A while back, sometime in the late 90′s, I read about a place in Southwestern Colorado called the Weminuche Wilderness. Also known as The Backpacker’s Nirvana, it is located in the San Juan National Forest. I made my first visit to there in 1998 with a Philmont friend, Bill Sassani, where we did an overnight trip, and then drove around the area. I was hooked. I wanted to do more exploring in the Weminuche. I’ve made two more additional trips there since then. Once with Wendy in 2007 where we backpacked up the Valecito River. The other time with my brother Chris and a college friend Ramsey where we did some day hiking the week before my wedding in 2009.

There is an historical narrow gauge railroad that runs between the towns of Durango and Silverton called the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGR). It runs along the western edge of the Weminuche Wilderness and makes a few stops along the way. I read about how backpackers use the train to access the wilderness, and I soon decided that one day I wanted to make a backpacking trip that took advantage of the train.

In the book Hiking Colorado’s Weminuche and South San Juan Wilderness Areas, there is a hike described using the train to do a trip. The hike starts with the train dropping you off at the Elk Park stop, and then you get picked up at the Neddleton stop. Wendy and I decided to do the hike over 6 days and 5 nights..

Wendy had some additional time off outside of the planned hiking days so we decided to do some extra touring around. Our first day we drove to Telluride, CO where we spent the night at the Victorian Inn. From the door of the inn, you could smell a mouthwatering restaurant. It smelled like a steak place, but I wanted to have a steak at the end of the trip, so we decided to try another restaurant. The inn was located within walking distance of the main strip of town where the shops and restaurants were located. We found an Italian restaurant called the Telluride Bistro. I had the best chicken parmesan I’ve ever had before. After dinner we took the free gondola up to the ski area. It was a nice little moonlit ride up and back.

Telluride, CO

Next morning, during our free breakfast at the inn, we overheard some other guests referring to some snow coming in the next few days. The weather report I had seen earlier referred to a chance of snow, and these folks were talking about inches accumulating in Telluride. It was something to consider. We headed out towards Silverton. The drive between Ouray and Silverton is hands down my favorite drive in the country. Its a beautiful mountain drive that puts you up along sheer rock walls, with beautiful views, colorful mountains, and old mining ruins. Its a windy road that is just fun to drive, so it can be hard to look and drive. We took our time getting to Silverton stopping to read signs and take photos. We ran into some rain along the way too, a precursor to the upcoming days.

Related posts:

1. California Bound Wendy had some time off over the 4th of July...

YARPP

We left Salt Lake on June 30th. We had to drop Madie off at another boarding place as Dogmode was full for the weekend. Heading west, we crossed the Bonneville Salt Flats. It was an interesting thing to see. Flat white ground. Thankfully, this was the day after a cold front had pushed into the area, so it was pleasant traveling weather.

Bonneville Salt Flats

At the Nevada-Utah border is a town called Wendover. It advertises here in Salt Lake for its resort casinos. This picture depticts how the casino is built literally on the state line making it as close as possible for those looking for a respite from LDS land. The white line in the middle of the road is the state line and it says Nevada and Utah on either side of it.

Nevada - Utah state line

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YARPP

Wendy and I have been very blessed this year. I know for me it has been the happiest year I’ve had so far.  We are still enjoying our home here in Utah. No kids yet as we are still just enjoying being a couple. The dog and cat are like characters from the Will Ferrell movie Step Brothers when they first met each other. Madie, our German Shepherd, knows she can’t hurt the cat, and Jamin, the cat, knows it so he chases Madie around the house. Never thought I’d see the day when a German Shepherd would run from a cat.

We’ve done a few improvements to our house. Changed out some light fixtures and updated some of the outlets with the help of my father in law Tim and my dad. We’ve also added new french doors to replace the sliding glass door that leads into our back yard. We are hoping to replace some of our single pane windows next year as you can feel the cold air rushing in the house as you walk by them. I’ve been put in charge of taking care of the outside of the house. The yard and what not.

Wendy and I have been enjoying our church we go to. There are a lot of great people there that we’ve enjoyed getting to know over the year. We found a small group Bible study class we really enjoy, and our pastors do a great job of delivering sermons. We both look forward to our Sunday mornings each week. (no, we haven’t converted to the local LDS culture).

Wendy and I have gotten to go on some fun trips this year. Our first trip was to Heber City about an hour from here. We went there for my birthday and valentine’s day. The motel we got was dog friendly so Madie went along with us. While we were up there we did some snow tubing and some snow mobiling. I never knew I could get so sore from riding on a snow mobile, but it was a lot of fun. Wendy and I plan to go rent another snow mobile again this winter.

As a chance to escape our winter and for me to see my beloved Cubbies play baseball, we flew to Mesa, AZ for Spring Training. I have dreamed of getting to go to spring training for a long time and I finally got to go. It was nice to be able to wear shorts and sit in the sunshine after a cold winter here in Utah. We are planning to go back again this Spring.

