Text and photos by Jack Olson
Drop—-drip—drop. We’re on top of the Continental Divide in Colorado. I love the Continental Divide. My mind capitalizes it. For one thing, it’s high. You can see for miles and miles. In winter in Colorado it collects oodles of snow. Oodles.
By Jack Olson
Listen. Carefully. What do you hear? As I write this I can hear the motor in my refrigerator freezer humming. It does that from time to time. I live in an apartment building and there are all sorts of noises from the many functions of the building. You might call it “building noise.” I can hear a little traffic on Broadway and someone putting trash in a dumpster in the alley. None of this is bothersome. A person gets used to some sounds, and they don’t interfere with life going on, or even thinking.
Continue readingArticle & photos by Jack Olson
I came west for the mountains. Mountains, mountains, mountains. Who knew that a third of Colorado was plains? I would surely never head out east. What’s out there?
A story. Continue reading
By Jack Olson
It seems like it was ages ago. It seems like it could have been last year. About half my life has passed since I made the incredible trek to Mt. Everest. Continue reading
By Jack Olson
My friend, Joanne, can be so sweetly devious. Continue reading
Article & photos by Jack Olson
Crammed on the Tram at Bachelor Syracuse Mine
Our 21st annual conference took place in Montrose, Colorado, in 1994. At our conferences we have at least one, “don’t miss, don’t oversleep” event. This one had several. Continue reading
Article & photos by Jack Olson
“There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.”
~ Robert Service
I had a beloved, eccentric speech teacher in high school who first enthralled me with thrilling tales of the Yukon. Continue reading
Article & photos by Jack Olson
Spring hike near Manitou Springs
Our 17th annual conference in 1990 congregated at Manitou Springs, Colorado, in the shadow of Pikes Peak. But we got out of that shadow in a big, big way, chugging in the cog train to the summit of the peak. At 14,110 feet, this was one of the few times our hardy crew has breathed such thin air. Continue reading
Article & photos by Jack Olson © 2016
Acoma village house
Long before the Pilgrims landed, before Jamestown, a thriving civilization flourished atop a high mesa in the southwestern region of what would eventually become the United States. Continue reading
Article & photos by Jack Olson
Lunch Break in Silverton (Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad)
Back down to the Four Corners area for our 13th annual conference held in the historic town of Durango, Colorado in 1986. We had two 4-star events at this conference. We piled onto the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad for the round trip to Silverton and back. Continue reading