This is an essay I had published in the local newspaper last Thursday. Relates to the tremendous amount of snow we got this past winter. A lot of it has melted, but we still have more than our fair share of the stuff at the present moment.

Word Count: 555

Be Careful What You Wish For,

It Just Might Come True

We’ve all heard the old cliché that’s the title of this essay, right? Obviously, you have, and it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise when one discovers that the term applies quite appropriately in my particular case. The winter (or non-winter) of 2017-18 with its total lack of moisture seems like a distant memory at this point, and in my eyes, a bad one at that too. Some might disagree with me on this, but then that’s why most of them pack up and drive out of this little valley when the winds of autumn begin to blow in late September. Weirdoes like myself actually like that time of year, and it’s all because of the upcoming ski season. Lots of lip smacking whenever some of us hear about a long-term forecast that predicts an increased chance of moisture.

That six-month gap between November 2017, and April 2018, was just the opposite though. For me, it was sort of like living through a never-ending nightmare. The situation must’ve been like a worker slaving away at a clothing factory in Bangladesh. The job just keeps going on and on with no end in sight, and after a while they just get used to the horrendous work conditions. Highlighted of course by that daily bowl of rice-gruel during their 10-minute lunch break.

My solution? In May of last year, I started wishing that here in the San Juan’s we’d have winters like they normally get on the North Island of Japan (Hokkaido). “The snowiest place on earth”,for all those folks out there who despise the white stuff, and tell themselves they’ll never want to set foot anywhere near that part of the world.

When tourists would ask me, “What started the #416 Fire North of Durango last year?”I got into the regular habit of telling them it was the fact that we didn’t have much of a winter six months prior to that. I wanted us to get a huge amount of snow the very next year, and boy did we get hit this past winter. Based on the weather patterns around these parts over the last six days, it seems like it hasn’t stopped either.

The snow totals this past winter were in a single word, “epic”.From mid-February until late-March it just kept snowing and snowing, and with one storm right after another, pretty soon I began to feel like a kid that’s been locked in a candy store overnight. Constantly stuffing his face with one sweet confection right after another.

I missed the latter part of winter because of an international trip. From March 27th when I flew out of Denver, till the day after Easter in April, I was out of the country. When I drove back over the pass, the snow had melted a bit, but totals as a result of the Riverside Slidealone were still huge. The first thought that popped into my head while I was driving through the snow shed? These race officials for the Hardrock 100will have to invent a composite running/snow shoe this coming July. Maybe the 2019 edition of the race will end up being a combination run/glacier crossing trek? Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true.