My brother Chris and his wife Lisa both finished their graduate studies at Virginia Tech this spring. My parents drove up for the ceremony, and Wendy and I flew out. It was a fun trip getting to be with my family. After visiting with them, Wendy and I rented a car to drive up to Washington DC. We were only there for about 24 hours, but we were able to see a lot of sights while we were there. Didn’t get much sleep, and it was a whirlwind visit, but we were excited to get to see some of the American icons that we’ve heard about our whole lives.

We flew to Seattle, WA this summer so I could get to see my Cubs play baseball during the regular season. I have always heard how nice of a ball park Safeco field is in Seattle, and I’ve never been to Seattle, so Wendy and I made a trip of it. We got to watch 3 games and the Cubs lost 2 of 3. It was a rough year, yet again, to be a Cubs fan. Seattle was a nice town. We were able to save some money by not renting a car and were able to get to see a lot still. The weather was perfect, and it only rained one day.

I spent most of my summer riding my bicycle. We live near the base of Little Cottonwood Canyon where Alta and Snowbird ski resorts are located. I rode my bike up that canyon several times a week. I never made it to the top, but I kept making progress. Wendy also got a bike this summer, and I am trying to get her to ride it more for next year. We went on a couple of rides together. We are both currently attending a weekly spin class. Our instructor does a great job of teaching the fundamentals of maintaining good positioning while on a bike.

Both Wendy’s parents and my parents came out to visit us this year. We enjoyed having them visit us and a chance to show off our home to visitors. My parents enjoyed it so much that they have decided they want to move out here. It will be nice to have my parents near by as it is difficult to get back to MS to visit.

Wendy and I continued our backpacking roots with a few trips this year. We planned a trip in September for Glacier National Park. In the mean time, we did a couple of shorter trips nearby to help us get ready for it. We went to the Uintas Wilderness for a 3 day trip. We took Madie with us, and I have never seen that dog so happy ever. She makes for a great backpacking dog. We had a great time too. We then took another 3 day trip to American Fork Canyon. Madie accompanied us on that trip as well. We wore her out hiking, but she loved it. We bought her some saddle bags to carry her food and water.

Our trip to Glacier was wonderful. We had planned to spend 6 days backpacking, but had to come out a day early because of an early snow storm that covered an exposed trail we were to cross. It was a very pretty park. Wendy and I were both glad to get back to the simple life of backpacking. We met some nice folks on the trail while we were there. Surprisingly, Glacier gets a lot of visitors from Washington State. My blog has a more detailed account of our trip.

For our first anniversary, we headed back to CO in September. We rented a cabin near Estes Park and enjoyed touring around Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a great time to visit as a lot of the leaves on the aspen trees were peaking. We had a great time there.

Wendy is still loving her job. She’s a pediatrician for an urgent care network in town. She works evenings and one day a weekend which leaves her with plenty of time to do things with me. We decided that me getting a job wasn’t as important for us as getting to spend time together. It’s been a fun year.

I eventually obtained my UT EMT Basic. It didn’t transfer from CO and I wound up having to retake my EMT Basic class again. Thankfully it wasn’t a hard class, but it was just frustrating having to go through the process again. There’s only one private ambulance company around here, and I may go work for them at some point in the future. I really do miss getting to work in EMS. I’ve also been applying to the local fire departments. My best luck so far has been with the Salt Lake City Fire Dept. I ranked #13 on their list. They hired 12 in November which leaves me #1 on their list for now. Their hiring list is good for another 1 1/2 years. I’m really really hoping they hire more firefighters as this will get me in. With the economy still recovering, local government hiring isn’t as promising as it once was. In the mean time I’ve been ramping up my exercise routines to make sure I’m in shape for any fire academy I get hired for.

Wendy and I are staying home for Christmas this year. We are enjoying having a nice quiet Christmas with just us and the animals. We’ve had a great year and look forward to many more to come.

We hope this finds you and your family in good health and joy.

Jason Cotting

My blog:
http://jasonblog.anvilgear.com/

Pictures:
http://anvilgear.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=10855

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YARPP

When we left town, we left Madie, our German Shepherd, at doggy day care at Dogmode. She seems to really like it there, and we have been impressed with how well they treat the dogs. We drove all the way to Missoula, MT the first day by interstate. That took most of the day and left us with about another three hours to get to the park. More importantly about the day, according to Wendy, it was Wendy’s birthday! She opened gifts and had cake a couple of days earlier to celebrate.

The next day, we toured around Missoula a little. Missoula is one of the bases where the National Forest service keeps some of its smokejumper wildland firefighters. I was particularly interested in this and was excited to get to see the base. There was a college intern there that was taking care of the visitor’s center and gave us a tour.

This is the base for the National Forest service Missoula Smokejumpers

After driving around town a little more, we headed on to Glacier. We bought a National Parks annual pass earlier this year and used this to get into the park. Once inside we headed to the West Glacier visitors center. I have to say, I was not impressed at all with the visitor’s center. It wasn’t very big and it didn’t display much information. Even the gift shop was just a small room. We later discovered that the newer larger visitor center was on the East side of the park. From there we headed over to the backcountry office where we got our permit for staying in the backcountry. A number of national parks have gone to a backcountry permit or reservation system to help regulate the number of visitors to areas of the park. This helps with overcrowding issues that have been happening in national parks.

