mexican joint we'd been to the night before. Our eyes were bigger than our stomach for the first time in awhile.
The next morning, we got in the jeep and drove the 1/2 hour over to Creede, CO, an old mining town that is now decidedly more hippie than South Fork. The Jeep was same exact make and model that my dad owned when I was kid in Elkhorn, NE. The lock button, the beat-up leather seats, and the speedometer brought back a rush of childhood memories. As we drove along the valley of the Rio Grande, still fresh from it's headwaters in the Weminuche Wilderness high up in the San Juan's, I could still smell my dad's coffee and hear the din of NPR in the background. I remembered all the soccer practices, Arby's lunches, and birthday parties I attended in that Jeep Cherokee. I don't remember when he got rid of it.
Creede's downtown was complete with a coffee joint, a handful of bars, and a gear shop, San Juan Sports. Karma got a rain jacket, some socks, and a few other necessary items to get ready for the next section. He got the same color jacket and buff that I had, so now we match.
We headed up the hill out of town on Airport Rd, which wasn't labeled, but we could see the wind sock and the landing strip so we eventually figured it out. We arrived to Jo's, the massage therapist, fifteen minutes late after getting lost multiple times on the back roads. It wasn't until we called her that we were able to find it. Her studio, which was also her house, was one of the most incredible buildings I've ever seen. Jo and her husband, Jeff, built it by hand over a few years while they lived in a cabin in winters which bottomed out around forty below.
Their house was made of almost 100% found and recycled materials - from the walls, to windows, granite countertops, cabinets, and floors. Their east wall had a mosaic of different-colored glass bottles which in the afternoon light looked like a giant butterfly. Karma got his massage first and I found my way to the greenhouse, where Jeff was putzing around.
Jeff and I hit it off pretty quick. We talked about gardening, foraging for mushrooms, and what life is like in Creede. He invited me to go fly fishing with him as he paddled down the the Rio Grande that afternoon, but I still needed to get my massage. After about 45 minutes of chatting with Jeff, Karma stumbled out of the log-hewn house. He looked like he was on another planet.
Jo called me in and I went into her studio. As I undressed I noticed her dog was asleep on the floor. We talked as she gave me the massage - this first time I've actually enjoyed talking to my massage therapist while I was getting work done. She mentioned a few things about Karma that caught me off guard. She gave him a massage for one-hour and it was like she knew him better than I did after hiking with him for nearly three weeks. Some of the things I'd noticed only after spending every waking hour with him, she picked up in minutes.
The massage itself was incredible - probably the best I've ever received - but what made it even more amazing, was the way she could read your body and understand in minutes what others could only know with x-rays and CAT scans. For instance, she asked me if I'd had any serious injuries or falls within the last five years. I told her 'no' but she kept pressing. She said my tailbone was slightly misaligned, probably from some sort of fall five years ago or so. I thought it was nonsense at first, but then I realized it had been about five years since I had a pretty bad bike accident in San Francisco, where I went head over heels after hitting a car. I landed directly on my lower back, right above my tail bone.
She made some adjustments using 'zero balancing' and I felt totally like I was on cloud nine. After the 75 minute massage, Jo asked us if we were hungry (of course, we were) and whipped up some of the best pancakes we'd ever eaten ... they were even gluten-free! After eating, I did every last dish, feeling such satisfaction from every clean spoon, plate, and bowl.
We spent the rest of the day hanging in Creede, having our first espresso in almost a month and a half. We also got some good and beer at the local BBQ joint. We drove back to South Fork completely and utterly satisfied, every one of our desires taken care of. We got back just before Karla and Mark, who were delighted to see us. Karla whipped up some amazing five-cheese mac n' cheese and me and Karma ate until we had a food coma and fell asleep.
The following day, Tuesday, we woke up early and made omelets for Mark and Karla. It was Karla's birthday and we wanted to do something nice for her and Mark anyways. She didn't eat the omelets, but she was happy we made Mark happy.
Jeff, Jo's (the massage therapist) husband, called late Monday and offered to take me and Karma rafting on the Rio Grande back in Creede. Karla, made a special trip to get us there, and we had an awesome day on the water. It was really cool thinking how we had just walked on some of the snow that we were rafting on. It was mostly Class I and II, but the small rapids we had were really fun, especially because we didn't have to do anything but watch. Jeff made it seem effortless, avoiding rocks at the very last moment, and guiding us unscathed through the rushing snowmelt, fresh from the San Juan's. We could actually see the peaks of the Continental Divide as we glided down the river, but we tried to forget that we had to go up there again the next day. Just seeing snow made me shiver.
After rafting (and getting to drive a stick ... an old truck which was as the shuttle), we headed into Creede where we all had pizza. Karla met us there and we secreted into the fudge shop to get her a birthday surprise.
Later in the afternoon we drove over towards Pagosa Springs where me and Karma had to pick up our packages and shop for food for the next leg. On the way, we picked up another hiker, Beacon, a greybeard who has hiked the trail a few times and also created the CDT data book, which lists all the major points with mileage/elevation on the CDT (I have it on my phone!). It was fun hanging with him because he was an endless source of knowledge about the trail and had plenty of good stories to share.
After shopping in Pagosa, Karla showed us one of her favorite fishing spots right near her house. Karma and I didn't catch anything but we had a good time dropping our line in before and after the torrential downpour. Though we came home empty-handed on our last night, Karla had fixed a huge chopped salad to go along with the leftover Mac n cheese. We all shared some wine and finished off our beers, sad to have to say goodbye. It was wonderful to be treated so kindly by Karla. I think we reminded her of her son. She reminded us of our moms.
The next morning we putzed around drinking coffee and packing up. We fixed a frozen pizza to go and headed for the trailhead - the same one Karla had come to get us four days earlier with two beers. We hugged and she quickly left, maybe avoiding tears. Karla is tough, but she's soft on the inside. If we didn't have to walk, we could have stayed with her forever - or at least until she kicked us out...
Seems you are meeting some incredible people around there. South Colorado is my heaven on Earth. I wish I could find a way to make a living there and move.
ReplyDeleteHappy Trails!