Friday, September 11, 2009

Galloping Goose



No, Galloping Goose isn't my new screen name though it might fit. It's the name of a lovely trail laid down on land formerly part of a narrow gauge railroad over the mountains. A strange beast called the Galloping Goose traveled the rails, half car, half train, actually made from old Pierce Arrows. We didn't pass another person on our 2 1/2 hour hike. There were old railroad ties and spikes along the way, and the climb was quite easy because the goose had to do it long ago.

Can you believe those cliffs above me (in the picture below) are actually really popular with rock climbers?



They are entirely vertical. In the picture above the large bag of potato chips sticking out of my orange pack seems to be rock camouflaged? Although the rock in the front looks too much like it's part of my pants and IT'S NOT!



Above seen on an aspen near the trail head. Was Marti McGinnis here?

On the way back we stopped to get milk at the Sawpit store. I was hoping they'd replenished the Haribo gummy roll candy they sometimes sell, so I was hovering by the counter behind the big blonde who turned out to be Daryl Hannah. Like Ralph Lauren last week, she also had tanned and bulging calves, but she was much prettier than Ralph, and quite a bit younger, and more makeup. She was with a tall guy who stood deferentially behind her. My candy was not there.

Snippet of conversation between the babe and the nice counter guy:

He: So how did the meeting go yesterday in Montrose?
She: It was really awful. It's really bad.

(She's been trying to stop resumption of uranium mining in sadsack Nucla, CO. Likely to come with it is a nuclear dump site. Just the thing in a mountain resort community... Unfortunately the county commissioners are one step this side of organized crime and there seems no way to stop them. Good for D.H. to try)

She: The reporter was such a New York type. She was supposed to film it and she didn't even bring a camera. She was totally non mellow.

3 comments:

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Rock climbing mystifies me.
Looks like a lot of work with potential to break a lot of bones.

I see you're hanging out with the celebs again!

Mean Jean said...

Non-mellow. Like it.

Linda Davick said...

What an amazing day, both on the trail and in the store (except for no candy). Hooray for D.H!

(Ha, ha! The rock in front looking like it's part of your pants.)

I know you're not supposed to draw on trees, but that horse outline is gorgeous.