The sign to the entrance of Glacier National Park on the West Entrance

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YARPP

Our first stop after getting our rental car was to grab a bite to eat. We drove around downtown Phoenix a bit, but had difficulty finding reasonable parking near the pizza place we wanted to try. Wendy found a soda fountain (thanks to google maps on the cell phone) called MacAlpine’s nearby that we ate at for lunch. It was a nice little place. It was set in the 50′s. The food was good and the strawberry cheesecake milkshake we had for dessert was even better. According to their menu, they are the oldest operating soda fountain.

From there we headed to the Hall of Flame Fire Museum which was located next to the Oakland Athletic’s spring training field where they were playing a game as we drove by. The museum was great. It had a very impressive collection of old fire equipment and history. It had lots of hand drawn and horse drawn wagons as well as old motor driven fire trucks. It was very interesting to learn about the history of firefighting through the years. They had a section dedicated to wildland firefighting as well. I would recommend it to anyone who has the chance to go see it. Pictures

Next we went to the nearby Desert Botanical Garden. Wendy was excited to see wild flowers. I thought it was silly to have a botanical garden in the desert, but they had a lot of cool plants after all. Pictures

After the gardens, we went to check into our hotel. Wendy managed to find a great deal for us at The Hilton Phoenix East. Normally above our price range, but we got it for a great price. It was a nice hotel with large and comfortable rooms. The pillows on the bed were really soft.

While we were out that night we had stopped at a Target so I could get a baseball and sharpies. I hoped to get some autographs at the game. For dinner the first night, we ate at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. It was some great pizza. You have to build your own pizza, and it was a bit pricey. We got a pizza with pepperoni, Italian sausage, and onions.

Next day, we decided to try to get to the Cubs game early in hopes to get autographs. For breakfast we went to a nearby place called The Good Egg. Really good breakfast with lots of choices.

We had bought our tickets online earlier and were going to pick them up at will call. We picked the tickets up right at 11AM in time to head into the stadium. Pictures. Hohokam was a nice looking stadium. There was a grass parking lot that we parked on for $5, not bad for this kind of an event. People were just starting to gather when we got there. Our plans to get in early to get autographs were spoiled by the gift shop. Wendy didn’t have any Cubs gear, in fact, she was wearing a red hat. We got her a new hat and shirt. I also got a new hat and a new Cubs shirt. We meandered around the ball park before the game started. There was a tent where some veterans were signing autographs for charity. Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, George Foster, as well as a few others were there. Had Ryne Sandberg been there, I would have waited all day for an autograph.

Ours seats were in LF on the LF fair line. They weren’t very good seats especially since the railing was right in the line of view. It was a good game. Cubs won 8-1 and Randy Wells only gave up one earned run for the win, but he did give up 7 hits over 5 2/3 innings. The Cubs put up good offensive numbers and chased Reds starter Carlos Fisher after only 1 2/3 innings of work.  Ryan Theriot had an impressive 3/4 day at the leadoff spot. Mike Fotenot and Marlon Bryd both had good days at the plate getting a HR each. Jeff Baker also came in to hit a HR. I was impressed with Tyler Colvin’s playing. I’m looking forward to seeing him play more this season. Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee did not make an appearance at the game.

After the game Wendy and I strolled over towards the Cubs dugout to see if we could get some autographs. Ivan Dejesus was signing a few, but I wasn’t real interested in him. Besides, he had gone back to the clubhouse by the time I got over there. When we got there, I saw a group of folks surrounding what looked like a Cubs official. I didn’t recognize him and asked someone nearby. Come to find out, it was Tom Ricketts, the new CEO of the Cubs. He was very friendly. He signed for everyone that came up to him as well as posed for pictures. He stayed for quite a while. I think he understands that we are his customers and if his customers want his autograph, he’s going to stick around for it. I wish the players understood that. I got him to sign my baseball. While he was signing I thanked him for sticking around to sign autographs and said to him “Why don’t we try to make this the year?” He responded by saying “Yeah, let’s put all of this behind us.” Maybe he came up with the “Year One” thing

I asked one of the Hohokam attendants if the players signed after the game and he directed me towards the back of the stadium. Back by the RF side of the stadium there was a wall of Cubs fans eagerly awaiting the chance to see their beloved Cubs hoping for an autograph or two. A few cubs strolled out during our time there, mostly newer cubs. I was able to get autographs from Sean Marshal and Sam Fuld. Only one other Cub came out during the time, not someone I recognized, before the security folks told us “The stadium is closed, you need to leave”. I asked Sean while he was signing my baseball if he was going to get to do any starting this year. He smiled and laughed saying “Yeah, I wish.” Looks like the bullpen again for him. I was glad to have long arms and my height so I could get past the people in front of me. Marlon Byrd came out towards the end but didn’t even acknowledge the crowd as he strolled by.

I have to say, I was not too impressed by how the Cubs seemed to not support their fans. It would have been nice to see all of the Cubs come by and they could have at least signed a few autographs, but they must have had other more important things to do than support their loyal fans. For the price they are getting paid to play a game, I don’t think that signing a few complimentary autographs is too much to ask. Even if its just a few. Sean Marshall on the other hand went out of his way to sign a lot. For that I have to say I was very impressed with how friendly he was.

After the game we went to Diamond’s Sports Grille. This place was formerly Harry’s and Steve’s, a sports bar that was owned by the former announcers for the Cubs. I was of the opinion that this was a great place for Cubs fans to go. It wasn’t that great in my opinion. I’m not a huge bar fan anyway, but it was an OK place, not bad, just not great. There were a couple of murals up on the wall that were baseball related and a small case with some baseball memorabilia, but other than that, it was your typical sports bar. The food was good, but just your typical sports bar type food. I doubt I’ll go back. There were four old guys at the table next to us that were getting pretty lit. One of them fell out of his chair and that was kind of funny.

That night we went back to our hotel room. It was still early and we thought about going to see a movie, but there wasn’t much of anything playing that we were too excited about. We found a movie on the hotel on demand system that we wanted to see and just stayed in to watch that. It was The Informant. Pretty funny movie.

The next day, Tuesday, was going to be our last day. We booked a late flight out of town so we could spend the whole day in Mesa without having to pay for another night at the hotel. That and Wendy had to get back to work the next night. Again, we went to The Good Egg for breakfast. We really liked this place. We then drove back to the hotel to check out.

After breakfast we went for a drive. Pictures. We drove on part of The Historic Apache Trail. We only had a few hours so we just got to see a section of it. It was a pretty drive with lots of cactus. The flowers were blooming this time of year so it was a pretty to look at.

We drove back towards Scottsdale and made it just in time for the Cubs vs Giants game. Again, $5 for parking, but at a church parking lot, and we got tickets from a scalper on the side of the road. We hadn’t planned on going to this game, but decided to go since we enjoyed the first game so much. This was at the Giant’s stadium. Their stadium was a little smaller, but still nice. Our tickets this time were much nicer than the ones we had bought online and for less I might add. We sat near 3rd base. Pablo “Kungfu Panda” Sandoval was playing today and we were only 4 rows back from him. The guy next to us was a Giants fan and he brought two kids with him. The kids spent the majority of the time getting sugary stuff to eat and trying to get Pablo Sandoval to wave them. It was funny.

Tom Gorzelanny got the win for the Cubs and went 7 innings giving up 8 hits and 3 earned runs. I thought he did fairly well. I was glad to see him pitch so deep into a spring training game. The Cubs were leading when they brought in Carlos Marmol. Personally, I am not a fan of him. His control is terrible and he walks too many batters, but he has been given the role of closer this year. Prove me wrong Carlos. It was odd to see them bring him in in the 8th. It was a save situation, but I didn’t expect to see him pitch until the 9th. He only gave up 1 walk and pitched 1 1/3 inning. John Grabow came in to pitch the last two outs to get the save.

Again, I was impressed with Tyler Colvin. He got two more hits. He played LF the previous day and played RF today. He even got an outfield assist off of Aaron Rowand trying to stretch what was clearly just a single into a double. The throw wasn’t that great, it bounced a couple of times coming into second. The guy next to me said he believed Rowand was just wanting to get back to the club house sooner. Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee both started today. I hadn’t realized that Mark DeRosa was playing for the Giants this year until today. I still wish Jim Hendry had not gotten rid of him.

During the game, I cheared for the Cubs as they ran right past us. Usually Aflonso Soriano and Marlon Byrd were within shouting distance. Alfonso never once looked towards the fans. I already don’t like the guy, but I was saying nice things to cheer him on. Guess who just lost more cool ponts. The Cub fan in front of me got Marlon to say something back to us. He seemed much more friendly.

Before and after the game, locals had made their own bike taxis to shuttle people back to their cars (for a fee of some kind). It was funny seeing how each person had put their own personality into their bike taxi. One guy had a boom box blasting Michael Jackson music that he was singing to and had a shinny glove he was wearing. Another guy had an umbrella he was holding. One lady was old and skinny looking and didn’t look like she had enough strength to pedal more than herself on a bike.

After the game we got supper at Los Sombreros. I had the Carnitas and Wendy had Chile Rellenos. They had fresh squeezed limeaid as well as two types of home made salsa. The food was all really good, but pricier than what Mexican food should be.

After supper we drove to the airport. The car rental return is in a very inconvenient place. We only knew to follow the signs, but the signs lead you all the way into and through the airport only to have you go to a place outside of the airport to return the cars. There has to be a better way to get there, but no one told us about it. Thankfully we had plenty of time, but I can see how people can be late getting to the airport because of this.

Southwest took us home, just like they got us there, all in one piece. Maddie had been put in doggie day care at a place called Dogmode. They are a great place to board your dog as they have open boarding where all the dogs are let out of their kennels during the day in a big open area. Staff stay with them all day. I was impressed by them. Maddie was very happy to see us the next morning when we went to go pick her up.

Our trip to Arizona was fun. We believe we will do it again, and hopefully during Spring Training so we can see more Cubs baseball. Wendy has been indoctrinated into being a Cubs fan. Lets just hope they win the World Series before she realizes how tough it is to be a Cubs fan.

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YARPP

I had flown out to Salt Lake City to visit with Wendy the week before the trip. The house we had signed a contract on had a shady realtor who signed another contract on the house. This had put our house hunt on delay as we had hoped to close on the house on my trip out there. We found another one and we just had to wait for everything to go through. While out there, Wendy picked up cold from one of her patients which she happily passed along to me. We both hoped to be well in time for our wedding. I was more worried about being able to hack it on the trail.

The day I flew back into Denver, Chris and Ramsey both also flew in. I was to arrive within an hour of both of them getting there to try to ensure a small wait time. Southwest was late getting me there by about an hour. Once we all met up, we headed to my car. I had checked the weather before I left Salt Lake and discovered that the weather had gone from beautiful with highs in the 70′s to snow starting the day we were to hit the trail. Ramsey was from FL and didn’t even own a pair of blue jeans. He had his cold weather sleeping bag though. Chris was from VA. I had told him he wouldn’t need his arctic gear as it was beautiful weather. So much for that. We stopped at my favorite restaurant for dinner that night, Woody’s Woodfired Pizza in Golden, CO. Once we were at my house, The Phat Pad, we began pouring over weather maps and forecasts to see what type of weather we could expect if we were to continue with the original plan.

The weather at Grand Lake just said snow, not how much, and that it was going to be highs in the 30′s for the duration of the days. We were going to be above Grand Lake, so it was going to be colder and even more snow. Of course, the day we were to hike out, Friday, it was supposed to be sunny and highs in the 60′s. Great timing. I had no doubt I could survive a trip in that weather, done it before. Maybe it’s just part of me getting old, but I didn’t need to prove that again, and I was wanting to have fun on my trip. I had also promised Lara, Ramsey’s wife, that I wouldn’t let her husband die. Being great friends, Chris and Ramsey were willing to do what ever I decided on. After looking over the weather data (did I mention all three of us were engineers Chris-Aerospace, Ramsey-Materials, Jason-Mechanical), I thought it looked like the SW part of CO was going to have a better chance of missing the front that was moving through the state. That’s OK, because that part of CO is my favorite part of the state.

The areas around Pagosa Springs and Durango are beautiful. It is also home to my favorite place to go backpacking, the Weminuche Wilderness. I had been down there a couple of times in the past. Once with Wendy in 2007 on a week long trip, and another time back in 1998 with Bill Sassani while waiting for the summer to start at Philmont.

On Monday, we went to REI to buy gear that Chris and Ramsey wanted to get for the trip. Ramsey was one of the founders of The Bulldog Hiking Club. It was a club that a few of us started when we were in college at Mississippi State University. Some of the distinctive marks of our hiking club trips were inclement weather, trips to a gear store, car camping, leaving well after our planned time, and drastic changes in trip plans. None of these things did we ever think would happen with our trips, but they always tended to happen. This trip was shaping up the same way. Chris and I had a history of backpacking trips that didn’t go as planned as well. This was turning into the perfect storm of backpacking trips.

Monday afternoon, we headed out on our trip, destination Pagosa Springs. My little Nissan Versa was stuffed to the gills with the three of us and our gear. It began snowing right outside of Denver as we were headed through Conifer on US HWY 285. This only reassured our decision not to go on our original trip. Ramsey, the fish whisperer, wanted to stop along the way at a local fly shop so he could get some flies for fishing. We happened to find a little hole in the wall gas station that doubled as a bait and taxidermy shop. Ramsey was able to get the flies he needed. I picked up some cold medicine as I was beginning to feel my cold coming on.

That evening we continued on to Pagosa Springs. We arrived around 8PM or so. Being dark, we decided our best option was to find a cheap motel and decide where to go from there. We ate at this little Mexican restaurant in town. We had brought lots of food for what we had planned to eat on the trail, but there just something about eating trail food in civilization that makes it less appealing. The motel we got had WiFi. Funny enough, the three of us spent the evening on our little hand held devices checking email, Facebook, sports scores, and what ever else. Like I said earlier, the three of us were engineers. We also spent some time looking over my maps and a hiking guide I had for the area. We decided to go do a day hike to Four Mile Falls where Bill and I had hiked 11 years previously.

Tuesday morning, we ate at a little restaurant for breakfast. We then set off for Four Mile Falls trailhead. The trail is a loop that is about 12 miles total. There is a river that runs near the trailhead as well, so it satisfied Ramsey’s needs.

This is the trail Bill and I had hiked several years ago. It has a large 300 ft waterfall about 3 miles in. Chris and I decided to hike this as a day hike. It would be 6 miles out and back. Ramsey loaded up my daypack and his fishing rod. I took my Camelback and Chris took his day pack and we set off. Not far into the hike we came to the boundary for the Weminuche Wilderness.

Chris and Jason at the Weminuche Wilderness

As you can see, I am holding a hiking stick. I don’t normally use them, but Ramsey bought a pair of trekking poles and said he is a believer in using them. He convinced me to give them a try as it may make it easier on my joints. I refused to use them in the past as Philmont Rangers refereed to them as sissy sticks. But I conceded to give them a try. Believe it or not but they really do work well.

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YARPP

Wow, what a year. Last year left off with Wendy and I going to visit each other’s families for Christmas. Now we are married! Lots of good changes have happened.

I proposed to Wendy in May of 2009. We got married Sept 27, 2009 in Evergreen, CO. The wedding was perfect. It was an outdoor wedding with great weather and we had lots of family and friends come to celebrate our day with us. Afterwards we went to Hawaii for 10 days for our honeymoon. We had a great time. The highlight for me was the helicopter tour. For my bachelor’s party, my brother Chris, and a good friend from college, Ramsey, came out to CO with me to do a backpacking trip. The weather didn’t cooperate, so we had to alter our plans, but we had a great time.

I had to resign from my EMT job at the ambulance company, Pridemark, when I moved. It has been an adjustment for me not having a job. I’m in the process of trying to get my EMT certification here in UT so I an get another job. So far, not going so well, but I’ll keep trying at it. I still am pursuing my dream of being a firefighter.

I had the privilege to work with some more great partners this last year at Pridemark. There are some great people who are in the business of EMS and Fire. I rotated through three full time paramedic partners this year, two of them who had just finished paramedic school. Bryan and I had started working together last year, and he found a job with another agency earlier this year. He too was a Boy Scout and a computer geek. We had a good time talking about common interests. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a lot of good calls together. My second partner was just out of paramedic school, but had been a long time EMT at Pridemark. Pierre was a black cloud of death (we call people who attract lots of calls black clouds and those who don’t attract them white clouds). I got to see a lot of great stuff working with him. It was also nice to have some one who had an almost identical mindset on work, politics, etc. Deb was my third partner, and we unfortunately didn’t get to work very long but she was also a great partner. She had a very sweet personality and was also a very smart medic. She made some schedule changes for me so that I could have a good partner to finish off my time at Pridemark. Unfortunately, she got really sick my last week at work and had to go into the hospital. She’s better now, but she had us all scared there for a while. The most impressive thing about it was watching how the Pridemark family stepped up to help out during this time. I can only hope that I will ever be able to work with a group of people like that again. Definitely good people. It was actually a good way to go out as it helped reinforce to me how great the people were that I had been working with the last few years.

It was sad to leave behind friends and everything that I loved about CO, but I believe it was well worth it to finally be married and living in the same town with Wendy (we had known each other for 12 years). I will be returning to Denver for a few days in late January for the Children’s Hospital EMS conference. It will be good to get to see friends then.

Wendy is still working for Kidscare as an urgent care pediatrician. She really loves her job and the people she works with.

We bought a house in Sandy, UT which is a suburb of Salt Lake City. We really like the house. It has a great backyard, and lots of space inside too. I’m excited about have a home to take care of. The neighbors seem friendly, and the street is very quiet. One of the neighbors told me he can be at the ski resort in 13 minutes from his house. Wow, guess I better learn how to ski. I didn’t get much biking in before the weather got cold. I guess its part of getting old that I don’t like to bike when it gets below 40F. There seems to be good places to bike. About a mile from our house, one of the canyons starts winding its way up into the mountains. I’m excited about exploring new rides around here. There seems to be a lot of people who bike here in the warmer weather too.

This week, I got to check another thing off my list. As many of you know, I’ve been wanting another dog since I left MS. Monday, we drove up to Idaho to an animal shelter and adopted Maddie. Maddie is a 4 year old black and tan German Shepherd dog. We were lucky to find a full blooded GSD in a shelter. The family who owned her said she was chasing the neighbor’s cows and was afraid she would get shot. She is a fantastic dog. Really smart and sweet. Wendy and I are really happy to add her to our family. Benjamin, the cat, isn’t quite as excited about it as we are, but we are working on it.

This year, Wendy and I decided to stay at home or the holidays. Between her work schedule and us getting settled into our new home as newlyweds, we thought it would just be best to stay here for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have to admit, I don’t miss the hustle and bustle of the airport around this time. We decorated the house and are planning to cook a big dinner tonight. We are excited to be celebrating the holidays in our new home and starting our own family traditions.

As always, our home is open to visitors who want to make their way to the land of Utah.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Jason and Wendy Cotting

Photos:
http://anvilgear.com/gallery/

The 2009 Cotting Family Portrait

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YARPP

I went to Salt Lake City, UT for my monthly visit with Wendy. We didn’t have much planned, but wanted to just enjoy time visiting. I guess I should preface this with a synopsis of our relationship so far.

Wendy and I first met in 1997 when we were working at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico as Mountain Trek Rangers. I took an interest in her that summer, but never did anything about it. We stayed in contact, worked a few more summers together. I never made a move, and she did not realize I was interested. Fast forward to the Summer of 2003. Wendy was working at Philmont doing one of her medical school rotations as a 3rd year Med student there in the Health Lodge. I did not work at Philmont that summer, but I finally got up the nerve to write her a letter to tell her how I felt about her and that I was interested in dating. Up to this point, we had never lived in the same town (except for Philmont). We started talking on the phone once a week or so over the next few years while we both lived our lives in separate parts of the country. We continued this way for a while, never actually saying that we were a dating couple. Finally in March of 2006, I decided to issue an ultimatum, that we were either a couple, or we needed to move on. Well, we decided to be a dating couple at that point. Time continued to drag on with her living in Salt Lake City, and me living in Denver. We would visit and call on the phone as often as we could. We both had things to work out before we were ready to get married. At some point, we realized that we were made for each other. Unfortunately, we both liked where we were living and neither one of us wanted to give that up. So, we were locked in a stalemate as to who was going to move, and if no one moved, then our relationship was never going to continue to grow.

Over Christmas, my dad offered me a diamond that had been in the family. Me driving an ambulance was going to make it very difficult to be able to afford much of a diamond. Thankfully, I had this option. So I used the diamond to get a ring for Wendy earlier this year. I had told Wendy that I wasn’t going to propose to her until we had decided on where to live. She really enjoys her job as a pediatrician at an Urgent Care. I really like the town of Denver, and I am established with my job. Wendy was offered a job as an Urgent Care Pediatrician here in Denver. Unfortunately, the job wasn’t what she was really looking for. I realize that my job is a lot less important and that I was not as established in my town as Wendy was in hers. I also wanted to make sure she was going to happy. I know she’s happy now, and I don’t want to change that. After talking to a lot of people, I was convinced that me moving to Salt Lake was the right thing to do.

That brings us back to this last visit. I brought the ring with me, because I thought this might be a good opportunity. I knew we needed to make a decision on where we were going to live before I left. So, on Monday night, May 11th, we ate at Olive Garden. I had hoped to maybe do something with a sunset or something, but it was too late in the evening. We walked across the street to Sugarhouse Park. We walked around for a little while, and then I proposed to her. The proposal itself was kinda funny, but that’s not something I’m going to publish on the Internet for the whole world to see. Anyway, when I proposed to her I told her that I would move to Salt Lake.

As for now, we don’t have a date for the ceremony yet. We are hoping maybe sometime in the fall, maybe in October. We want to do it in Colorado, maybe at one of the resorts. Anyway, we have a lot of planning to do before it happens. We are both very happy and excited about this. We are looking forward to owning our own home and I am looking forward to finally getting a dog again.

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YARPP

So I left Denver on Sunday 12/21. Of course, the day after  the crash at DIA. I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it on time. I planned to go to the Park and Ride that RTD offers, but the lot was full. I was bummed because my roommate had given me free tickets to ride the bus. It was going to be sweet. Free parking, but it didn’t work out. So I proceeded to the economy lot. Upon arrival there, I discovered that it was full, and I had to go to the overflow lot. By this time, I had exceeded the cushion I had built in to my leaving from the house time. I rushed my way to the overflow and took the shuttle to DIA. Let’s see $5 a day for 10 days, great, I’ve gone from free parking for Christmas to $50 parking for Christmas. Now that’s a deal!

I got to the kiosk right about the edge of the check in time for having checked baggage. I had already done the online check in, and I just had to check my baggage. Now, off to fight the security gates and try to make it to the gate in time. Security wasn’t too bad and I made it in time to the gate…. to find out that the flight was delayed. I spent 2 hours in DIA delayed, meanwhile I had a connection flight in Houston, TX to get to my destination in San Antonio, TX. Most of the country was delayed that day because of some bad weather. So the reason they gave me that we were delayed leaving DIA is because of bad weather in Houston. I checked the weather radar (because I discovered that DIA has free Internet, its slow and not very good, but its free). Low and behold, there wasn’t a single cloud over Houston. I don’t know what this mysterious weather was that was over Houston, but apparently we couldn’t leave.

Thank goodness I had exit row seats though. When we finally boarded the plane, they wanted volunteers to give up their exit row seats. Maybe I’m just a cold hearted jerk, but I am not giving up my exit row seats. I have long legs, and what ever reason someone else has can’t be much worse than mine. Some nice person gave up their seats and a lady with her leg and arm in cast came back to take his seat next to me. I asked her “Let me guess, skiing accident?” She said some snow boarder on the slopes had run into her without even stopping to see if she was OK. The guy with her chased him down. Then the flight attendants realized they couldn’t allow this woman in the exit row as it was against regulations to have someone disabled to sit there. Seeing as how they crashed one of their planes yesterday, they needed to make sure they played by the rules.

When I got to Houston, I got off the plane about 10 minutes before my connecting flight left. I ran down to find the gate only to find, that once again, my flight was delayed. I was a bit thankful for this as I doubt I would have made it. So, I went off to get a bite to eat. I got a salad at Wendy’s which according to the person working there was the last one. Lucky me, but no free Internet at Busch International Airport.

I got to Houston a little later than had planned. Wendy, came to pick me up and bring me to her parent’s house. Her mom was up waiting for us. It was around midnight when we got there, so we all went to bed. I had a great time visiting with Wendy’s parents. They fed us well and kept us entertained. We went to a swanky restaurant called Tower of the Americas. The food was good. It was like the space needle in Seattle. It rotated and we were able to see a full view of San Antonio. Pretty cool, and my steak was great. We then went down to the Riverwalk and did a boat tour. The lights were pretty and it was fun. We also went to Nixon, TX where Wendy’s dad is from. I got to meet several of Wendy’s Aunt’s, Uncles, cousins, and her grandmother. Its a tradition for them to have a big family party on Christmas Eve at her grandmother’s house. I had a great time meeting her family.

On Christmas day, we opened presents. Wendy gave me an iPod Touch. I couldn’t believe it. That was something I had been really wanting, and  its expensive. I had no idea she would spend that much on me. I guess she’s serious about this  Well, it was a wonderful gift and I have been enjoying it very much, especially at work. Wendy’s dad smoked a turkey that we ate for lunch. It was a really tasty turkey. Late that afternoon, Wendy and I flew to Jackson, MS where my family is.

My mom, brother, and his wife came to pick us up at the airport. We got in late so we got home and all went to bed. My dad was working, but he was going to have the next few days off. This was the first time Wendy had met my family. On Dec 26th, we did our 2nd Christmas, this time with my family. We sprung my grandmother out of her retirement home so she could be with us. The neighbors fried us a turkey for Christmas dinner #2. It was pretty good too. Mom cooked way too much food as usual. My aunt, uncle, and two cousins came up from Louisiana to vist late that afternoon. I hadn’t seen all of them at one time in a long time. It was great seeing them. The next day Wendy and I went to go visit my friend Ramsey from college. He told me he didn’t believe Wendy existed so I had to prove it to him. We also went by and visited a couple of my other friends from school. I had been wanting to introduce her to my friends. She’s a great catch and I want to show her off. One night we at at Cock of the Walk in Ridgeland. They serve southern fried catfish. A home meal I always look forward to. It was really tasty.

Of course we were rushed to try to see everyone and do everything. There’s never enough time to spend at home as you would like to have, but I was glad to get to spend the time that I did have. And I was really glad that Wendy and I got to spend time with each other’s family.

Next year, who knows what is going to happen.

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YARPP

I hope this finds you all doing well.

The last two years have been a big growing experience for me. During this time I have discovered that for most of my life, I have been taking things way too seriously. I’ve been way too concerned with what people think about me. Some may argue that that makes me more compassionate, but I see it as making me too hesitant. I think it’s a fine line. So I am learning to be more relaxed in how I approach things.

I was unable to keep my firefighter job because I had a problem with anxiety. I have since cured my anxiety problem. Anxiety was something that reached into several areas of my life, unbeknownst to me. Life is much more enjoyable without that monkey on my back.

I’m still, unfortunately, working on an ambulance as an EMT Basic. I’m sure most people won’t be able to believe this, but I am incredibly bored with my job.  Last year I had a wonderful Paramedic that taught me how to become a great EMT. She and I have since parted ways to work with other people, but I am indebted to her for all I learned. That by no way means that I am done learning. This is a job that you never know everything. If I were really interested in medicine, I’d go on to get my paramedic, but that is way more responsibility than I want.

In the mean time I am still trying to get hired with a fire department. I haven’t found anyone yet that seems to think that they can’t function without me, but I’m working on it. The only department I have anything going with is West Metro, here in the Lakewood area where I live. I’m #75 on their list. The list is good for 2 years, but with the economy in the tank, I can’t see there being too much hiring going on. I can only hope that there will be a bunch of people retiring from there in the near future.

Wendy and I are still dating. Don’t ask how long we’ve been dating, because I doubt either one of us could tell you when we started. She has been done with her residency for about a year and a half now. She is a pediatrician at an urgent care clinic in Salt Lake City, UT and really loves her job. I’m really glad that she is happy with what she is doing.

We see each other once a month. Our schedules tend to work better with me flying out there. People sometimes tell me I should just move out to Salt Lake. It’s not that easy for either of us. The distance is what is limiting us now. One of these days, someone will move somewhere. We’ll have to see what happens.

We have had some cool adventures during the past year. Earlier this year we went to Grand County, CO where we went to a hot spring, did some snowshoeing, and also went on a snow mobile tour. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to get up in the mountains for a few days. This summer we went to Moab, UT where we did some white water rafting and some sight seeing. Our favorite trip this year was when we went to Grand Teton National Park. We spent 6 days and 5 nights backpacking in the park. On our last day there, I had to chase a bear out of camp. It was a really beautiful place. Pointing the camera in any direction gave you pretty pictures. It was great to get away for a while. I often forget how great the simple life is. Since Wendy and I first met at a backpacking camp, we were both in our element out there. We’ve already decided that next year we are going to Glacier National Park.

If you want to see pictures from our adventures this year, you can go to this link:

http://anvilgear.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=2204

This Christmas is going to be cool. I am flying to San Antonio, TX to spend the first half of the week with Wendy and her family. On Christmas day, we are flying to Jackson, MS to spend the rest of the week with my family. It will be nice to be around family for a change.

I’m still living at the Phat Pad with PJ and Bill “Italian Stallion” Sassani. They are friends of mine that I’ve known since I started working at Philmont. It’s hard to believe its been 5 years since I worked there.

I’m sorry for not being much of a communicator the last couple of years. I plan to be better at it this year. New Year’s resolution maybe?

I’ve become a fan of using Facebook. If you’ve never used it, it’s a social networking site that lets you keep up with people you know. It’s great for seeing what the people you know are up to. I’ve also decided to start writing a blog. Now everyone can keep up with my uneventful life. Yeah!!

Well, thanks for listening to me. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

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YARPP